50 Crucial Questions - Question 26

Doesn’t Paul’s statement that “there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28) take away gender as a basis for distinction of roles in the church?
No. Most evangelicals still agree that this text is not a warrant for homosexuality. In other words, most of us do not force Paul’s “neither male nor female” beyond what we know from other passages he would approve. For example, we know from Romans 1:24-32 that Paul does not mean for the teaching in Galatians 3:28 to overthrow the created order of different male and female roles in sexual relations.
The context of Galatians 3:28 makes abundantly clear the sense in which men and women are equal in Christ: they are equally justified by faith (v. 24), equally free from the bondage of legalism (v. 25), equally children of God (v. 26), equally clothed with Christ (v. 27), equally possessed by Christ (v. 29),
and equally heirs of the promises to Abraham (v. 29).
This last blessing is especially significant, namely, women’s equality of being fellow heirs with men of God’s promises. In 1 Peter 3:1-7, the blessing of being joint heirs “of the grace of life” (v. 7) is connected with the exhortation for women to submit to their husbands (v. 1) and for their husbands to treat their wives with respect “as the weaker vessel” (v. 7). In other words, Peter saw no conflict between the neither-male-nor-female principle regarding our inheritance and the headship-submission principle regarding our roles. Galatians 3:28 does not abolish gender-based roles established by God and redeemed by Christ.
Finally, it is important to pay careful attention to what Paul actually says in Galatians 3:28. He does not say, “you are all the same in Christ Jesus,” but, “you are all one in Christ Jesus.” He is stressing their unity in Christ, not their sameness.