If we do not build on them, the basics soon need refreshing. This is what the inspired writer emphasizes as he accuses his readers of having become “dull of hearing” (Heb. 5:11). The evidence was quite compelling. He says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (Heb. 5:12). One thing is crystal clear: spiritual maturity cannot exist where the basic fundamentals of the faith have been ignored or abandoned.
Progression toward spiritual maturity is the result of a corresponding progression from the milk to the meat of the word. This principle is stated as follows: “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant” (vs. 13). The difference between spiritual infancy and spiritual maturity is spiritual discernment. Again, we cite the inspired writer, who says, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (vs. 14).
The flow of thought continues into the next chapter where we are told to leave “the elementary teaching about the Christ…[and] press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment” (Heb. 6:1-2). Leaving the basics is not desertion of these fundamentals, but building upon them so as to press on to spiritual maturity.
The challenge is two-fold. Some refuse to move on preferring, instead, the misguided comfort of always learning but never coming to an experiential knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7). Because they are hearers but not doers of the word, they continue in a state of spiritual infancy (Jas. 1:21-25). These may disguise their lack of spiritual growth by strong insistence on fundamental preaching. While such preaching is sorely needed in our day, a “preach to the sinner, but not to the saint” attitude can betray a heart that is indifferent to spiritual growth.
On the other hand, there are those who, after having moved on from the fundamentals, see no need for refreshing their minds on the basics. In a misguided attempt to find acceptance with religious friends and neighbors, some are quite vocal in their insistence that nothing of a distinctive nature be preached from the pulpit. However, the pulpit is designed for both comfort and conviction. Without refreshing the basics, we build on a faulty foundation.
Jesus is the most important consideration in determining the content of sermon material in the church. Not the elders. Not the members. Not even the preacher. He is called simply to “preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2). If we are to press on to maturity, we must listen to God’s word with a view toward obedience.
–Glen Elliott–