One in Christ Jesus

by Ivan Maddox

West End Bible Fellowship

Atlanta, Georgia


I want to look in this study at three relationships in which God has changed things completely through the finished work of Jesus Christ, then put them back together in such a way that it looks on the surface as if nothing has changed. However, in reality, everything has been changed in Christ.


The three relationships I’m talking about are mentioned in Galatians 3.


Galatians 3:26-29.

26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.


In this passage we are told that in Christ there is:


What this means is that when it comes to those who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord:


But why is this the case? What has changed in terms of their relationship with Jesus Christ that has altered these other relationships? In Ephesians 2 we are told what has happened with the first of these, the relationship between Jew and Gentile.


Ephesians 2:11-12.

11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:


The division between Israel and the rest of the nations was set in place by God. In Numbers Balaam, speaking by the spirit of God, prophesied about Israel:


Numbers 23:9-10.

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!


There was Israel, and there were the nations. Israel was called into a covenant relationship with the Lord, and called to be holy to the Lord. The nations, or Gentiles, were not.


The word of God was given to the Jews, not to the Gentiles. The promises of God were given to the Jews, not to the Gentiles. The hope of resurrection and eternal life were given to the Jews, not to the Gentiles. Christ was sent to the Jews, and his ministry was limited to the Jews, not extended to the Gentiles.


The Gentiles were, it is true, to receive peripheral blessings as a result of Israel being blessed. They were entitled, as the Syrophenician woman put it, entitled to “…the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.” (Matthew 15:27.) But in and of themselves, they had no relationship with God, they had no word of God, they had no promise of resurrection and eternal life, and they had no promise of the Messiah. Truly they were without God and without hope in the world.


Jesus Christ changed all that.


Ephesians 2:13-14.

13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;


What is this “middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile that Jesus Christ destroyed?


What is actually being referred to here is the veil of the temple that was torn when Jesus died on the cross.


The veil of the temple was the heavy curtain that separated the holy place, where the priests offered incense to the Lord daily, from the holy of holies, or the holiest of all, which represented the presence of God, and where only the High Priest could go once a year to make atonement for the people.


Hebrews 9:1-8.

1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.

7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:



So long as this veil remained in place, God used it to signify that the way into His presence had not yet been made open to men.


When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom.


Mark 15:37-39.

37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.


According to Hebrews 10, this veil represented Christ’s flesh. The tearing of the veil, then, represented the breaking of Christ’s flesh for us in death.


Hebrews 10:19-22.

19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

21 And having an high priest over the house of God;

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.


In the tabernacle and the temple there were multiple barriers separating people from the presence of God. First there was the veil, separating the holiest place from the holy place. Then there was the sanctuary itself, which was open only to the priests. Outside of this was the courtyard, which was open to the priests and the men of Israel, who could come to bring their sacrifices. Beyond this, in the temple, was the court of the women of Israel. And beyond this, bearing a sign that warned of death to all unauthorized persons who went beyond it, was the court of the Gentiles.


There were, in the temple, barriers separating Jews from Gentiles, men from women, and priests from non-priests. Now the veil of the temple separated only the holy place in the tabernacle and temple from the holiest of all. However, the tearing of the veil represented not only the destruction of this barrier, but the destruction of every other barrier separating men and women from access to the presence of God as well. Before the veil was torn, no one, regardless of status, had access to the presence of God except the high priest once a year. But once the veil was torn with the death of Jesus Christ, the way was made open to everyone to enter in to the presence of God through Jesus Christ, regardless of status.


The tearing of the veil of the temple, then, represented also the destruction of the wall that separated the Jews from the Gentiles, and everything that went along with that.


Jesus made peace between Jew and Gentile by breaking down the wall that separated them, and making them one in himself.


When we received Christ as our Lord we were identified with Christ in baptism. This is the legal basis for our salvation. When Christ died on the cross, he died in our place, in our name, so that as far as God is concerned, it is as if we ourselves had died on the cross in just payment for the sins we have committed. And we are counted as righteous before God because when Christ perfectly obeyed God by perfectly fulfilling the law of God, he did so in our name, so that as far as God is concerned, each of us has lived a life in perfect obedience to God in the person of Jesus Christ.


What does this have to do with distinctions between Jew and Gentile, between slave and free, between male and female? Everything.


We are identified with Christ in baptism, as the basis of our salvation.


This means that in the Church, there is to be no distinction made


Once we understand the basic principle involved, that we who belong to Christ are all one in the person of Jesus Christ, we can expand this to other areas where we as people are inclined to make distinctions, but God is not.


But in making us one in Christ, God has done something startling. In each of the cases documented in Galatians 3:28, God has taken situations where major differences are involved, changed them radically, then put things back together in such a way that, to those who don’t look too closely, it would appear that nothing has changed. But in reality, everything has changed.


