When we come to Christ and are reborn, we are like newborn babies at first. But as time goes on we ought to grow and mature. It appears that some, or all, of the people the author is talking to have not progressed very far since they came to salvation in Christ. He chastises them for not yet being able to teach others.
"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again." (Hebrews 5:11-12a) Since we can't be certain who wrote the book of Hebrews, we can't be certain when it was written. So we don't know how long these people have been in the faith, but it's long enough that the writer feels they should be able to guide and encourage others. Naturally a brand new Christian is not going to be able to give much godly advice to anyone else. But as soon as a person becomes a Christian he should be regularly studying God's word and allowing it to minister to him. If he doesn't learn God's word, and if he doesn't communicate with the Lord, then he's basically saved by the skin of his teeth. He can't lead anyone else to Christ because he can't effectively speak about how Christ has changed his life. He can't give anyone advice because he doesn't have a good Scriptural basis for his counsel. We can tell that the author of Hebrews thinks remaining in this childlike state is shameful. When a person is born, he doesn't remain a baby. He grows and matures and becomes an adult and a functioning member of society. The Christian too is to grow and mature, becoming an adult in the faith and being a functioning member of Christian society.
Continuing to compare stagnant Christianity to an infant-like state, the author goes on to say, "You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5:12b-14) We don't feed babies a steak dinner because they have no teeth to chew it with and because their stomachs aren't ready to digest solid food. In the same way, when a person first comes to Christ he may know nothing but the simple message of the gospel. He may know little else besides, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." But after he accepts Christ---after he receives the milk of the gospel---he is to gradually move on into the solid food that is the entire word of God. He is to begin learning and applying God's principles to his life. He is to know God's word well enough that he can use it as a guidebook for making sound decisions and for resisting temptation.
No one should be content with stagnant Christianity. As the author told us earlier this week, the word of God is living and active. It is relevant to our lives. It convicts us of wrong attitudes so we can change them. It guides us so we can make godly decisions. It teaches us about our Lord and helps us to be more like Him. For some reason, the people the author is addressing haven't gone beyond the basics of faith. They believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for the sins of mankind and rose from the dead. They have accepted Him as their Savior. As we will see in the remainder of our passage today, their church is doing all the things a church does for new believers, such as baptizing them and laying their hands on them and praying for them. It's possible some of them are even performing miracles, since these were prevalent signs of the Holy Spirit in the early church. But they haven't gotten into the meat of the word. They haven't gone deeper. They think of Christ as their Redeemer, as they should, but they don't think of Him as their friend. They haven't built an intimate relationship with Him, and because they haven't, they can't tell anyone else how to build a growing and satisfying relationship with Christ.
The writer urges them to move on. They are still, symbolically speaking, standing on the same spot where Christ saved them. They are not taking hold of the abundant life Christ promised them. (John 10:10) The Christian life is one of action, of forging ahead, of learning to lean on the Lord in every circumstance, and of loving and knowing Him more every day. "Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment." (Hebrews 6:1-2) He says something like, "You've got this part right already. You believed the gospel and repented of your sins and accepted Christ as Savior. You baptize believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You pray for each other and minister to each other. You believe in the resurrection and you believe there is a judgment day. You trust Christ to come to your defense on that day. Now it's time to move ahead from these basic principles and become familiar with all of God's other principles. It's time to develop a personal relationship with the One who saved you. It's long past the time when you should have already become teachers yourselves, so step up your game and become men and women who can lead others to Christ and who can give godly counsel to fellow believers."
If we are content to stay where we are right now, we need to ask ourselves why. We ought to have a burning desire to know more and more about our Lord. If we search our hearts and find that we don't feel this way, the best thing to do is admit it to Him and ask Him to place within our hearts a consuming desire to know Him. Then we can say what the prophet Jeremiah said, "His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones." (Jeremiah 20:9) This love for the word of God ruled Jeremiah's life, and we too can have that kind of love. I believe the Lord will honor the prayer of anyone who wants to be filled with a desire to know Him better and better every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment