Hebrews 6:1-2
HEB 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
Ever been told to grow up. This is what the author of Hebrews is saying here – but doesn’t he say it nicely. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity,Such a nice way of saying grow up.
The previous passage is about the readers needing to move on from drinking milk like little kids.
HEB 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 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.
Maybe saying grow up isn’t as nicely put as we think. Maybe it is a softening of a pretty hard statement. When someone tells you are eating like a baby, they are inferring that your being pretty immature.
So this passage is telling us to get some maturity into us, grow up if you like.
How? How do you become spiritually mature? How do we become what God would have us become?
These verses point out some ideas for us.
1. let us leave the elementary teachings about ChristThe idea here is more to move on from the teachings about Jesus rather than leave them behind. We need to recognize that there are some elementary teachings. Some of which are Included in some of the creedal statements included in scripture. 1CO 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
1 Tim 3:1616 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
Following the times of the New Testament a number of creeds where developed to teach people, particularly those who couldn’t read, doctrinal truth. The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed and a few others. Basic doctrine in a nutshell.
While these are great starting points, we need to move on, basically, work out how what they say fits into our lifestyle and beliefs.
Its funny, I think we think maturity is knowing the answers. We think knowing the answers makes us wise.But wisdom in the bible is more about knowing how to live than knowing a lot. So maturing is getting some wisdom. Knowing how to live or in context with the passage, knowing how to apply the teachings of Jesus.
It’s not leaving it behind but taking it with us.
2. The next thing we need to look at is at the end of that first verse. not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,This is talking about not going over and over the same thing all the time, not rehashing things. It is easy to do this. Why? Because it is easy to talk about what we know. And moving on from what we know is often unknown territory, and our confidence is tested. But God wants us to keep moving. Not going over the same stuff all the time.
3. Now it is really interesting 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Foundational things.Things that are foundationala. repentanceb. Sin – (things that lead to death)c. Faith in Godd. Baptisme. Laying on of hands or commissioning for ministryf. Resurrection of the dead (Life after death)g. Eternal judgment.
These things are foundational – we are encouraged to move on from them. In other words – know them, understand them but keep moving forwards. Where does that leave us?
Well if we have a repentance problem we need to face it and move on from it.If we have a sin problem we need to deal with it and move on from it.If we haven’t been baptized we need to be then move on.If we are not involved in ministry, we need to be and keep moving with it.If we have an issue with life after death, we need to investigate what is said about it and move on from it. (Be prepared but don’t dwell on it)If we have an issue about God’s judgement we need to evaluate our life and deal with and move on.
This sounds a bit blunt but church history shows us that these issues have been stumbling blocks for the church moving forward.
Lets just look at one.Baptism. So many issues about how, where when. Even now in our denomination some are asking for baptism by immersion not to be the only form of baptism within our churches. It is still causing divide. We baptize by immersion because we see it as the biblical form. That’s how and why we do it that way. If God calls you to be baptized in a Baptist church that’s how it will be done. If he calls you to be baptized in an Anglican church it’s different. – Just do it. When he calls do it. Now that is just one of the issues, we could go through the rest but I think you get the point.
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