We Gentile Christians take pride in the fact that we are not under the law, but are under grace. Yet Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 that he did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. Paul writes in Romans 11 that we who were Gentiles were grafted into the Jewish olive tree, and that it is the Jewish root that bears Gentile Christians, not vice versa. In Galatians 3:13 Paul writes to a Gentile church that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law; yet the curse of the law applies only to Jews who owed it to God to keep the law, but failed to do so. Neither the law nor the curse of the law applied to Gentiles. In Colossians 2:11 Paul tells another Gentile church that they have been circumcised with the circumcision made without hands; yet circumcision, and the covenant with God that it represents, applies to Jews, not to Gentiles. The Gentiles were, by definition, uncircumcised. And in Romans 8:4 Paul teaches us that the righteousness that is fulfilled in us is the righteousness of the law.


So what happened?


A Jew who is not born again owes it to God to keep the law, but cannot. Every Jew owes the same debt to God: the law.


Jesus Christ perfectly kept the law, and in doing so he perfectly fulfilled the obligation that every Jew owes to God.


When a Jew confesses Christ as Lord, he becomes identified with the only Jew ever to fully obey the law. The Jew still owes it to God to obey the law, but, because he is now identified with Christ, that obligation has been fulfilled by Christ. The Jew who is in Christ now stands before God as righteous as if he had perfectly fulfilled the law himself.


But what about the Gentile?


In Romans 2:12-15 we are told that Gentiles are judged by God based on what they knew that was consistent with God’s law versus what they did. This means that every Gentile owes a different debt to God, based on what he knew. How could one man pay all these different debts?


When a Gentile confesses Christ as Lord, he becomes identified with a Jew. This puts him under the law. Suddenly he owes the same obligation to God that every other Jew owes: keeping the law. But, as in the case of the Jew, there is no way he can do this. At the same time, though, he has become identified with the one Jew who obeyed God’s law perfectly. Christ’s obedience counts as his obedience, and his obligation is fulfilled.


Christ has fulfilled the law of God for righteousness for both the Jew and the Gentile. Because of this, neither Jew nor Gentile is under obligation to live under the law any more.


But God’s counsel to both born again Jew and born again Gentile is “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.” (I Corinthians 7:20.) The Jew is under no obligation to God to try to live like a Gentile, and the Gentile is under no obligation to God to try to live like a Jew. The Messianic Jew lives like a Jew who happens to believe in Christ. The born again Gentile lives like a Gentile who happens to believe in Christ. On the surface it looks like nothing has changed. But the reality is different. Both are under the law, but their debt to God has already been fulfilled by Christ, so that neither actually has to worry about keeping the law in order to be made right with God. They have each been made right with God by Christ’s keeping of the law.


What about those who are slaves and those who are free? I Corinthians 7 tells us that those who are slaves are the Lord’s freemen, and those who are free are slaves to Christ.


I Corinthians 7:21-22.

21 Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.


Because Christ is free, a slave who is identified with Christ is free in God’s eyes. Yet God instructs this born again freed man to remain in place as a slave as an act of obedience to God, and to work for his master the same way he would work for God.


To the master it might appear that everything is the same. But God has, in effect, set his slave free, then returned him to him as a voluntary servant with a godly attitude.


But God has done something else.


Colossians 3:22-25.

22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.


First, God has promised the slave eternal rewards for doing what he would otherwise be compelled to do without compensation. Second, God has promised to repay any wrong done to the slave, regardless of who it is that does it.


What about male and female?


Some churches have made a sharp distinction between male and female, basing their position on scriptures that seem to teach that women are not to be leaders or teachers in the church, or even, according to some, to speak in the church. But God has settled this question once and for all by giving His spirit to both Jew and Gentile, to both slave and free, and to both male and female, thus signifying that He has anointed all of them for service to Him an any capacity that He should choose. When we make distinctions that God does not, we are rebelling against God.


In Ephesians 5:21-24, God takes the issue of submission of the wife in marriage – something that many men consider their birthright – and taken the man out of the equation, out of the discussion.


Ephesians 5:21-24.

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.


First, God has instructed every believer in the church to submit himself to every other believer in the church. This has important ramifications on the issue of the nature of authority and leadership in the church, as well as on authority and leadership within marriage. Second, God has limited his commandment on submission by women to wives toward their own husbands, not women in general to men in general. Third, He has turned this into an issue of voluntary obedience of the wife toward God, and has thus stripped the husband of any right to encourage, compel or enforce the wife’s submission to him. What she does is not his business. It is strictly between her and God.


God has, in effect, liberated the woman, then instructed her to submit herself to her own husband as an act of obedience to God. He has turned something that she might once have been compelled to do into an act of voluntary obedience to God, for which she can receive eternal rewards.