Cheryl Schatz

Thanks pinklight & Rachel!

Lin,

I remember the first few times I heard complementarians insist that Galatians 3:28 is only about salvation and I wondered how they could justify women being a part of the list.  If we ignored the context the verse is found within, we certainly could understand if Paul said there is no Jew or Greek in Christ, that people would think it was about salvation because of the mindset of the early Jewish Christians.  But where in the scriptures is the salvation of women ever questioned?  It would be out of place to say that women are equally saved if there is never any question about their salvation.  But it certainly would not be out of place to stress the equality when the subject is on full sonship.  Women then inherit as equal heirs and share equal privileges and equal responsibilities.

Galatians 3:28 had to be forced into a salvation “boat” or the complementarian argument that the kingdom is made up of male and female “roles” would be demolished by our equality in the full inheritance of God.  What a shame that so many have swallowed CBMW’s interpretation without a careful study of the scriptures.  Galatians is written to Christians whose problem is not in regards to their salvation but in regards to their sanctification.  Paul makes this abundantly clear throughout the book of Galatians.  How we serve God and the growth and maturity that comes through that service is part of our sanctification process.  When we limit a person’s sanctification by refusing to allow them to grow in maturity in all the gifts that God has given them, we do the body of Christ a very great disservice.