Galatians 4:1-3

Already Paul had compared the Law to a prison warden (Galatians 3:22) and a baby sitter (Galatians 3:24). Now he compared it to a trustee appointed to care for a young child and his property, a guardian. The purpose of all three comparisons was to clarify the difference between the previous historical period of spiritual immaturity and the present period of spiritual freedom.

Paul contrasted the spiritual immaturity of those living under the Mosaic Law with the spiritual maturity of those living by faith in Christ. Now, as then, a very young child is under the direction of others even though he may be the heir of a vast inheritance. Similarly people before coming to Christ by faith were under bondage. In the case of Jews their bondage was to the Law. In the case of Gentiles it was the restraints of pagan religion. The "rite of passage" into adulthood took place in Jewish circles when a son reached the age of 12. In Greece it was at age 18, and under Roman law it was between 14 and 17. [Note: Barclay, pp. 36-37.]

Paul used the term ta stoicheia tou kosmou ("the elemental things of the world") four times in his writings, twice in this chapter (Galatians 4:3; Galatians 4:9) and twice in Colossians 2 (Galatians 4:8; Galatians 4:20).

"The word stoicheia [elemental things] means primarily things placed side by side in a row; it is used of the letters of the alphabet, the ABCs, and then, because the learning of the ABCs is the first lesson in a literary education, it comes to mean ’rudiments,’ first principles (as in Hebrews 5:12). Again, since the letters of the alphabet were regarded as the ’elements’ of which words and sentences are built up, stoicheia comes to be used of the ’elements’ which make up the material world (cf. 2 Peter 3:10; 2 Peter 3:12). This would be the natural meaning of ta stoicheia tou kosmou [elemental things of the world] unless the context dictated otherwise . . ." [Note: Bruce, p. 193.]

Some scholars have understood these elemental things as basic philosophical or religious teachings. [Note: E.g., Lightfoot, p. 167; Burton, pp. 215-16; Barclay, p. 38; Harrison, p. 1293; and Bruce, pp. 202-3.] Others believe Paul was referring to the material components of the universe: earth, water, air, and fire. [Note: E.g., E. Schweizer, "Slaves of the Elements and Worshippers of Angels: Galatians 4:3, 9 and Colossians 2:8, 18, 20," Journal of Biblical Literature 107 (1988):455-68.] Still others believe he meant the host of spiritual beings that Satan heads up. [Note: E.g., George, pp. 298-99; and Guthrie, Galatians, p. 113.] Other names for this vast company of demonic beings are "principalities," "powers," "the enemies of God," and "the rulers of this age" (Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 15:24; 1 Corinthians 15:26). Another view is that the elemental things are elementary stages of religious experience. [Note: Campbell, p. 601.] It seems to me that the context favors the first of these views: elementary teachings. Galatians 4:4-5 refer to the Law as that from which Christ redeemed "us" (i.e., his Jewish readers). For a Gentile the elemental things of the world would have been the teachings of pagan religion.

Paul contrasted the believer’s condition before and after Christ’s incarnation (cf. Galatians 4:4), not his condition before and after his conversion (justification). He was talking about stages in salvation history, not personal history.