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“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put I 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter X
-
Brothers: “...you are all brothers.”
 
82
 
 
Brothers:
“...you are all brothers.”
 
(Matthew 23:8)
I‟ve never had a brother. I have
three sisters, but no brothers. My sisters and I are all
different, yet very much the same. People outside the family say we look alike. We don‟t think we
look a bit alike. We love each other deeply, yet we have a long history of disagreements.Would we b
e friends if we weren‟t in the same family? I don‟t know. That‟s really beside
the point. We are more than friends. We are sisters. There is an indefinable bond between us, notof our own making. This is the bond we have because we have shared things together. We haveshared the same parents, the same home, the same experiences.
When I looked up the word “brother” in my concordance I found that the word for “brother” literally means “of the same womb”
l
in the ancient Greek. That is exactly what mysisters and I are. We have shared the same womb. So, in the ancient Greek language sense, mysisters are my brothers.Of the same womb.
What a beautiful definition for the word which Jesus used to describe all believers. “...youare all brothers.” (Matthew 23:8) Nicodemus asked Jesus if he had to enter his mother‟s womb asecond time in order to be born again. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:5
-8; Galatians 4:28-29: I Peter 1:23)All believers are of the same womb of the Spirit. We share the same parent, God, ourFather (John 1:12-13). We are all brothers.As brothers we have many things in common. Remember the list of reasons whichconvinced the Jewish Christians to accept the Gentile Christians as brothers?
...“Christ is all, and is in all.” (Colossians 3:11: Ephesians 4:4
-5)...All are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28)....God has called us all clean (Acts 10:9-23, 15:9)....All fear God and do what is right (Acts 10:34-35)....All have received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:47. 15:8)....All have hearts with which they have believed (Romans 10:10)....All have mouths with which they have made confession (Romans 10:10)....All have the same Lord (Romans 10:12-13; Acts 15:11)....Christ has accepted all (Romans 15:7).
Peter‟s first words of address to the New Testament church begin with the recognition that
all believers, men and women, are brothers.When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those presentwere Peter, John, James and Andrew They all joined together constantly in prayer, alongwith the women and Mary the mother of Jesus,...In those days Peter stood up among thebelieve
rs (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, „Brothers,...‟ (Acts
1:13-16).
The other New Testament writers followed Jesus‟ example (Matthew 23:8) and continued
to
1 Robert Young. Antalytical Concordance Jo The Bible, Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Grand Rapids,Michigan, 1970, page 124.
 
“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put I 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter X
-
Brothers: “...you are all brothers.”
 
83
 
 
use the term “brothers” to refer to all believers. The epistles were written to be read aloud to an
assembly of believers. So educational level or the ability to read made no difference since eachbeliever heard these letters in exactly the same way. Certainly these assemblies included manywomen. In fact, about 30% of those specifically mentioned or directly addressed in the NewTestament epistles are women.
2
 These New Testament letter writers define what a brother is by using it as a term of address.When we see who the New Testament books are addressed to we see who the writers included in the
term “brothers”.
 
“To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be ho
ly.together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and
ours:... I appeal to you, brothers,...” (I Corinthians 1:2,10). Paul also addresses as “brothers” tho
seloved by God (Romans 1:7.13) and faithful in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1. 6:23-24).
To God‟s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus. Galatia, Capadocia, Asia
and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkled by hisblood you have sincere love for your brothers,... (I Peter 1: 1,22; II Corinthians 1: 1 ,8;Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1,4; 11 Thessalonians 1:1,3; James 1:2; II Peter 1: 10; IJohn 2:7).All these verses, and many more, tell us what a brother is. Even if you have some special
office in the church you are still a “brother”. “To all the sai
nts in Christ Jesus at Philippi, togetherwith the overseers and deacons:... Now I want you to know, broth
ers,...” (Philippians 1:1,12).
 
