Image by ktylerconk via Flickr
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Galatians 3: 26 - 29
The imagery here is of Christians as children of God. It is important to distinguish between children as an image of dependency (usually unquestioning) and inheritors, a people who carry forward the work of the parent.
Verse 28 is often quoted out of context. Look at the verses on either side of it. This is true for those who are baptised into, with, in and belong to Christ. This is not a claim made for the whole of humanity but for the church. The church is a community set up in opposition to the conventions that divide humanity.
Wherever we see no such distinctions in the church (and add your own, it's unlikely Paul meant to restrict these divisions to the three mentioned), we see the glory of God. We know we are children of God when we no longer make these distinctions.
This is the real ecumenical task. It is not about reconciling institutions but reconciling people.
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