48 Bible Verses on Racial Reconciliation

“God has spoken on the issues at hand, and He has not stuttered. He has spoken about racism. He has spoken about systemic and individual injustices. He has spoken about classism. He has spoken about culturalism. He has spoken about politics. He has spoken about freedom. He has spoken about division. He has spoken about equity, elitism, indulgences, empathy, and more. God has spoken about all of these subjects, but until we align our hearts, thoughts, words, and actions underneath His overarching rule based on what He has said, we are living in rebellion and will continue to suffer the consequences for it.”
– Tony Evans, Oneness Embraced (p. 280)

Unsurprisingly, Scripture is filled with verses relating to issues on race and discrimination. God’s people in the Old Testament were set apart for their heritage as descendants of Abraham, however anyone who wanted to join the Israelite nation could have done so. In the New Testament, Jesus’ work made it so that God’s people no longer needed to become a part of Israel to receive salvation through faith. In Acts, the new church struggled to reconcile the difference in how differently the Gentiles lived outwardly, however God’s clear path for salvation does not require a cultural stencil to properly live out the Gospel (Acts 10). Since the end of the New Testament, more racial pain and acts of prejudice have divided people groups. The way God has communicated His character shows a great hate for these acts of injustice and a way for reconciliation. These verses show God’s heart for the all people and how to live righteously towards one another.

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What Does the Bible Say About Racial Reconciliation?

Old Testament

Exodus 22:21
“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 23:9
“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:33–34
“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

Numbers 15:15–16
“For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

Deuteronomy 10:18–19
“He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 24:17–18
“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.”

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.

Zechariah 7:9–10
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

New Testament

Luke 10:29–37
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Acts 10:34–35
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”

Acts 11:17–18
If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Romans 3:29–31
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Romans 9:8
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Galatians 3:28–29
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. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Ephesians 2:11–16
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Ephesians 2:19–22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Colossians 1:19–20
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

James 2:1
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

James 2:8–9
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

[1] Evans, Tony, Oneness Embraced, pp 280.