PM Home Bible Study Group; March 25, 2015
Hebrews 5:11-6:3
Theme: The writer of Hebrews tells his readers that it is their obligation to go forward into a deeper knowledge of Christian doctrine.
(These notes are adapted from a message preached at Bethany Bible Church on May 23, 2010. All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
The writer of Hebrews has been discussing some of the highest subjects that human minds can consider—the glorious realities of our life in Christ and His sufficiency for us as our great High Priest. Most recently in our study, we found that he began to touch on a subject that he will pick up in greater detail in Chapter 7; that is, the role of our Lord Jesus Christ under the priestly order—not of the order of the Leviticus priesthood under Moses, but of Melchizedek who ministered to Abraham (Hebrews 5:5-10; see also Genesis 13:18-20; Psalm 110:4).
The subject of the relationship of Jesus’ priesthood to this remarkable person from the Old Testament is a deep and profound one—one very much worthy of the greatest effort to understand. But it’s here that the writer becomes frustrated, and seems to stop short in his teaching. It’s as if he wants to go further, but feels that he is hindered from doing so. At a time when his readers should be expected to understand these great truths, they seem unable to make progress in them. And so, before going any further in his teaching, he appeals to his readers—as an act of their will, and as a matter of obedience to their calling in Christ—to stop lingering in the basics, and go forward into a deeper understanding of the truths of the faith.
We might think of this section of the letter of Hebrews as a parenthetical one—a brief break in the flow of the argument. Before going any further, the writer stops briefly and exhorts them to “gird up the loins” of their minds (1 Peter 1:13)—“the eyes” of their understanding “being enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18)—and to commit to making intentional progress in the knowledge of the truths of the faith.
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Note how he tells them that . . .
I. A LACK OF PROGRESSION IN KNOWLEDGE GIVES WAY TO REGRESSION (5:11-12).
A. Let’s be very sure we understand what is meant by “progression”. Progress in the doctrinal truths of the faith is not made by discovering new truth. That’s how progress is made in other disciplines, such as physics or medicine. But because the Christian faith is a product of revelation from God, progress is made by gaining a more thorough understanding of the things that God has already revealed—or by returning to revealed truth that had been forgotten or ignored. And that’s the kind of progress that the writer of Hebrews is feels is lacking. He stops short in his exposition of the ministry of Melchizedek; and says, “of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing” (v. 11). Note carefully that it is not “lack of ability” that is the problem. It wasn’t that they were dumb. Our minds have been made by God with a remarkable capacity—almost a natural inclination, in fact—to learn truth and grow in knowledge. But rather, the problem is a matter of the will. It is a dullness of hearing—a lack of passion for gaining progress in the things of God, a false sense of satisfaction with what one already knows, and an unwillingness to listen deeply to the truths that would inform their souls. Without this willingness to learn—in other words, without overcoming ‘dullness of hearing’—very little progress in the Christian faith can be made. In his discourse on this passage titled, “Christian Knowledge: Or The Importance and Advantage of A Thorough Knowledge of Divine Truth”, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) wrote;
There is no other way by which any means of grace whatsoever can be of any benefit, but by knowledge. All teaching is in vain, without learning. Therefore the preaching of the gospel would be wholly to no purpose, if it conveyed no knowledge to the mind. There is an order of men which Christ has appointed on purpose to be teachers in his church. But they teach in vain, if no knowledge in these things is gained by their teaching. It is impossible that their teaching and preaching should be a means of grace, or of any good in the hearts of their hearers, any otherwise than by knowledge imparted to the understanding. Otherwise it would be of as much benefit to the auditory, if the minister should preach in some unknown tongue. All the difference is, that preaching in a known tongue conveys something to the understanding, which preaching in an unknown tongue doth not. On this account, such preaching must be unprofitable. In such things men receive nothing, when they understand nothing; and are not at all edified, unless some knowledge be conveyed . . .