Paul also interchanges the term “brothers” with “saints” (Romans 16:14,15; Colossians 1:2)which he defines as those “called to belong to Jesus Christ...who are loved by God...” (Romans 1:6
-7). Paul addresses the believers a
s “saints” eight times in Romans including 16: 1
-2 where he relatesthe term directly to Phoebe (Acts 8:3, 9:1-2,13, 26:10).
“... you are all brothers.” (Matthew 23:8)
 Jesus said that.He said it amid his scathing critique of the Pharisees and the teacher
s of the law. He didn‟t try
to be tactful or to soften the blow. He said very plainly that they stood condemned.
In spite of their super religiosity they still didn‟t know God and even kept others from
knowing him too (Matthew 23:13). They intimidated others with their show-off religion (Matthew
23:5)
and supposed knowledge of the Scriptures and the ways of God (Matthew 23:2-3), burdeningthem with loads no one could carry (Matthew 23:4,15).These teachers were only interested in their own position and status (Matthew
23:5-7).
Jesusaffirmed the Scriptural teaching that God is interested in the heart, not in outward appearances(Matthew 23:25-
28). Nor was God interested in the Pharisees‟ legalistic
maneuverings so that theycould seem religious while still having their own way (Matthew 23:16-22).According to Jesus these teachers of the law had widely missed the mark and fallen far shortof what it really meant to be a child of God. Despite appearances, these people were actually hostile toGod, even seeking
to overthrow God‟s rule (Matthew 23:29
-36).When Jesus finished his condemnation of these religious leader imposters he wept. He weptfor those he longed to love. He wanted to give them life, comfort, and freedom from such
2 This figure was calculated h listing all those believers who were contemporary with each N.T. letter writerwhich the writer either mentioned or directly addressed. Of the 87 people who qualified for this list from Romans throughJude, 26 were women, or 29.8% of the total listed.
 
“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put I 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter X
-
Brothers: “...you are all brothers.”
 
83
 
 tyranny, yet they refused to come (Matthew 23:37).Tucked inside this harsh condemnation of the Pharisees and teachers of the law Jesus speaksto his own, those who are willing to come to him,
But you are not to be called „Rabbi,‟ for you have only one Ma
ster and you are all brothers.
And do not call anyone on earth „father,‟ for you have one Father. and he is in heaven. Nor areyou to be called „teacher,‟ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will
be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:8-12)The message to the believers is clear. Jesus does not want his disciples to be anything likethose counterfeit religious leaders. Jesus wants his followers to be equal with each other before Godand among each other. Only one is a father. Only one is a teacher. That one is God, the one triune
God. All others in God‟s family are brothers, all having the same relationship with God. all having the
same relationship with e
ach other. The way to greatness in God‟s family is through humility andservanthood. Exaltation is God‟s business, no one else‟s (Matthew 20:23).
 
Remember when Jesus was told that his mother and brothers wanted to speak to him. “Hereplied to him, „Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?‟ Pointing to his disciples, he said,„Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48
-50; John 6:29)Doing the will of God through the righteousness and sanctifying grace of Christ is what makesus a brother. In addition there is one amazing and outstanding item Jesus includes in this definition of a brother. Jesus is not just defining any brother. he is defining ~
 brother...”
 Not only are all believers brothers but they are brothers with Jesus Christ himself. No matter
what our stature or position may be in the world‟s eyes. if we have been redeemed by Jesus, we are
his brother (Matthew 25:40). We are brothers to the King, who is over everything!The writer to the Hebrews makes this all so clear.In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God...should make the author of theirsalvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who aremade holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers....Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that byhis death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and freethose who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death....For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that hemight become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might makeatonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he isable to help those who are being tempted.Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts onJesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. (Hebrews 2:10-11,14-3: 1)Once again God reveals the awesome splendor of our oneness with Christ. He is our brother.The common things which all these brothers share fall into three main categories:
All stand before God clothed in Christ‟s righteousness
(Acts 10:9-23, 34-35, 15:9;
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