Translation
Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? May it never be so! For if a law capable of giving life was given, certainly justification would come from the law. But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin in order that by faith of Jesus Christ the promise might be given to the ones believing. And before faith came, we were held captive, imprisoned until faith was revealed, so that the law became our guide until Christ in order that we might be justified by faith. Faith having now come, we are no longer under the guide. For you are all sons of God, because of faith in Christ Jesus. For whoever among you has been baptized into Christ has been clothed in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
Reflections
Paul gets so wound up here, but the part about all the things that just don’t matter anymore because of who we are in Jesus is solid gold.
Each church needs to rewrite that section into whatever pairs they find most challenging. I dare you to come up with pairs that stretch you more than these would have stretched the Galatian churches. These are word pairs that divided whole cultures, and Paul throws them out as being irrelevant in the face of Jesus. This is a passage that can be heavily nuanced to death, but the raw equality that Paul preaches here is powerful, powerful stuff. It’s not just for the other guy, either. Most of us have a way to go on this stuff.
