Galatians 4:1-8

5. The development from Judaism or Gentilism to Christianity, parallel to the development from childhood into manhood, Galatians 4:1-8.

Paul here unfolds, with marked clearness, his “doctrine of development,” and charges therefrom that the Galatians have reversed the law of progress, and “advanced backwards.” He had hinted this view in Galatians 3:3; Galatians 3:25, and now fully expands the view. In the present chapter, Galatians 4:1-2 describe the child in pupilage and advancement; Galatians 4:3-7 the parallel pupilage and growth of moral life; Galatians 4:8-11 describe and rebuke the Galatian retrograde movement.