Hard to believe as it may be, our passage today is controversial among Christians. The issue has to do with whether the Gospel of Jesus Christ has removed all distinctions between men and women. Evangelical Christianity today is split on this very issue, particularly on whether leadership in the church should be restricted to men only or extended to women as well. In addition, the roles in marriage are disputed, whether the man is “the head” of his wife, or whether husband-wife roles are equal and interchangeable.

We believe that this verse does not eliminate all distinctions, for there are clearly anatomical differences that remain. While this observation is obvious, it forces us to admit that this verse is not absolute. Once doing that, we must look for a principle that will control what applications might be made or not made. For this we turn to one of the most basic rules of interpretation, namely, to consider the context of a verse.

In this case, the context has to do with an equal standing before God, and there is no mention of role relationships in the church or marriage. All along Paul has been addressing the question of whether Gentiles need to become Jewish in order to have a right and acceptable standing before God. His answer has been a resounding, “No!” (see Gal 3:21).  The lead off doublet in this verse indicates that he is still addressing the same issue.

In the second and third doublets, Paul expands the truth to include two other spiritual prejudices that were widely held in the ancient world. We have seen that a Gentile doesn’t need to become Jewish to be saved. So also, a slave doesn’t need to become free in order to be saved. And a women has an equal standing before God as does a man. All are considered “sons.” Now, through faith in Jesus Christ, all have equal access to God, being part of His family, regardless of gender. This was revolutionary thinking in ancient times.

There are social implications to this verse, to be sure. Believing slave owners are to treat their slaves as brothers (see book of Philemon). Husbands are to treat their wives as “fellow heirs of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:8) and to “love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church…” (Eph 5:25). In the transformation, God still preserved certain role distinctions, for example, “The husband is the head of the wife…” (Eph 5:23). The burden of church leadership rests on male elders, rooted in the created order (1 Tim 2:13-15, 3:2, Titus 1:6).