Galatians 3:26 (ESV) -- for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

We live in a culture that gets offended very easily. Victimhood is now a virtue. Everyone rushes to put themselves in a category of being oppressed, that’s where the real cultural power is today in our world. One of those categories is being a woman that constantly feels the need to “smash the patriarchy.” This doesn’t square with the Bible’s teaching of men and women being created equal in the sight of God, equal in dignity and worth, but different and distinct in nature and role. God has made men and women different from one another, regardless of how much our culture tries to collapse those differences. 

Our passage today is one of those passages that some people jump to “correct” when they carry this cultural mantle of gender equality warrior and miss the very meaning of this text. We read Paul’s words to the Galatians, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

Paul establishes the argument that through faith in Jesus, every person who believes, whether they are a male or a female, are now considered sons. Why is that? Is Paul flattening out gender distinctions too? By no means. He is providing the grounds for an incredible promise. 

The promise throughout Scripture and in Jewish life is that the first-born son is the heir to the family’s wealth. After the first-born son is the next son. Daughters do not receive inheritance because they will be married into a different family, whose husband will have an inheritance. However, when it comes to the inheritance of salvation and eternal life in Christ Jesus, we are all sons. Each person who places faith in Jesus is a son. This is another way of saying, “You are all now heirs through Christ.” 

This precious promise in Galatians 3:26 is far from being misogynistic, it is an incredible promise from God that through faith in Jesus, men and women all become heirs of His great promises. Celebrate that truth today. Whether you are male or female, in Christ you are a son. You are an heir.

Reflection & Journal:
- Why does Paul refer to everyone as sons through Christ?
- What does it mean to be an heir? What do heirs of Christ receive?
- How does this passage help us to understand the promises of God better?