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SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY: SONS & DAUGHTERS — ONE IN CHRIST
Based on the message by Pastor Chad Everett
OVERVIEW
What does it mean for the sons and daughters of God to actually live as one family?
In Spiritual Authority: Sons & Daughters | One in Christ, Pastor Chad Everett continues through Galatians 3:28–29. The previous verses establish that through faith in Jesus we become sons and daughters of God, are baptized into Christ, and have put on Christ. Paul now shows us what that means for our relationships with one another and what we have inherited because we belong to Christ.
Galatians 3:28 names distinctions that often separate people: Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. Yet Paul says, “you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Our ethnicity, nationality, economic status, or gender does not give one believer greater value or standing in Christ than another. Jesus is the One who unites us.
This truth reaches into the way we understand the body of Christ. Romans 12 describes believers as many members with different functions who together form one body. We do not have to compete for value, tear others down, or divide ourselves according to our differences. We belong to one another in Christ.
Paul then takes the truth of belonging even further. Galatians 3:29 says that if we belong to Christ, we are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:16 identifies the promised Seed as Christ. Genesis 3:15 points all the way back to God’s promise that the Seed would crush the serpent’s head. Through Jesus, the victory has already been won.
As sons and daughters, we are also heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We do not earn our place in the family or our inheritance through our performance. The Father has made His promises available through Jesus.
This study will help us examine what Scripture says about being one in Christ, belonging to one body, sharing in Christ’s victory, living as heirs, and receiving what the Father has made available to His sons and daughters.
HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE
Read → Respond → Reflect
Read each passage carefully before answering the Respond questions. Keep your Bible open and allow the verses themselves to provide the answers.
Then use the Reflect questions to examine your own life. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal where differences have become divisions, where you may be separating yourself from other members of Christ’s body, or where you are living as though you must earn what God has already made available through Jesus.
The goal is not simply to understand that we are one in Christ. The invitation is to live like sons and daughters who belong to one Father, one family, and one body and who receive and walk in what Christ has accomplished.
This guide is designed for individual study, family discipleship, and Roads Groups.
SECTION 1 — ONE IN CHRIST: LET JESUS DEFINE WHAT UNITES US
Focus
Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Paul names distinctions that reached across society. Jew and Greek addressed ethnicity and religious background. Slave and free reflected social and economic standing. Male and female addressed gender.
These distinctions were real, but they did not determine a believer’s standing in Christ.
Romans 10:12–13 reinforces this truth by saying there is no distinction between Jew and Greek because the same Lord is Lord over all. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Jesus becomes the common ground of the family of God. Our differences do not have to disappear for us to become one. They simply cannot become greater than the Christ who unites us.
Read
Galatians 3:26–29; Romans 10:12–13
Respond
- According to Galatians 3:26, how do we become sons of God?
- What distinctions does Paul name in Galatians 3:28?
- According to Galatians 3:28, what is true of all those who are in Christ Jesus?
- According to Romans 10:12, what does Paul say about the Lord’s relationship to both Jew and Greek?
- According to Romans 10:13, who will be saved?
Reflect
- Are there differences between me and other believers that I allow to become barriers to relationship?
- Is there an identity, background, or loyalty in my life that I sometimes allow to become more important than being in Christ?
- What would change in my relationships if being one in Christ became more important than the differences between us?
Further Scripture Reading
Galatians 3:26–29; Romans 10:12–13
SECTION 2 — ONE BODY: STOP DIVIDING AND START BUILDING ONE ANOTHER UP
Focus
Being one in Christ changes the way we see the other people in His body.
Romans 12:4–5 says that one body has many members and that those members do not all have the same function. In the same way, believers are “one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
Unity does not require everyone to be identical. Different members have different functions while still belonging to the same body.
This gives us a different way to respond to differences. We do not have to compete with one another for position or value. We do not have to tear someone else down in order to establish our own importance.
Instead, Scripture gives us the picture of a body whose members belong to one another. Our differences can serve the body rather than divide it.
“Let’s stop dividing ourselves amongst ourselves … let’s unite under Jesus Christ.”
Read
Romans 12:4–5; Galatians 3:28
Respond
- According to Romans 12:4, how many members are there in one body?
- Does Romans 12:4 say that every member has the same function?
- According to Romans 12:5, what are believers together in Christ?
- What does Romans 12:5 say about our relationship to one another?
- How does Galatians 3:28 describe those who are in Christ Jesus?
Reflect
- Do I see other believers as people I simply attend church with, or as members of the same body to whom I belong?
- Is there competition, comparison, or division in my relationships with other believers that needs to change?
- What can I do to strengthen my relationships with other members of Christ’s body?
Further Scripture Reading
Romans 12:4–5; Galatians 3:28
SECTION 3 — BELONG TO CHRIST: YOU ARE AN HEIR OF THE PROMISE
Focus
Galatians 3:29 says, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
For the Gentile believers receiving Paul’s letter, this was significant. Their natural ancestry did not connect them to Abraham, yet through faith in Christ they were included in the promise.
Galatians 3:7 says that those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. A few verses later, Paul explains that the promises were made to Abraham and his Seed. Galatians 3:16 identifies that singular Seed as Christ.
