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!
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