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". . . . . 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" (3: 28).
"In Christ Jesus" gives their standing in Christ and they join the spiritual ranks of
faithful Abraham and those who walked in his footsteps.
The Apostle now contrasts the conditions under the sphere of the law with this new
and wonderful position "in Christ" as being an heir with freedom and goes back to the
illustration of the pedagogue:
"What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave,
although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time
set by the father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic
principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a
woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full
rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the
Spirit Who calls out Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and since you
are a son, God made you also an heir" (Gal. 4: 1-7, N.I.V.).
There is only one word that can describe the condition of those who are under the
dominion of the law and the principles of the world, that is slavery. The heir, while he is
a minor, knows nothing of freedom but is hedged around with restraints and prohibitions
until he attains his majority (maturity?). The Apostle now applies this to the time before
redemption when all were in bondage. Stoicheia means "elementary principles" or stages
of religious experience (whether Jewish or Gentile) which they have gone through in the
past, but are now outdated and abolished by Christ. If the Galatians had been Gentile
pagans before they were saved, they could scarcely have been said to be in slavery to
Jewish law from any angle. The margin of the New English Bible translates Gal. 4: 3
"elementary ideas belonging to the world".
However some modern translators render stoicheia "elemental spirits of the world"
which in popular belief were often linked in men's minds with spiritual forces. These
were thought to control the world as in astrology today. This was the ground from which
the later Jewish gnosticism was to grow.
Paul describes these "elements" in verse 9 as "weak and beggarly" or poor, and
marvels that the Galatians prepared to go back to the slavery from which they had been
redeemed. And the basis of this deliverance is given in verses 4 and 5:
"But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons" (4: 4, 5).
Scripture asserts that there is a time and season to every purpose under heaven. The
purpose or plan of God is called "the purpose of the ages" (literally Eph. 3: 11). Nations
had been permitted to grope in darkness and these times are called "the times of this
ignorance" Acts 17: 30. Many forms of government had been tried and found wanting,
Jewish religion, Greek wisdom and Roman power all stood self-confessed failures. The
time had come for the Redeemer to be born, thus stressing His full humanity as well as