No Male or Female?
In the opening chapter of Genesis, we read:
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God created humankind male and female. The process by which He did this is elaborated on in Genesis 2:5-24. But it’s clear that God created humankind in not one and not multiple genders but two: male and female.
Not only are there two genders in the human species, but there are also two genders in the animal kingdom as well. When God instructed Noah to bring pairs of animals into the ark, He commanded him to bring in pairs of male and female:
Genesis 6:19
And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
God specified that Noah was to take two pairs of unclean animals and seven pairs of clean animals (Gen. 7:1-3). The reason God instructed Noah to take pairs of animals--male and female--was so that they could procreate once they left the ark.
How does that square, then, with a verse in Galatians?
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Some may misunderstand this verse, suggesting that the gender binary is done away with, that there is no longer male and female. Yet, if we read the context, we see that this speaks about those in Christ Jesus. They are sons of God through the new birth (see Rom. 10:9-10). In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. In Christ, there is neither enslaved person nor free. In Christ, there is neither male nor female. Why? “For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In other words, in Christ, all external signifiers that might divide people--race, social status, gender--are done away with. The emphatic language here underscores the profound truth of our unity in Christ.
Does Galatians 3:28 suggest that external signifiers like race, social status, gender no longer exist?
If a Greek person is in Christ, does that mean he stops being Greek once he is born again? If an enslaved person is in Christ, does that mean he is no longer enslaved once he is born again? If a woman is in Christ, does that mean she stops being a woman and is now identified as non-binary once she is in Christ? No. If we read the context, we learn that Galatians 3:28 teaches us that those outward signifiers like race, social status, and gender do not matter in Christ. They do not hinder or affect our unity in Christ. (Whether we live out this truth is another matter.) Galatians 3:28 declares that racial, social, and gender differences don’t divide those who are in Christ. We are all one in Christ.
The book of Genesis provides core foundational truths for life, and one of those truths is that God created humankind in two genders: male and female. Galatians 3:28 instructs that those of us who are in Christ no longer derive our identity from our race, status, gender, or any other outward signifier. We identify as being in Christ. However, that doesn’t mean gender no longer exists, as some would have us believe, or that there are more than two genders. On this matter, the Scriptures are crystal clear.
We must decide whose words we believe: people’s or God’s.