B. A very stinging part of the writer’s rebuke is that his readers should not only have ceased long ago from being ‘dull of hearing’, but should in fact be at a level where they are teachers themselves. He tells them, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (v. 12). The writer is not just describing a failure on their part to make progress. He is describing something worse—an actual regression back to childhood in spiritual understanding. At a time when other people should be looking to them to teach the great truths of the faith, they themselves are needing the writer of Hebrews and others to retrain them in the fundamentals. They can’t handle the solid food of Christian truth—although they themselves should be culinary experts; but now need to be re-schooled in the ABCs of the Christian faith.
C. There is a principle that we should note in this—and it should make us very sober and serious in our pursuit of doctrinal knowledge: When we don’t make progress in Christian understanding through a dullness of hearing, we don’t simply plateau-out. We actually slide backward! We lose ground, and revert back to our spiritual childhood. The apostle Peter put the matter this way;
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins (2 Peter 1:5-9).
Let’s not just be content to simply ‘have been taught’ the basic matters of the faith. Let’s be very careful and diligent to keep growing in those truths and to gain more knowledge—lest we lose what we have already gained!
Note next how the writer explains to them that . . .
II. TO CONSTANTLY REMAIN IN THE BASICS OF THE FAITH IS CHARACTERISTIC OF IMMATURITY (5:13-14).
A. Doctrinal growth takes hard work. In fact, any growth in any field of knowledge takes work. And as is true in any other field of life, to do the hard work that one needs to do—even though it’s not easy or desirable to have to do it—is a sign of maturity. It takes more work to eat solid food than to drink only milk; but as a child grows, she needs the solid food—and so, needs to do the work. It’s true, of course, that the apostle Peter wrote, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2); but that speaks of the intense craving for the truth that ought to characterize always the hearer of God’s word—not of their permanent level of maturity. The writer of Hebrews says; “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (v. 13). Note that it is called “the word of righteousness”; because its mature expression in the life of a believer ought to be greater levels of righteous living—putting the word of truth into practical action. This is a sign of maturity. A baby can only digest milk; because she is unequipped yet to digest solid food. And a brand new Christian cannot yet handle the deep things of theology. He or she is unskilled in the word—not yet acquainted with its themes. He or she needs the basics of discipleship in which they are trained to understand and taught how to live. A lot of harm can be done to a brand new Christian by trying to teach them the deeper things of the faith before they’re ready for them—before they are well settled in the basics of justification by faith; or before they have an understanding of how the word of God is to be received as a whole; or before they are taught to adhere to the mystery of the Trinity. Poor understanding often leads to poor living.
B. The writer, however, goes on to say, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (v. 14). Through well-guided experience within the body of Christ, and through a history of trusting in the Holy Spirit’s guidance through the word in the challenges of daily living, a Christian grows up into “full age” (not ‘perfection’ of course, but into maturity). They come to a point where they have learned how to tell the difference between “good and evil”; and are sufficiently informed in the word of truth to have a sense of God’s will for practical living. The apostle Paul puts this wonderfully in Ephesians 4:
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:11-16).
C. It’s a dangerous thing for a Christian to become content to remain where they are in the faith; or to think that they ‘know enough’. Not only does that sort of passivity and indifference lead to regression, it is also a sign of spiritual immaturity. A child is cute; but an adult who intentionally remains a child is a monstrosity. In another context, Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). May God help us to move on to maturity!
Note finally then that . . .
III. THE NATURAL TENDANCY OF A CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE TOWARD PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE (6:1-3).
A. The writer of Hebrews is not calling his readers to do something unnatural when he calls them to make progress toward a deeper knowledge of the truths of the faith. For anyone in whom Christ dwells, the thing that would be unnatural would be a failure to grow. Our union with the Son of God could not help but result in growth and progress. And so, he writes, “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection . . .” (6:1a). It’s not that those elementary principles are ever forgotten or abandoned. It’s not that we shouldn’t go back often and review them. We must never lose them! But rather, we must leave what we might call the introductory ‘discussion’ of them—assuming that they are already well ingrained in our thinking and practice—and now move on in the more complete understanding of the faith to which those things lead.
B. What are those “elementary principles”? The writer mentions some of them in verses 1-2; and they are basic to a grasp of the gospel. They are “foundational”.
