A variety of things can define people or can be what people use to define themselves. I might say I’m a gardener, grill master, fabricator, father, writer, or mechanic. Others might mention a job title, college, city of origin, hair color, relationship status, or their current number of tattoos as important parts of their description.

The Apostle Paul would have the church minimize all categories a person might employ or relate to get the church’s focus completely on who they are in Christ. 

Galatians 3:26-29 “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

The folks Paul writes to don’t stop being the categories he mentions because of their faith: Jew, Greek, slave, free, male, and female. Those categories remain a part of their real lives, but they mean nothing when it comes to salvation.

Think of a football player who played in High School, then in College, and later was drafted to a team in the NFL. Those other teams will always be a part of that player’s life and story, but now that player puts on a new jersey and becomes an important part of the new team.

Believers “put on Christ” and he alone is what unites and defines their lives together. Salvation only comes from and through him. Football players wear a uniform and believers wear Christ. Faith in him and focus on him is what brings believers, and the church, together.

Pastor John Riley

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