Day 669: Beyond the basics - Hebrews 5 vs 11 – 6 vs 3

11-13 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again  the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Chapter 6 vs 1-3 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God, and of  instruction about washings (baptisms), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. And this we will do if God permits. Hebrews 5:11-6:3 English Standard Version

In the verses just before today's section the writer spoke of how Jesus Christ is the only priest those who believe the gospel message will ever need. He based Jesus' role as a High Priest on words from the Old Testament about a man named Melchizedek who had lived in the days of Abraham. Sadly, the persecutions these Jewish Christians were going through from Jews who rejected the gospel had led to them being less enthusiastic to learn more about Jesus. It was as if they were still infants in the faith who could only take milk and were not ready for meat. (vs 1-3) What does he say it is that helps Christians to grow stronger in their faith? (vs 14)

Spiritual growth comes through putting Christ's teachings into constant practice. Every day of our lives we are faced with choices between right and wrong. It may be something as basic as how a husband and wife talk to one another, or how we treat our neighbours. It may be something more serious as how we respond to authorities over us, and the integrity with which we go about our business life. The more we think over Christ's teachings about these things and apply them in daily living, the more we learn to discern between good and evil. In view of this, what was the writers longing for these Christians? (Chapter 6 vs 1-3)

He wants them to move beyond the basics of the faith. He wants them to move on from the rites of initiation they had been through to deeper things. He wanted them to grow in their understanding of the life God was calling them to. That is a key part of being a Christian. A Christian isn't just someone who 'made a decision' for Jesus, or who went through the ceremonies of a denomination. Jesus said to would be followers: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” (Luke 6:46-48)

Having said the above, it is not that the basics of being a Christian are unimportant. The writer speaks of 'repenting from dead works'. Does that describe my life? Have I confessed to God the sort of person I was and things I did that were so wrong? He also spoke of washings. While it is ultimately the blood of Jesus Christ that washes away our sins, baptism was the way our cry to God was signified. The apostle Peter said: “Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good  conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:21) Have you been baptized?

He also mentioned the solemn truths the Bible teaches concerning the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgement. Have those truths gripped my heart? Do I believe them sincerely? We live in times when such truth is scoffed at by many people, perhaps the majority. We need to grasp those basics firmly, and then be eager to move beyond them into understanding God's word more and more. Does that describe your life and mine? We must answer that question honestly for ourselves.