You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
28 There
is [eni] neither [ou] Jew [Ioudaios] nor [oude] Greek [Hellen], there is [eni] neither [ou] bond [doulos] nor [oude] free [eleutheros], there is
[eni] neither [ou] male [arrhen] nor [kai] female [thelus]: for [gar] ye [humeis] are [este] all [pas] one [heis] in [en] Christ [Christos] Jesus [Iesous]. KJV-Interlinear
28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither
male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. NASB
This is the devils world. And within this world there are distinctions made in order to distinguish legitimate differences between objects, or to emphasize or enforce advantage of one category over another, thus illegitimate or false differences.
God created male and female for obvious reasons. God chose those who accept Him, and rejects those who reject Him, thus Jew and gentile categories were defined to symbolize this difference.
Out of Adam and Eve came all of humanity. And within Adam and Eve were all of the foundational genetic material that has resulted in all of the many colors and races that exist today. This gives each individual identity and uniqueness in size color and shape and appearance as well as their individual soul identity.
The world, on the other hand, takes these legitimate differences and goes one step further and defined rank and privilege for one group at the expense of another. Thus prejudice and bias enter into human society in the many forms of sin that exist. The result is that the minority or the weaker group is taken advantage of even to the point of abuse and atrocity.
But the world is going to be the world as long as Satan is at the helm.
In the spiritual life, Satan goes one step further and has defined many religions that likewise show bias for one group over another. Islam for example is extremely prejudiced and abusive toward women.
And all of these disadvantages come to light within the concept of works. What one person can do, may not be possible for another.
However, God has overcome these differences through faith, wherein no person has an advantage over any other person. Not even among the mentally handicapped is there a disadvantage.
If you are capable of thinking, then you are capable of faith, and therein lies the level playing field for all people.
No one is a privileged race. No one is a privileged gender. No one is a privileged color. No one is privileged by talent or ability. No one is privileged by rank or social or economic status.
Works means that you must do or achieve something, usually at the control or approval of others. This requirement can change as often as human ideas change.
Faith means that you simply rely on or believe in Gods effort and plan. Faith requires no worldly approval.