Our inheritance does not depend upon our ethnicity, ancestry, social position, or accomplishments. It comes through belonging to Jesus.
If we are Christ’s, we are no longer outsiders looking at God’s promises from a distance. Through Christ, we have been brought into the family and made heirs according to the promise.
Read
Galatians 3:7, 16, 26–29
Respond
- According to Galatians 3:7, who are sons of Abraham?
- According to Galatians 3:16, to whom were the promises made?
- Who does Galatians 3:16 identify as the promised Seed?
- According to Galatians 3:29, whose seed are those who belong to Christ?
- According to Galatians 3:29, what are those who belong to Christ heirs according to?
Reflect
- Do I live as though I truly belong to Christ, or do I still see myself as an outsider before God?
- Am I trying to establish my standing with God through something other than faith in Christ?
- How would seeing myself as an heir according to God’s promise change the way I approach Him?
Further Scripture Reading
Galatians 3:7–9, 16, 26–29
SECTION 4 — WALK IN CHRIST’S VICTORY: ENFORCE WHAT JESUS HAS ALREADY DONE
Focus
The promise of the Seed reaches back even further than Abraham.
In Genesis 3:15, after sin entered the world, God spoke of a coming Seed who would crush the serpent’s head. Galatians 3:16 identifies the promised Seed as Christ.
Jesus fulfilled that promise through His victory over sin and the enemy.
Romans 16:20 then gives believers a striking promise: “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”
Our spiritual authority does not begin with our own strength or ability. Jesus is the victorious One. Sons and daughters do not have to accomplish another victory apart from Him. We stand in what Christ has already accomplished and live from His victory.
We are not trying to become powerful enough to defeat the enemy. Our confidence rests in Jesus and what He has already done.
Read
Genesis 3:15; Galatians 3:16; Romans 16:20
Respond
- According to Genesis 3:15, between whom would God put enmity?
- What does Genesis 3:15 say the woman’s Seed would do to the serpent’s head?
- According to Galatians 3:16, who is the promised Seed?
- According to Romans 16:20, who will crush Satan?
- According to Romans 16:20, where will Satan be crushed?
Reflect
- When I face spiritual opposition, am I more focused on the strength of the enemy or the victory of Jesus?
- Where am I allowing fear or discouragement to make me forget what Jesus has already accomplished?
- How would my response to spiritual opposition change if I consistently began from Christ’s victory rather than my own ability?
Further Scripture Reading
Genesis 3:15; Galatians 3:16; Romans 16:20
SECTION 5 — LIVE AS AN HEIR: RECEIVE WHAT THE FATHER HAS MADE AVAILABLE
Focus
Romans 8 brings sonship and inheritance together.
Those who are led by the Spirit of God are called sons of God. Instead of receiving a spirit of bondage that leads back into fear, believers have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The relationship is not distant. God is our Father.
Romans 8:16–17 then says that if we are children, we are also heirs—“heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”
Our inheritance is not something we earn by performing well enough for God. It comes from belonging to Him as His children.
Psalm 103 gives us a picture of remembering and receiving what God has provided. David tells his soul not to forget the Lord’s benefits and then begins naming them: forgiveness, healing, redemption, lovingkindness, and tender mercies.
False humility can cause us to continually disqualify ourselves from what the Father has freely provided. Sons and daughters can instead know their Father, remember His benefits, and receive what He has promised through Christ.
Read
Romans 8:14–17; Psalm 103:1–5
Respond
- According to Romans 8:14, who are identified as sons of God?
- According to Romans 8:15, what Spirit have believers received, and what do we cry through Him?
- According to Romans 8:16, what does the Spirit bear witness with our spirit?
- According to Romans 8:17, what becomes true of us if we are children of God?
- What benefits of the Lord does Psalm 103:1–5 tell us not to forget?
Reflect
- Do I approach God primarily as my Father, or do I relate to Him as though I still have to earn access to Him?
- Where am I allowing fear, shame, or a sense of unworthiness to keep me from receiving what Scripture says God has provided?
- Which of the Lord’s benefits in Psalm 103:1–5 do I most need to remember and receive right now?
Further Scripture Reading
Romans 8:14–17; Psalm 103:1–5
FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
Through faith in Jesus, we are sons and daughters of God. But sonship was never meant to produce isolated individuals who happen to share the same Father.
In Christ, we become family.
The distinctions that the world uses to separate, rank, and divide people do not determine our value or belonging in Jesus. We are one in Christ. We are many members with different functions, yet we belong to one body and to one another.
Because we belong to Christ, we also share in something greater than ourselves. We are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. The promised Seed is Jesus, the One who crushed the enemy and accomplished the victory we now stand in.
And because we are children, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Stop living like an outsider. Stop allowing differences to become divisions. Stop trying to earn what the Father has made available through Jesus. Know whose family you belong to. Build up the other members of the body. Stand in Christ’s victory. Remember the Father’s benefits and receive what He has provided.
“Let’s stop dividing ourselves amongst ourselves … let’s unite under Jesus Christ.”
Be one in Christ.