In Galatians 3:26-28, Paul states: "In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (NRSV) In this text, Paul proclaims an end of ethnic, social and gender inequalities by virtue of baptism into Christ. Scholarly debate has surrounded the interpretation of these verses. While prior to the middle of the twentieth century this text was understood in a spiritual way without any social consequences, subsequent scholars have understood these verses to proclaim actual, practical social equality. Despite the scholarly consensus, Paul's letters offer little and contradictory evidence of such practical consequences. This dissertation explores further practical implications of this proclamation, by studying Paul's relationship with his associates. This dissertation argues that Paul's relationships with these associates were essentially egalitarian. Paul expressed such equality through the language of true friendship, and the language of symmetrical fictive kinship relationship (brotherhood and sisterhood). He also employed the language of partnership and egalitarian terms in describing their mission, their role, and their attitude towards the task of evangelization. Although Paul used the asymmetrical language of patronage and fictive kinship relationships, this usage was secondary to the primary egalitarian expressions of these relationships. These egalitarian relationships offer further evidence of the practical consequences of the proclamation of equality in Galatians 3:28.