What does the Bible mean when it says there is no longer a Jew or gentile?

Answer 1

This is a quote from the letter Paul wrote to the church in Galatia:

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

Paul's letter to the Galatians addressed their belief that a person should still obey the Law of Moses in order to be a 'true' Christian. Paul argued that this was not the case, and he wrote this letter in order that the Galatians could be brought back to true faith and also to point out that those who insisted on Jewish Law being supreme were guilty of false teaching.

This passage is one of the most explicit passages that outlined Paul's teaching on equality.

"Neither Jew nor Greek" can also be interpreted as 'neither Jew nor Gentile' - in other words Christianity is not jew-specific nor Gentile-specific, but is open for allpeople whatever their background.

"slave nor free" was necessary as some church officials were beginning to lord it over others, and pull rank because of their previous social standing. This was not right, argued Paul, for all are equal in Christ's sight.

"male nor female" - contrary to what mysoginistic men say about Paul, and that he insisted that men should dominate women (as in Islam), this passage shows explicitly that Paul also regarded men and women as equals. In those days women were church leaders too (eg Lydia) only to be suppressed a few centuries later.

"for all are one in Christ Jesus" - if you are to call yourself a Christian, then you must accept that all people are equal, have equal rights, and are to be treated with fairness and love.

If one was to extrapolate this verse to modern times, we could include, as well, the following examples, among many others:

"...neither rich or poor, black or white, republican or democrat, labour or conservative, gay or straight, believer or non-believer... for we are all one - in Jesus Christ.