Introduction
A person, having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, should grow spiritually and become mature in his Christian life. This maturity involves time, growth, and experience. The goal of each saint should be spiritual maturity.
However, for the recipients of the letter of Hebrews, their spiritual condition was different. So much so that the author had to rebuke them of their spiritual immaturity and warn them severely. Hence, before going forward with his explanation of the priestly order of Melchizedek (chapter 7), the author spent some time to address the issue and warn his readers (5:11-6:20). This is the third of total five warning passages in this letter (2:1-4; 3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:20; 10:19-39; 12:18-29). This passage does not involve insecurity of salvation as many suppose, but immaturity.
We begin with the marks of spiritual immaturity in verses 11-14:
Two problems of the hearers have already been addressed earlier: (1) their backward journey by drifting from the Word (Heb 2:1-4), and (2) doubting the Word (Heb 3:7-4:13). As a result, they were now “dull of hearing,” that is, unable to listen to the Word of God.
The adjective “dull” (nothroi) comes from two words: ne (“not”) and otheo (“to push”). A dull person, therefore, has no push or drive; he is slow or sluggish. The readers were dull in the realm of hearing. They seemed to have no desire to hear new instruction. They were once alert to the voice of God, but their persistent doubts caused them to become restricted in their capacity to receive truth. In other words, they did not have the attitude of the Thessalonians,
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe (1Thessalonians 2:13).
One of the first symptoms of spiritual regression or backsliding is a dullness toward the Word. Sunday School class is dull, the preaching is dull, anything spiritual is dull. The problem is usually not with the teacher or pastor, but with the believer himself.
Lack of Growth (v 12a)
The believers of this letter had been saved a long time (10:32). For their chronological years in the faith, they should have become teachers of others. They had enough time in which to graduate from spiritual elementary school, high school, and college.
However, their spiritual state is different. They still had a need to understand the foundational truth of the Christian faith. In a sense, they were still in spiritual “first grade.” The “first principles” (stoicheia) deals with the redemptive plan of God as it was progressively revealed. The “oracles of God” refers to the Old and New Testaments books with which they were familiar. The point here is, instead of helping others to grow, which they were able to do by looking into their chronology, these Hebrew Christians were still in need of learning again the simple teachings of the Christian life.
The great revival preacher, Jonathan Edwards, once preached a sermon on Hebrews 5:12, entitled, “The Importance and Advantage of a Thorough Knowledge of Divine Truth.” He noted that the rebuke in the passage seems to include all the readers addressed in the epistle, that these believers had made no progress either doctrinally or experimentally, that they did not understand Melchisedek, and furthermore, what they should have known, they did not.
Lack of Solid Food (vv 12b-14)
This was precisely the problem of the Hebrew Christians. As of age, they were in a position to take “solid meat,” but their condition was as such, they were unable to take solid meat, but rather milk, ie, babe’s food, because they were babes (nepios, means not able to talk or an infant) in Christ.
What is the problem with just having milk alone? Verse 13 says one will become “unskillful” (apeiros) which literally means “no test.” A babe lacks the ability to make sound decisions. He needs to be told all the time what to do. He thus has no successful experience in the application of Scripture to problem solving in moral and personal situations.
This was the problem the Apostle Paul faced in Corinth which he describes in 1 Cor 3:1-3. The problem there was carnality. The word “carnal” (sarkikos) means “fleshly,” or “pertaining to the flesh.” A carnal Christian is a brother, a member of the family of God through regeneration (John 1:12). However, he is not able to receive the same level of instruction as the spiritual Christian. And because of he is unable to receive the full teachings of the Word and mature in his spiritual growth, the danger is that he choose to yield himself to the sin nature rather than to the Holy Spirit. A child of God does live in the flesh (Gal 2:20), but he should not live according to the flesh (Rom 8:12).
What is the solution to this problem? Verse 14 is the answer:
We need to take “solid food” and grow and become of full of age (ie, teleion, means “perfect”). As we grow in the Word, we learn to use it in daily life. As we apply the Word, we exercise (the word here is gumnazo, from which we have the word “gymnastic”). We exercise our “spiritual senses” (“faculty”) and develop spiritual discernment. By doing so, we will be able to discern, ie, distinguish both good and evil. The ability to discern good and evil is a vital part of Christian maturity. The nation of Israel in Moses’ day lacked this discernment and failed to claim its promised inheritance.
It is a characteristic of little children that they lack discernment. A baby will put anything into his mouth. An immature believer will listen to any preacher on the radio or television and not be able to identify whether or not he is true to the Scripture. The solution to this is to know the truth of the Word of God through diligent searching of the Word and understanding it so that we would grow spiritually and become strong and vibrant Christians.
In 1 Tim 4:6-8, the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy and the NT Church, If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
Conclusion
We cannot be backward Christians but forward Christians. May the Lord help us!
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