According to the Promise

Abstract

This article analyses Paul’s argument regarding the reception of the Spirit and the creation of a new covenantal identity in Galatians 3:1–6:10 so as to illumine the provocative declaration in Gal. 3:28. Some scholars (e.g., Douglas Campbell) read Paul’s words in Gal. 3:28 as a pronouncement of the dissolution of ethnic, social, or gender categories. However, the pneumatological framework spanning from Gal. 3:1–6:10, within which Gal. 3:28 appears, suggests that Paul’s proclamation is concerned with the new covenantal identity forged through the reception of the Spirit which, rather than abolishing, relativises these categories. Thus, when we consider the structure of Paul’s polemic surrounding Gal. 3:28, we find that Paul’s primary concern is the new identity shared in Christ by all believers through the Spirit, not the removal of distinction or dissolution of ethnic, social, or gender categories.