Paul begins by speaking about the Jews. They were held captive under the law. The law was their guardian, their strict disciplinarian who kept them apart from the other nations until the coming faith (Jesus Christ) arrived. Christ came so that they might be justified by faith. Now that Christ has come, the Jews are no longer under the guardianship of the law. Then Paul changes from “we” (the Jews) to “you” (the Galatians, non-Jews). In Christ Jesus, we are all sons of God through faith (John 1:12). Now that we have put on Christ, we are all one in Christ. As believers, we have equal standing before God as children of God. Paul does not deny that there are distinctions between these groups (he speaks to our distinctions as male and female, slave and free in Ephesians and Colossians for example) but that those distinctions are not relevant when it comes to our faith or our standing before God. This also means that it is clearly wrong for us to treat each other differently based on our differences. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. If we are in Christ, then we are all Abraham’s children and all heirs according to the promise made to Abraham.

At a time when racial hatred is again under the spotlight we must remember that it has no place in the Christian’s worldview. All people are equal under God because we were all created in God’s image. As believers, racism has even less place (if that were possible) because in Christ we are all brothers and sisters.