Tag Archives: elementary truths

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 8

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Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV
[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. [12] 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. [14] But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

How well this writer knew his readers! He must have been familiar enough with them as a group to rebuke them without offending them.

Hebrews 6:1-3 NLT
[1] “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. [2] You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [3] And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.”

Another reprimand! Another warning!

It seems that his readers were either retreating into Judaism to escape persecution or stuck on the basics of their understanding of the gospel. Our writer finds it necessary to interject another warning, this time about about spiritual immaturity, urging them to move beyond the basics of repentance, faith, ordinances, judgment etc.

“You are still baby Christians, sucking a bottle instead of eating gourmet steak!” What an endictment! It’s fine to be a toddler as long as it is a passing phase of growing up, not a permanent state.

What distinguishes a mature person from an immature person? A toddler, a young child, has not yet learned to do what is right regardless of feelings. A liitle one acts according to his inborn selfish nature. It takes years of patient training for a person to follow his conscience rather than his appetites. Some, if not many, never learn!

Likewise, in the Christian life, a mature believer is one who is learning to do what is right regardless of the way he feels. Since we are already righteous because of our faith in Jesus, our role in this life is to live righteously in our day-to-day living. If we are not maturing in righteousness, we deny the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in us to work out our salvation in our daily lives.

It’s no use pussyfooting around elementary, as in basic, doctrines without putting them into practice in our lives.

According to our writer, people who are stuck on the basics are in danger of turning away from the very truths that led them to faith in Jesus. Intellectual faith, i.e., faith that is all mind and no heart, can end up in skepticism, agnosticism and eventual atheism.

Going back on the reality of our salvation experience slams the door on God’s grace, cancels the work of Jesus on the cross, and calls in question the truthfulness of Jesus Himself.

Therefore, such warnings are needful and urgent. Perhaps his readers had never considered the consequences of such a backward step. Did it ever occur to them that a choice like that would cut them off forever from an eternal destiny in the presence of God?

This brings me to a sobering thought. Those congregations that practice altar calls for any and every occasion…are they perhaps encouraging God’s people to live yo-yo lives of irresponsible living and “rededication to Jesus” by constantly calling them to “rededicate” their lives to Jesus? This practice fleecing the face of what God has done…raised them from spiritual death and made them new creatures in Christ.

There may be limited place for such occasions but should never be a substitute for faithful obedience to Jesus. The truly mature Christian will plod on, day after day, living out his faith and faithfulness in the way he responds to tests and temptations. The Holy Spirit in him, his teacher and guide, will keep him on track as he listens and submits to Jesus as Lord. Ours is not another religion but a living relationship with Jesus as Lord.

To be continued…

En Route To Zion

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EN ROUTE TO ZION

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. 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 (Heb. 5: 11-14).

Hmm! I wonder to whom this writer is speaking. Are you looking over your shoulder?

The very fact that these readers were tempted to turn around and go back to “Egypt” was an indication that they were just as immature as those who literally came out of Egypt. Why were the Israelites so eager to return to the place where they had endured so much? They had no understanding and short memories. Like babies, all they were concerned about was themselves. They had forgotten that God had a purpose for them. They were His people, created for His pleasure, not their own.

Their journey from Egypt to Canaan was part of a much bigger picture God was painting on a canvas too big for them to see. All God wanted of them was to trust Him. It was His plan to get them to their own land where they would live under His covering, protection and provision as a witness to the surrounding nations that He alone is God and that He is a good God. If they followed His instructions, they would live in peace, safety and plenty.

Their faith in God had to be tested to be proved genuine and able to stand up to adversity. Just like us, they lived in the real world. Tough times would come but they were to keep their eyes on God and do the right thing always. This was the purpose of the testing. What would they do when adversity hit? Doing the right thing meant following God’s “path”, living the way He taught them to live, no matter what.

God’s word is His torah, His directions for staying on the path that would lead them to “Zion”, the holy mountain in the city of Jerusalem, in which He had placed His name – the place where He had chosen to make His dwelling. Those who were righteous stayed on the path where they were safe from the dangers of the journey.

However, like the ancient people of God, these readers were still infants, drinking the milk of babyhood instead of eating the solid food of maturity. What did he mean? Like so many of God’s people today, they were still “rededicating their lives to the Lord” every time there was an “altar call” because they were constantly “backsliding” and having to “come back to the Lord”. They never got past the elementary things of the faith, to the place where they could get on with doing “good” and bypassing “evil”.

There are some concepts in the writer’s words that need explaining. From the Hebrew perspective, the migration of God’s people from Egypt to Canaan is a picture of life. We are on a migration from this life to the next. In order to navigate the wilderness, they needed landmarks, recognisable points along the way that helped them to stay on course. There are also “landmarks” on our journey through life; people, situations, experiences that prompt us to follow God’s prescribed way, giving us opportunity to do the right thing – to obey God’s teaching which will ensure that we stay on the path instead of wandering off the path and dying in the wilderness.

The words “good” and “evil” are better translated “functional” and “dysfunctional”. When we obey God’s teaching, our lives are functional, creating harmony and order where we are. When we disobey God’s instruction, we become dysfunctional, causing chaos in our homes and in society.

God’s verdict on His newly formed earth with its vegetation and creatures was:

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good (functional). And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day (Gen. 1: 31).

Sin entered through Adam’s disobedience, causing the earth and everything in it to become dysfunctional. Jesus came to this earth and paid the debt of sin for all mankind so that we can return (repent) to God’s way and become functional again. When we return to God’s way, following His instructions for living, we stay on course for our destination which is to become like Jesus who is the high point towards which we are journeying.

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire . . . but you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem   . . . to Jesus the mediator of a better covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Heb. 12: 18, 22, 24).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.