Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV)
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Far from the gentile Galatians having to undergo circumcision and rituals of initiation in order to be considered children of Abraham, when they exercised saving faith in Jesus, they instantly became children of God Himself. This is what John was saying in John 1:11-13 (NIV): He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Paul also notes that when a person becomes one of God’s children through faith in Jesus, their previous identity is completely subsumed in their new one. There is no person among God’s children who is counted by Him as Jew or Greek. Members of both categories who exercise saving faith in Jesus are considered by Him simply as “children of God”. There is no social hierarchy in God’s sight based on financial status, whether one is a slave or free, or even whether one is male or female; all are simply considered by Him to be “children of God”, standing and working in His presence on completely level ground.
And, when a gentile becomes one of God’s children through faith in Jesus, he or she is automatically counted by God’s own word as an heir of Abraham, heir to all the promises that were made to him, regardless of whether one is circumcised or not. Even though God gave circumcision to the Jews in perpetuity as a sign of His covenant with them, Jesus came as the Savior not just of the Jews, but of all humanity. Therefore, a gentile does not have to become a Jew in order to be saved, but can be completely saved and adopted by God as one of His children from right where they are at the point that they turn to Him.
Father, I think that it is easy for us to get confused, wrapped around the axle as it were, because we so clearly see the externals and are used to judging others based on those. But You see directly into the heart, and that is how we are judged by You (1 Samuel 16:7). And, indeed, someone can submit to circumcision on the outside and remain totally unchanged (and unsaved) on the inside. Help us to continue to let Your word mold and shape us, and to open our eyes to all that You need to show us. Amen.