Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Paul, one of the earliest leaders of the Christian church, is writing a letter to a community of believers in Colossae, a city in what is now Turkey. In the ancient world, these divisions weren't just social awkwardness — some of these groups despised each other. Greeks and Jews had deep religious and cultural hostility. "Barbarian" and "Scythian" were terms used for people considered uncivilized or savage, barely worth acknowledging. Slaves had no legal rights or standing. Paul is saying that inside the community of Christ-followers, these walls simply don't hold. Christ isn't just among them — he is everything, present in every person, regardless of where they come from or what the world has made of them.
God, it's easy to say everyone is welcome and harder to actually make room. Show me the person in my world I've been overlooking, and give me eyes to see Christ in them — even when it costs me something to do it. Amen.
The people Paul lists here weren't just different — some of them genuinely hated each other. Romans considered Scythians barely human. Greeks built entire philosophical systems around why they were superior. Free citizens didn't share meals with slaves. And yet Paul writes as though the most natural thing in the world is for all of them to be in the same room, around the same table, calling the same God "Father." "Christ is all, and is in all." Four words that, if taken seriously, rearrange everything. You probably don't have a Scythian in your small group. But you might have someone whose politics make your jaw tighten, or whose background makes you quietly uncomfortable, or who just feels like "not your kind of people." This verse doesn't ask you to pretend the differences don't exist. It asks you to see past them to something more fundamental: Christ in them. That's not a sentimental idea. It's a challenge that has the power to change who you eat lunch with, who you speak up for, and who you finally stop writing off.
Who were the "Greeks, Jews, barbarians, Scythians" of Paul's world, and why would lumping them together in a single sentence have been shocking to his original readers?
Which group or type of person do you find it hardest to genuinely see "Christ in" — and what do you think drives that in you?
Does this verse mean that cultural and ethnic differences don't matter inside the church, or that they don't divide? What's the practical difference between those two ideas?
If your church or community took this verse seriously in practice — not just in principle — what would need to change about how you actually spend time with people?
Is there one person you've been keeping at a distance because of background, politics, or personality? What would it look like to genuinely pursue that relationship this month?
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Ephesians 2:14
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:29
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Colossians 1:27
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
1 Corinthians 15:28
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
John 17:21
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Romans 10:12
a renewal in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, [nor between nations whether] barbarian or Scythian, [nor in status whether] slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all [so believers are equal in Christ, without distinction].
AMP
Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
ESV
[a renewal] in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
NASB
Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
NIV
where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
NKJV
In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
NLT
Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
MSG