Paul shifts analogies here but continues to show the Galatians and us what the purpose of the law is. This time he uses a father and an heir analogy. The heir knows that he will one day receive all of the inheritance, but until that day comes he basically has nothing. Paul is likening that to the story of humanity under the law. While we were under the law we were waiting for Christ to come and set us free. Paul uses the phrase “elementary principles of the world” which we have not seen before. There are two interpretations that would make sense here. The first is that “the elementary principles of the world” is just another way of describing the law. The laws of God are the basic principles of how this world works. The law is the essential components or the elementary things. This makes sense in how Paul has described the law. That it was necessary for a time. The Old Testament law was like elementary school for the people of God. It was very specific and governed their lives. God was raising his people on the law to prepare them for when the gospel came. This is where the Judaizers get the law wrong. They saw the law as the graduate school for the gospel. They were missing the whole point of it all. The other interpretation of “the elementary principles of the law” is to see it as pagan worship and idolatry that the Gentiles were a part of which is how Paul will use it in Galatians 4:9. All in all, Paul is pointing us to the fact that God’s people need to grow up. They are no longer slaves or heirs waiting for their inheritance, but the good news has come and they need to embrace it. They must leave behind their spiritual infancy and move into spiritual maturity and freedom.