ONE IN CHRIST
(Galatians 3:26-4:11)

"...you are all one in Christ Jesus." (v28)

The narrated event that stands out in Galatians is the shocking confrontation in Chapter 2 between Peter and Paul. Because of pressure from the circumcision (ie law-observance) group, Peter began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentile Christians. That's what Peter's submission to law led to: separation and division in the Christian church. It is such separation and division that Paul addresses here.

Modern Jewish daily morning prayer begins thus: 'Blessed be He that He did not make me a Gentile. Blessed be He that He did not make me a boor (or slave). Blessed be He that He did not make me a woman.' It's hardly an attractive prayer, glorying as it does in the divisions that separate race, rank and gender. But it's a prayer that pre-dates the First Century. Paul prayed that prayer every morning until his conversion. Now he can say: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (v28).

The true, real and actual situation of Christian believers is that they are united in Christ. Gentile and Jew have to come through Christ to enter the Christian church. Every single Christian believer is "in Christ" by faith. And "in Christ" believers are one - not identical, but equal and unified. The true Christian church thus unites all divisions that separate our world, especially those of race, culture, society and gender. All Christian believers, together, equal and unified in Christ are God's people. Disunity in the body of Christ is therefore as ludicrous as it is scandalous. What caused this outrageous and ridiculous division in Galatia? And what causes it in our worldwide Christian church of today - separated by denomination and riven by division as it is?

The context of Paul's teaching here gives a clear and direct answer. What is it? Surprise, surprise... - the practice that Galatians has been condemning all along: living under law. Verse 25: "...we are no longer under the supervision of the law" introduces the passage. And what follows says the same: "...you are no longer a slave..." (ie under law) (4:7) and: "...how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?" (ie turning back to living under law) (v9). Legalism leads to separation. Living under law leads to division. This was their problem.

And it's our problem too. We all do it. Living by the rule book is so much more comfortable. As long as we're within set boundaries, the space contained is ours - which means it's a no-go area for God. This is well illustrated by Paul's example in 4:10. Observing special days and months and seasons and years is a convenient way of fencing God off into religious enclosures, away from our own lives. If we live our lives for God (2:19) - and not under the law - every day should be the same. Every day will be devoted to God if you live for him. You'll only quarantine God into religious time-slots if you live under the law - ie according to a set of rules. And, since our rule-books won't all be the same, the result will be disunity. We'll all draw our boundaries in different places - and the outcome will ultimately be division within the church.

That's Paul's analysis of Christian disunity. The modern inference is obvious: most of today's Christian church is living under law. Just as the characteristic of today's Christian church is division, the error of today's Christian church is living under law. How do we begin to deal with such a widespread problem? Paul's answer is to start with yourself. Stop living under law. Stop creating comfort zones with your rule-book. Throw your rule-book away and instead start living for God, surrendering to him every no-go zone in your life, every day of the week. Be what you are: One in Christ.

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