Let Us Go On To Maturity

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Key Verses 6:1,2

In this passage the author wants all who believe in the Lord not to become weary in doing good, esp. in feeding sheep, for at the proper time they will reap a harvest if they do not give up. Gal 6:9; Luke 8:15

Read 5:11-15. What does “milk” vs. “solid food” stand for? According to this passage what distinguishes the mature from the immature (or simply an “infant”)? How does one grow out of the state of an infant to that of a mature person? What determines the speed of one’s [spiritual] growth?

** Milk stands for easy words such as “Come and have breakfast”, or “God loves you”. 

“Solid food” stands for hard messages such as “go through the narrow gate” or “deny yourself, take up the cross, and follow me” or “Feed my lamb” or “love your enemies”. 

** The mature are capable of distinguishing good from evil, and thereby are able to choose good and reject evil. For example, those who are immature do not know that the way of the cross of Jesus is good; they think that the life that denies oneself and sacrifices oneself even to the point of death is a losing business. Some of the immature know that it is good to participate in the sufferings of Jesus, but they are not “capable” of actually denying themselves and serving the Lord and the flock of God ever so sacrificially. They are like a runner who at first thinks that it is a good idea to participate in a marathon, so he starts at the start line, runs with great enthusiasm, but as soon as the going gets tough, calls it a quit. 

Read 6:1-3 and think about the following steps: 1) [learning] the elementary truths about Christ; 2) repentance from acts that lead to death;3) faith in God; 4) baptisms; 5) the laying  on of hands; 6) the resurrection of the dead; and 7) the eternal judgment. What do these steps indicate about: 1) what hinders man from going on to maturity; and 2) the way of going on to maturity?

** In view of the remainder of the Bible passage, the following seems to be in order:

He might think God is unfair (for as he looks at the way unbelievers live and it looks like those who are selfish thrive going ahead of them, whereas those who suffer for Christ keep losing, falling behind in this dog eat dog world).

He might think that God does not pay attention to what he does. He might think that God is indifferent to what he does. He might think that it makes no difference whether one lives at random or one strives to serve God’s will. 

In this way as doubt arises he is tempted to look at the world, compromises here and there, and loses to the devil’s temptations, ending up sinning.

In this way his growth gets arrested, and thereby he becomes unproductive or counterproductive. 

** The way to go on to maturity is for one to be thankful, hold onto the teachings coming in seven different steps, and strive to bear fruit. Read 2 Peter 1:10

These steps are like building blocks, and we need to retain all of them with a thankful heart, knowing that they are life for us. 

[learning] the elementary truths about Christ – like who Jesus is, what he came to do, what he taught, etc.

repentance from acts that lead to death (remember that repentance must be thorough) 

faith in God (who is good all the time, even when things are rough)

baptisms (they talk about two baptisms, that is, the baptism of water, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit)

the laying on of hands (this laying on has to do with you getting ordained as in the case of Paul being commissioned to go to the Gentiles to preach the gospel or to go to a foreign land as a missionary such as the case of Jay and Cari Irwin)

the resurrection of the dead (this knowledge must not stop as mere head knowledge but heart knowledge); and 

the eternal judgment (this judgment takes place when Jesus comes again).

Read verses 4-6. What does “heavenly gift” mean? What do “the powers of the coming age” refer to? Consider those who have: 1) been “enlightened”; 2) “tasted” the heavenly gift; 3) “shared” in the Holy Spirit; and 4) “tasted” the goodness of the word of God and powers of the coming age. What do these experiences have in common (9)? Why would anyone “fall” away after experiencing these? (10-12)

** Simply it denotes the gift of “salvation” [from the grip of the power of sin and the devil]

** The powers of the coming age: read 1Co 15:35-57. In general we can understand the powers of the coming age by looking at the meagerness of a seed falling to the ground and dying vs. the glorious nature of the plant, flower, and fruit that come out of it, or by looking at a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. Jesus also talked briefly about the powers of the coming age in Luke 20:35. 

The word “powers” coming in plural denote the perfected enhancements made on all different aspects of a resurrected life in a perfected world to come. 

** These experiences all talk about the blessings that accompany salvation. While we remain unsaved, we have no access to these blessings; it is only upon being saved into the presence of God that we come to have these experiences, if we remain faithful to the Lord to the end. 

** Verses 9-12 answer the questions. For example, one might think that the life in the Lord the life that is called to sacrifice or the life that goes through the narrow gate is all a losing business. Remember that many Israelites came out but not many went into the Promised Land.

Those who did not make it to the Promised Land started doubting God’s love for 

them. They started missing their old ways of life in Egypt; then they got consumed by carnal desires. They then fell away. Notice that they might have been lazy in collecting daily bread. 

Read verses 7-8 and describe the two lands – one that is productive, another which is unproductive. What do they stand for? Why is it that one land becomes productive, while the other remains unproductive? With what result? 

** They stand for all who believe in the Lord, but showing different responses to the Lord’s grace that fell upon them. 

** People like the productive land produce a good crop by being thankful to the Lord for his saving grace, and working with due diligence at what they are called to do, such as loving the Lord, feeding on the word, praying with due diligence, and feeding sheep. 

Those who are unproductive become so by being ungrateful for God’s work of salvation, becoming lazy in eating God’s word, trying to compete with unbelievers, wanting to take root in this physical world, and in fact actually going out to the world mingling with sinful people, and eventually going back to and indulging in their old ways of life. They are like Lot who went into Sodom and Gomorrah. 

** The former will come out shining whereas the unproductive people will be put to shame, only to be burned eternally. Read 12:1-4

Read verses 9-12. What does the author want us (or “you”) to do? Why? 

Remember that God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. [This is the call to feed sheep without becoming sick and tired. As one helps out sheep it is so easy to say, “Look, my suffering is endless…; it is of no use to keep suffering like this. But remember how much Jesus suffered, for although he served his disciples, they all perhaps except John ran away, leaving him alone to hang on a tree.]

Show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 

Do not become lazy, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

The end

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