Equal Heirs

By Danny Saavedra

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”—Galatians 3:26–29 (NIV)

My friends and fellow Christ-followers, “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God.” Let that sink in. But listen, it’s even more than an adoption.

When we receive Jesus, we are born into God’s family as a natural-born child, a true heir, bound by blood . . . Jesus’ blood! Romans 8:17 (NIV, emphasis added) says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” 

The apostle is saying that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus so we could be part of His family, so we could be His natural-born children. Because of this, our human divisions mean nothing. Male or female, Jew or Gentile, black or white, Republican or Democrat, rich or poor, powerful or oppressed . . . none of this should matter between brothers and sisters. 

As a family, the way the world tries to categorize and segregate us should have no bearing on a) the way we view our own standing with God and b) the way we view anyone else. In Christ, we are one family, we share one blood, and we are equal partners in the promise!

Sadly, the enemy has deceived people into believing that earthly differences can make one person superior to another. This is not true. My skin tone, salary, country of birth, political affiliation, favorite sports teams, dietary choices, educational level, music preferences, etc. do not matter to God. The reality is that we’re all made in the image and likeness of God, we’re all fallen creatures who are sinners by nature, and we’re all in need of a Savior in order to have right standing with God and see His image and likeness fully restored in us. 

And as we see in Titus 3:5–7 (ESV, emphasis added), we have just that, because “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” 

I pray we never let these human divisions come between us and a brother or sister in Christ, and I pray it will never prevent us from loving and sharing the gospel with someone who God wants to bring into His family. 

DIG: What does it mean to be clothed in Christ?

DISCOVER: Why does Paul emphasize that these human divisions mean nothing to God?

DO: Prejudice impacts all of us and continues to ruin the lives of many people. There are people around the world who are oppressed, alienated, mistreated, and hated simply because they are different in some way that, in the grand scheme of both eternity and earthly life, truly doesn’t matter. Pray for those who feel the pain of prejudice today. Pray the Lord eradicates any trace of prejudice in your heart. Pray that He would use you to help bring about healing and unity both in the body of Christ and in the world as His messenger of reconciliation.