Spiritual Growth
November 6, 2022
Last week, we looked at Jesus the Son of God who is our Great High Priest. Who ascended into heaven, who represents us before God, who has been through everything we could go through, who empathizes with us, who invites us to come boldly to the throne. Who is a priest in the order of Melchizedek?
Hebrews 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.
(Dull of Hearing) So, the writer takes a pause. He knows what he wants to tell the church about Melchizedek and how it relates to the priesthood of Jesus. But he seems to understand his readers hearing on this subject had become dull. So, the writer of Hebrews puts the argument aside for a moment to deal with their ignorance.
Hebrews 5:12-13 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. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
They should have been able to teach by now. But they didn’t even have a firm understanding of the elementary truths of the Christian faith. He tells his listeners that they needed to be weaned from the gospel milk all over again so that they could eat the solid food.
It’s totally appropriate for infants to drink milk because they can’t chew or digest solid food. But if we are still drinking milk instead of solid food several years after birth, There’s a problem. The author is frustrated over their lack of progress and lets them know it.
When we receive the word and then don’t practice the Word (make application), we won’t grow/progress; we remain a pupil; we remain a spiritual child, who is still sucking on a bottle. James 1:22
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
So, when we practice God’s Word, we grow in our discernment. We mature in our ability to distinguish right from wrong and good from evil.
Those who practice God’s Word are like athletes in the gym. That’s the picture here since the word for “trained” in the original language is the word gymnazō, from which we get our word “gymnasium.” That’s where athletes work out and exercise as part of their training, and that’s what we need to do if we want to grow in our ability to distinguish right from wrong.
When you learn a new truth from God’s Word, exercise it; work it out; practice it until it almost becomes second nature. Then determining the right thing to do in each situation becomes easier and easier. That’s what spiritual maturity is all about – gaining the wisdom to choose the good over the evil, the right over the wrong, the real over the fake.
Hebrews 6:1 “Therefore let us MOVE beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be TAKEN forward to maturity,..” (Move-Taken)
We must be willing to move beyond the elementary teachings having settled them in our hearts. Having done that, we allow ourselves to be taken/carried forward to maturity.
Jesus takes us and carries us on to spiritual maturity as we live our lives in dependence upon Him. Jesus causes us to grow in His image as we consume His Word and exercise its principles in our everyday life.
Hebrews 6:1-2 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, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
These are (some) of the elementary doctrines of the Christian faith. They’re teachings that even the newest Christian should know and practice.
FIRST is turning from “dead works” to “faith in God.” All believers should understand that they cannot save themselves through their own good works but must depend on God to deliver them from sin.
SECOND, “Cleansing Rites, washings” or baptism. Baptismos- a washing, purification effected by means of water.
Baptizo-to immerse, to submerge. Baptism is a testimony of your faith in Christ. It’s an outward expression of an inward change. It’s the first step of obedience in your life with Christ.
THIRD, “Laying on Of Hands”, i.e., which leaders they should follow. In the First Century, the church laid hands on the people they recognized as leaders (Acts 6:6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.; 1 Timothy 4:14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. ; 2 Timothy 1:6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.), You don’t follow just anybody. Instead, you follow those who KNOW God’s Word, who can TEACH it, and who BELIEVE it!
FOURTH, Resurrection of the dead. Believers should have the assurance of their own resurrection from the dead. They should know that because Christ was raised from the dead, they too will be raised. (2 Cor. 5:8 To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord) Death is not the end for the believer; it is only the beginning of a new and glorious life with JESUS with a new and glorious body, which no longer experiences any pain, sickness, sorrow, or decay.
FIFTH, Eternal Judgement. Believers should understand what eternal judgment is all about. Those who have not put their trust in Christ will spend an eternity in hell, a place of conscious torment forever.
This is basic Christianity, introductory level stuff, which every believer should know and practice. The problem is some get stuck at this level and never move beyond it.
It’s so sad to see a believer who refuses to move beyond the basics in Christian doctrine and practice. Please, don’t be that person, who fears the commitment and responsibility that spiritual growth brings. Move on from the elementary doctrines and let Jesus take/carry you on to greater growth and maturity.
Hebrews 6:3 And God permitting, we will do so.
The only reason God would NOT permit further growth is if you’re not ready for it.
If you’re not putting into practice the things God has already revealed to you in His Word, then He is not going to give you any further revelation, because you’d just choke on it. (expresses the believers’ complete dependence on God)
Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. Wow! That’s a mouthful! So let me unpack it for you.
These are believers. “They have been enlightened” – “they have tasted the heavenly gift”- “Shared in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has opened their eyes to see the truth of the Gospel. And they have experienced Jesus, God’s gift from heaven. He is their Savior, and the Holy Spirit dwells within them.
But these are believers who have FALLEN AWAY. They didn’t deliberately turn away from or reject Jesus. They just got tripped up on the road to maturity. They just got waylaid by the world and stopped growing. They just stopped practicing the principles of God’s Word.
Our text says, “It is impossible… to restore them again to repentance.” Repentance literally means “a change of mind,” so there is nothing anyone can do to change their minds.
When believers stop practicing the principles of God’s Word, they become obstinate; they become stubborn in their refusal to change and grow. Their hearts become hardened. “Today if you hear God’s voice…”
Vs 6 “They are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” Their refusal to change and grow shows great disrespect to Jesus, so much so that it is like they are crucifying Him once again. And they do it to their own harm!
Hebrews 6:7-8 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Those who receive and practice God’s Word are very fruitful. They become useful for the expansion of Christ’s Kingdom, and they are blessed.
On the other hand, those who refuse to change and grow become barren and dry. They become useless in Christ’s Kingdom, producing only thorns and thistles, producing only those things that are an irritation to others.
Please, don’t be that kind of a believer. Don’t be stubborn in your refusal to change and grow, lest you become a worthless thorn or thistle, crucifying the Son of God all over again.
Hebrews 6:9-12 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
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