Many people think that Galatians 3:28, “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”, provides the justification for ordaining both women and men to be Elders. But, is this a correct application of this verse?
In the first five verses of Galatians 3, Paul uses five rhetorical questions to remind the members of the church in Galatia that they had received the Spirit (been saved, in other words) by believing in the finished work of Christ on the cross, which Paul had preached to them, not by trying to legalistically observe the law.
Paul goes on to point out that Abraham was saved by believing the promises God gave to him – including the promise that salvation would come to all nations through one of his descendants (vv-6-9).
In verses 10-14, Paul emphasises that a person can only be saved by believing that Jesus (Abraham’s ultimate descendant) redeemed them, by willingly bearing the punishment their sin (breaking of God’s law) deserved on the cross.
Paul explains the purpose of the God’s law in verses 15-25, and summarises his reasoning as follows, “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” (v.24). God’s law highlights and restrains transgressions, and it also points forward to the coming of Christ.
On the basis of all this, Paul declares,
“in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 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.”
Everyone who trusts in what Jesus accomplished through His life of perfect obedience to God’s law, and His substitutionary atoning death on the cross, is considered to be a son of God, regardless of their gender.
The Greek word that is translated as “sons” in verse 26 (υἱοὶ) is a legal term that was used in the adoption and inheritance laws of first-century AD. Paul uses this term to highlight that everyone who has been adopted into God’s family, through saving faith in Jesus, enjoys all the privileges, obligations, and inheritance rights of God’s children.
Since the only way to be made right with God is to “put on Christ” (be united to Christ by faith), then earthly distinctions that were common in Galatia such as ethnicity (Jew / Greek), status (slave / free), and gender (male / female) were irrelevant with regard to salvation.
Furthermore, everyone who has been saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, belongs to God’s family (“you are all one in Christ Jesus”), and God does not have favourites.
However, Galatians 3:28 does not imply that there are no distinctions in other contexts between the categories it lists. For example, in Ephesians 5, Paul differentiates the instructions he gives to slaves and masters (vv.5–9), as well as to husbands and wives (vv.22–33).
Galatians 3 emphasises that everyone is saved from God’s just judgement of their sin in the same way – faith in Christ. But, verse 28 does not mean that everyone is the same, and it certainly cannot be used to justify ordaining both women and men to be Elders, because it is not addressing church leadership. To do so is to read something into this verse that God never intended. One commentator says, “The Apostle’s words no more mean that women ought to preach than that men should have babies.” (Galatians: A Mentor Expository Commentary, Terry L. Johnston, p.99)
If you want to know what God has to say about who is qualified to be an Elder, then read 1 Timothy 2:8-3:7 and Titus 1:5-9 where He clearly addresses this issue.
Rev Nigel Kane