Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, Verse 27

Galatians 3:27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

“all of you who were” There is a sense here of a universality – everybody is included. The Galatians were much more than nominal Christians. They were, indeed, a community of believers. The implication here is that most, if not all of them, had a solid foundation (see Galatians 3:2-5, where the Galatians are shown to have “received the Spirit,” and were functional in the charismatic gifts – even miracles!). This all fits in with the underlying theme of the book – that you don’t have to be part of a particular race or ethnic group to be part of the kingdom (see the next verse, verse 28).

“baptized into Christ” Paul discusses baptism more thoroughly in Romans 6. The emphasis here is on “into Christ”—being immersed in Him, being one with Him.

“have clothed yourselves with Christ” It was common in pagan cultures to have to wear certain types of clothing to participate in religious exercises. Priests in the Jewish Tabernacle and/or Temple were required to wear certain garments when they ministered before God. In the one “true faith,” all we need is Jesus. We are so close to Him, we wrap ourselves in Him – He covers us, so that all the Father sees is Jesus. The scriptures are filled with pictures of mankind taking off its sinful, dirty clothes, and wrapping himself with a righteous garment. Indeed, that garment is Jesus Himself. By accepting Jesus as our Savior, by “converting” to Christianity, we take our place in God’s kingdom, and for the purposes of Paul’s arguments throughout this chapter, we become the children of Abraham (3:7), Abraham’s Seed (3: 16 & 29), and an adopted son (3:26). We are one with Christ! It can’t be emphasized enough – it’s all about RELATIONSHIP!