1. He speaks of “not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works . . .” One of the most basic calls of the faith is that we respond to the Savior by turning away from the very sins from which He saves us. Those who still dabble—over and over—in the same old sins that Jesus saved them from are at the very best still dreadfully immature, and at the very worst not in Christ at all. This is fundamental at all levels of Christian living. The apostle John wrote;
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7).
2. He also speaks not again laying a foundation “of faith toward God . . .” To continually abide in questions and debates of whether or not God exists, and whether or not we can know the truth about His nature from the Bible, is to linger far too long at the foundational level of the faith. Of course, in order to defend the faith to non-believers, we need to be well versed in the biblical arguments for God’s existence and nature. But if we want to grow in our own faith, we need to rest in what the Bible tells us about God’s existence and—by faith (see Hebrews 11:6)—go on to actually know and trust and obey Him. This is basic to all levels of growth. John wrote;
I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one (1 John 2:12-14).
3. He then speaks of not laying again a foundation “of the doctrine of baptisms . . .” “Baptisms” is probably put in the plural because, to the Jewish reader, there was more than one to think about. There was the baptism of John the Baptist in anticipation of Jesus’ coming, and then the later baptism into the faith after Christ came. There is also baptism into Christ in the spiritual sense; just as Paul spoke of when he said that we were “buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). This, then, probably speaks of the beginning declaration of our faith, and the spiritual reality which it declared. It’s good to be well-taught in what these things mean. But having publicly declared our faith in Jesus, and having publicly acknowledged our spiritual baptism into Him by the Holy Spirit, it’s time to move on to the realities of the eternal life that such baptisms commence.
4. We should not again have to lay a foundation of “laying on of hands . . .” This may refer to matters of authority in the church—that is, to the manner in which spiritual leadership was recognized and appointed within the church family. Paul reminded Timothy, for example, not to “neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership” (see 1 Timothy 4:14; see also 2 Timothy 1:6). But many view this as something that is to be closely associated with the doctrine of baptisms (that is, with the initial declaration of faith into the body of Christ). In the Jewish mind, the laying on of hands had to do with the connection that a sinner acknowledged with the offering that is made on his or her behalf. When an offering for sin was brought into the temple, the one making the offering was to lay their hands on it as a way of identifying with it (see Leviticus 1:4 as an example). This, then, is a more probable way of understanding the “laying on of hands”; and would speak of our fundamental identification with the sacrifice of Jesus for us. As Paul put it, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Having declared that Jesus is our atoning sacrifice for sins, it’s time to grow into the deeper implications of that substitutionary atonement. Having laid that foundation, it’s time to move forward and live as people who are redeemed and declared righteous in the sight of God.
5. We should not also again need to lay a foundation of “resurrection of the dead . . .” This is basic to our hope in Christ. Our faith is in a risen Savior. But this is also basic to our new life. To deny the resurrection is to deny the faith—and our entire hope of eternal life (see 1 Corinthians 15:12-19). Because He lives, we live with Him; and we are to now go forward in this world and live a transformed, truly ‘resurrected’ life. Paul writes;
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).
6. Finally, we do not need to again lay a foundation “of eternal judgment.” This too is foundational to our faith. It speaks not only of the judgment that we ourselves have been saved from, but also of the judgment that is the destiny of the devil; and of all who are outside of Christ. To continue to have ongoing debates about whether or not there is a place of eternal judgment (as many are doing today) is to not get past the basics. No one declared the reality of eternal judgment more than our Lord Himself. And a faith in the truth of what He taught about it becomes basic to our appeal to the gospel—just as Peter said, “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). As the writer of Hebrews later says;
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries (Hebrews 10:26-27).
To continue to debate about whether or not there is a hell—when our Lord clearly declared that there was—is to waste our time in the basics, and to fail to build up on the foundations.
C. These things are all matters of deep theology—and there are no doubt many others that could have been mentioned. Do we realize that these are foundational? It’s time to move on from them—still keeping true to them of course, but going forward into the deeper levels of truth that flow from them. “And this”, the writer of Hebrews says, “we will do if God permits” (v. 3). As Paul wonderfully put it;
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind (Philippians 3:12-16).