The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 205

J;Rp l•rh,ren men in rrsrcct of socinl ~tnncling, between the M'Verc\i"n lltld the common 1mbjert of the realm, beLween the nobleman and the peasant, betwe~n tlle rich :md the ro0r, between master and servant, cometimes so impresses us that we do' not think· of' tlirir being equal at all, they seem beings of a ditfe'rent order; but in Christ there is no difference; there is a great absolute equality before God, who 'Is no respeoter of ptrsons and the man with a Chrietian heart under a rough exterior is full brother to thci Chria! tinn gentleman, and the servant-girl who loves her Bible is of as much account ae her Christian mistress. Paul says to slaves, \\'anting to be set free, "For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman; likewise also hilthat is ell.lied beincr free, is Christ's servant." It has been made out of this, not that there are no condition~ in Uhrist, but, what also pnts us on an equnlity, that all conditions are possessed fa Obrist. "'If ~ ~an is a slave, he may be ~ree in _Christ. If free, he rriay ba"e 'the joy of utter subm1ss1on to an absolute master m Christ. If you and: I li_re hn\ely,-we may feel all _the ~elights of ~ociety by un)on with him. If snrrounded and distracted by compan1onsh1p, and seekmg for secl11s1on, we may get all the peace of perfect privacy in fellowship with him. If we are rich, and sometimes think that we were in a position of less temptation if we were poorer, we may find all the blessings for which:we some-' times crave poverty in communion with him. If we are poor, and fancy that if we had a little more, just to lift us above the grinding, carking care ·of 'to-day,, and ·the anxiety of to-morrow, we should be happier, we may find all tranquillity ,fli -him.~· "' There can be no male and female." This distinction in sex has more foundation- in nature than the distinction of men by nationality or by their social standing. •:."·Male and female created he them." In the resurrection, the distinction, in its' physical•• aspect, will have no place; but now it reigns, and forms an agreeable contrast· in linmanity. But it also disappears in the lower ground of a common sonshiI>, There is daughterhood. !Spoken of in that passage," Ye shall be my sons and daughters,;saith tbe. Lord Almighty;" but generally it is a filial st_anding, without any distinction of ·s.ex; that is indicated. •• And, after all, women are men. Their relation with. :God is a.n, immediate one. They stand in exactly the same position with regard:·to him as,man.; and, in this supreme point of view, the equality of the sexes is •perfect, as is that between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak; The two sexes are only tlie two formR, or two functions, of our common humanity, the members.of, which are all, called to serve and glorify God, some as men, others as women. Th~: service of God is the substance, the rest is only the mode or the accident. Now, we fully believe that God has made the woman for the man, in that he has dualized man; for whom it was not good to be alone, and who would have been alone in a moral sense, and in that sense more especially, with a being exactly similar and perfectly equal to himself; but we cannot, we must not, imagine that the whole feminine sex has been called out. of nothingness into being, merely to complete the existence,of individuals of the other aex:. 'l'he proposition," the woman was made for the man," has, therefore, for counter,- poise and complement, another proposition-the woman has been created for herself, or, better still," man and woman both have been created for God." Inferences. We are to r1;foi~ most in that 1/!herein we are equal. n is not -external advantages or points of superiority over others that can afford any man the deepest, purest joy, If he is vain of these, and allows them prevalence iu his thoughts, he will certainly forfeit his joy, Vi!hen the seventy returned from their missionary tour, they were flushed with.the joy of a new-found power over devils: "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us, through thy Name." CLrist directed them to the true source of joy: "Notwithstabding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject nnto you, but rather rejoice that your names are v.ritten in heaven." 'Jhat God numbers us among his children,--that is the. humble, equalizing element in our joy. it is not,implied that inequalities are to be repudiated, There are inequalities in the providence of God, mainly for purposes of trial; and we are not to find fault with them. "Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God." The instance in point was the converted slave, who, when. he came to the knowledge of Christ, was not to go away and demand a change of con- dition; but if it was the will of God that he should still remain in slavery, he was to abide therein with God, content to enjoy that freedom with which Christ had made him free. 'rhe same consideration might lead a man not to shirk, like Jonah, but to talrn a very high pollition, for which, perhaps, he had no x;.atural liking, but to which ho fol~ en. m: 1-29.] 'l'HE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 171