You Are In the Will: What It Means to Be Connected to Christ and the Church

Meta Description: Saving faith connects us to Christ and to one another. Discover what Galatians 3:26-29 reveals about who you are in Jesus — and what you've inherited. URL Slug: you-are-in-the-will-connected-to-christ-and-the-church Featured Image: A warm, diverse group of people gathered around an open Bible, with soft natural light — conveying community, belonging, and the joy of shared faith.

What if the most important thing about you had nothing to do with your background, your bank account, or your gender? This past Sunday, I opened Galatians 3:26-29, and what I found there stopped me in my tracks — because Paul makes a claim so radical, so sweeping, and so glorious that it changes everything about how we see ourselves and how we see each other.

The main idea is simply this: saving faith connects us to Christ and to one another. Let me walk you through what that means.

We Are All Sons of God

Galatians 3:26 says: "For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith."

I want you to notice something. Paul uses the word sons here deliberately and strategically. In the ancient world, daughters were not placed in a father's will to receive an inheritance. But Paul looks at the church — men, women, boys, and girls — and says, you are all sons of God. Every single one of us. That word all is emphatic.

How does this happen? Two prepositional phrases in that one verse tell us everything. We are sons of God in Christ Jesus — because Christ is the Son of God, and all who are in Him share in that relationship. And we get into Christ through faith.

This is the heart of the gospel. The Judaizers in Galatia were teaching that faith in Christ wasn't quite enough — you also needed to observe the Law of Moses. But Paul is unambiguous: Christ plus circumcision cannot save you. Christ plus church membership cannot save you. Christ plus good works cannot save you.

As Ephesians 2:8-9 puts it: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast."

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone — plus or minus nothing.

We Are All Baptized Into Christ

Verse 27 gives us a vivid picture of what union with Christ looks like: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

Paul isn't talking about water baptism saving anyone here — that would completely contradict everything he's argued in this letter. He's talking about spirit baptism, the moment a repentant sinner who trusts Christ is brought into union with Him. As 1 Corinthians 12:13 says: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free."

Then Paul shifts his metaphor from water to clothing. The believer has put on Christ. I love this picture. In the ancient world, a new convert was baptized and then received new clothes to signify their new life. But Paul says Christians don't just put on new clothes — we put on Christ Himself.

Notice the grammar here. Baptized is passive — something done to you by another. But put on is active — something you do for yourself. Others can baptize you, but you have to put on Christ for yourself. Have you done that?

We Are All One in Christ

Here is where the gospel gets beautifully disruptive. Verse 28 says: "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."

Paul is drawing on three of the most powerful social divisions of his day — race, class, and sex — and declaring that in Christ, none of them determine how we view or treat one another. This doesn't erase all human distinctions. Paul himself affirms distinct roles in other writings. But it does mean that worldly categories should never be allowed to divide Christian people.

As I said Sunday, all who belong to Christ belong to all who belong to Christ. If you are saved, we don't just belong to Christ — we belong to one another.

In John 17:21, Jesus prays that all His disciples "may be one." Some have called this the unanswered prayer of Jesus. But let me tell you something — Jesus doesn't have unanswered prayers. That prayer has been answered. We are one. The question is whether we're living like it.

How will the world take our message seriously if race, money, and politics can so easily divide us? May God help us to live and love and lead as if Jesus is greater than everything else.

We Are All Heirs According to the Promise

Verse 29 is where I want to leave you today, because it is simply breathtaking: "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise."

To be an heir means more than being in the family. It means you're in the will.

1 Peter 1:3-4 describes what's waiting for us: "According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you."

An inheritance that family can't fight over. That the government can't tax. That inflation can't steal. And here's the part that makes my soul glad — we are heirs according to the promise, not according to our performance. There are days I don't talk like an heir. There are days I don't act like one. But my inheritance isn't based on how good I've been. It's based on the faithfulness of a God who keeps His promises.

Numbers 23:19 says God is not a man that He should lie. If He said it, He will do it.

This Is Your Story Too

I want to close with a simple invitation. At the end of the day, the only distinction that will ultimately matter is this: Are you in Christ?

If you are in Christ, you are a son of God. You are baptized into Him. You are one with His people. And you are an heir of everything He has promised.

If you haven't trusted Christ yet, I want you to know the door is open — to whosoever will. But you can't come on your own terms. You have to be clothed in the wedding garment, and that garment is Christ Himself. Turn from your sins, run to the cross, and put on Christ today.

And if you're already in Christ — let me encourage you: go find your brothers and sisters this week. We belong to each other. That's not optional. That's the gospel.

Watch the full sermon on our website or YouTube channel, and join us next Sunday as we continue our series on our church vision — Connect, Grow, and Serve.

Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): To be an heir means more than being in the family — it means you're in the will. This week's message from Galatians 3:26-29 is a reminder that saving faith connects us to Christ and to one another. You have an inheritance that can't be taxed, stolen, or contested. Read the full post and share it with someone who needs this today.

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