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. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 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 toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits – Hebrews 5:12-6:3
These verses tell us a few things about the local church.
First, this issue isn’t unique to early believers; it’s an ongoing problem for all believers. We shouldn’t consider ourselves more educated or enlightened than them. Every believer must move from infancy to adulthood in their faith. The problem addressed in Hebrews is that some believers were stuck in infancy and didn’t know it.
Second, our powers of discernment, which help us distinguish good from evil, won’t develop if we never leave the milk of the Word. That simply means this: spiritual growth is the only way to walk in the victory Christ has obtained. If you don’t move on from the milk to the meat, it may even be evidence that you never knew Him (see Hebrews 6:4-6).
Third, many of the elementary doctrines of Christ listed here are the same things that we go over and over in our churches. Whoever wrote Hebrews was interested in moving his readers beyond these milk matters. It’s concerning that what the Bible calls milk and elementary, many local churches seldom move beyond.
Foundations will help. This study has been written with these elementary matters in mind, plus some other foundational beliefs that together form everything upon which the Christian faith stands. It has been written so that both new and seasoned believers can reap benefits. Foundations is designed for small groups. There are discussion questions and plenty of space for taking notes. Dig in and enjoy the journey!
Download the study workbook here:
Curriculum
- 4 Sections
- 16 Lessons
- Lifetime
- The Big PictureThe Bible has a metanarrative - a big picture story - that connects all of the smaller stories within into one unified narrative. Understanding this big picture is essential for making sense of God's Word as a whole.5
- Our GodIn the first section of Foundations, we took a long look at the Bible’s metanarrative – God’s story. Now we turn our attention to God, Himself. We’ve learned His story, but who is He? Who is this Hero of the Bible? Thankfully, He has given us answers to those questions within the pages of His Word. In this section we will answer the question, “Who is He?” in three ways. Who does He say He is? How has He revealed Himself? How does He relate to us?4
- Elementary TeachingsSo far, we’ve covered two important topics. We’ve looked at the Bible’s meta-narrative and we’ve looked at the identity of our Creator God and how He has revealed himself to us. In this section, we will cover what the Bible identifies as the elementary teachings of the faith. Hebrews 6:1-2 identifies five subjects that every believer should know and understand if they are to become mature.6
- Pressing OnwardThe things we have covered are foundational. They will not change, and as the author of Hebrews wrote, we should move on to maturity and stop re-laying these foundations. Mature believers don’t need constant retraining in elementary beliefs. Instead, we should do as Paul wrote: press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. As we conclude this study, let’s briefly examine what it looks like to press onward into maturity.1
