Let Us Leave Behind Elementary Doctrines

Hebrews 5:11–6:6 (NIV)

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 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! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

What is one Christian teaching that you think is so basic, but everyone seems to have to go over it again and again? Maybe you feel like you’ve heard it a million times. What is something that it seems like no one can ever learn, and yet you can’t seem to move forward from?

Here’s another question: What is one question that you want to understand more clearly in order to help you move forward in your faith? It could be something from this passage, or it could be something else about Christianity entirely. What is one question that you want to understand more clearly in order to help you move forward in your faith?

Hi, my name is Paul, but you can call me Pepe. I’m a staff with UCM.

There’s a link and a QR code on the screen that you can go to in order to submit your question anonymously. A staff is going to go through all of the questions that are submitted, and then they’re going to message me the questions that they think are the most insightful and helpful for the group. I’m going to try my best to address and answer those questions from the stage.

We’re doing about this because we have a serious problem today. People are de-converting from Christianity. People are leaving churches and becoming agnostic, atheist, or something else entirely. How many of you know someone who has left their Christian faith? It could be a family member or a friend. For a lot of you, I’m guessing that person left the faith at university. If we take the passage that we’re looking at today seriously, then that won’t happen to you. It is so important to grapple with the difficult questions about Christianity that we face today in order to be able to move forward in our faith. So that’s what our focus is going to be.

So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to give a quick overview of the passage that was read so that you can understand why what we’re doing is connected to the text. When I first started working on my talk for tonight, I did prepare a full 25 minute talk, but I realized that it’d be best to allow time and space to address the questions that you are asking. If you have questions about the text, please send those in and we can talk about it. I’m going to give a quick overview, and next, we’re going to give some space for you to send in questions. Eventually, those questions will be sent to me, and I’ll do my best to respond. Eventually, I’ll close with a few concluding remarks about the primary message of this text, and that will hopefully tie together our entire conversations. Does that sound good?

Let’s look at the passage that was read before. We’re focusing on Hebrews 6:1-2 “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.”

It seems like there’s a lot in that passage. Some commentators point out that the six doctrines listed can be divided into three groups of two. These represent the past, present, and future of Christian experience. Repentance from dead works and faith toward God are elements that Christians experience in the past when they first encounter Jesus. This happens at conversion. Instruction about cleasing rites and the laying on of hands are elements that Christians practice in the present in order to continue to encounter the Holy Spirit. This happens throughout the day-to-day life of a Christian. Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement are elements that Christians will experience in the future when they will encounter God face-to-face. This is the hope that we base our lives and our faith upon.

The author of Hebrews considers these doctrines important. To move forward in your faith does not mean that you leave what you’ve previously learned behind. The posture that is being taught is not one of leaving behind, but rather is one of moving forward. Repentance from dead works and faith toward God. Very important. Instruction about cleansing rites and laying on of hands. So key. Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement. Absolutely essential. You need to build on what you’ve learned in the past.

But the thing is that the author of Hebrews says that these Christians are stuck, teaching the same things over and over again because they didn’t know any better. They couldn’t move forward in their faith. Dr. George Guthrie said to me, “Imagine someone having to take the third grade over and over again until they were 16. Something would obviously be wrong with that. With these Hebrews, it’s like they were stuck and couldn’t move forward to more complex teachings, so they were just repeating the same things again and again.”

What is one Christian teaching that you feel is so basic, but everyone seems like they have to go over it again and again? Maybe you feel like you’ve heard it a million times. What is something that it seems like no one can ever learn, and yet you’ve heard Christians talk about it so much?

You might say, “God made you because He loves you, but you disobeyed him, so now you have to repent and join the church while committing to love God and others, and live for God fully. If you do this, then you will live forever with God in heaven. If you don’t do this, then you will be eternally condemned.” That’s all true and good. It’s important not to leave that behind. But it’s also just the surface. Often, by learning about other facets of Christianity beyond the basics, it helps us to reflect on the basics later when we have a better perspective, and only then are we able to achieve greater depth of understanding. For example, what I just said is woefully inadequate because it did not include Christ or the Holy Spirit. Foundations are important, and you do have to tend to them periodically. But you don’t achieve greater depth of understanding by repeating the same thing over and over, like taking WRDS 150 again and again. You have to move forward in order to gain a better understanding of what you learned in the past.

The main thing that the author was saying to these Christians, is “you need to move forward in your understanding.” Move forward in your understanding, and you will gain maturity. I’m talking to you. You guys are not at risk of repeating the same things that they were repeating. You also have different questions. One question that I could’ve asked is, “What is a Christian teaching that you think is basic, and you’ve heard a million times, but you want to move forward from?” But instead of focusing on what we do know, I hope that it’d be more fruitful to take this time to think about what we don’t know. So I’ll ask it again. What is one question that you want to understand more clearly in order to help you move forward in the faith?

I anticipate three kinds of questions to come up. One kind will be general apologetic questions, like the question of suffering, why people would go to hell, or the tension between faith and reason. Stuff like that. Other questions will be about this passage itself, in Hebrews. Last will be questions about practicing the Christian faith, like questions about prayer or learning to accept God’s grace. Unfortunately, I won’t have time to answer everyone’s question. I’m not an expert, so all I can offer is to share my general wisdom and knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the years. I’m not a perfect person. If I say something mildly offensive then please forgive me. Feel free to approach me, and that will help me to apologize and grow, and it will give you the opportunity to forgive me and gain peace with me. That’s fine. I want this to be a safe space to ask difficult questions so that we can grapple with them together. Often, big questions spark many smaller questions, which are best addressed in follow up conversations. However, your questions today will be anonymous. I’ll try to give you my thoughts, and I’ll also try and recommend a couple of next steps so that you can investigate this on your own. What is one question that you want to understand more clearly in order to help you move forward in the faith? Go ahead and send your questions, and I’ll see what I can answer.

What is the main message of this text? “You need to move forward in your understanding!” Move forward in your understanding, and you will gain maturity. Do this, and you won’t de-convert. How do you move forward in your understanding? It’s like when you hike up a mountain, and there’s so many twists and turns that you can’t predict exactly what is ahead. But when you reach the top, you’re able to look back and gain a better perspective, and you can reflect on how every turn in the journey lead you to where you are today. To mature, ask questions. Be humble. Seek understanding. Admit what you don’t know. Be courageous. Seek knowledge as a means to serve and bless others, rather than as a means to gain power. Continue to show up at events like this one not by focusing on what you have to give to others, but with the attitude that you have so much to receive. Learn when you need to apologize and when you need to forgive. Seek unity and peace with other believers. Strive to show non-believers the goodness and power of God. Allow God to transform you, and put your trust in Him. Dallas Willard said, “Grace is not opposed to effort, but it is opposed to earning.” Eventually, you will become a healthy, well-discipled, and mature believer. Trust the process. It doesn’t happen quickly, but in the end you’ll be glad that you made the journey. You’ll learn not to be overcome by fear, doubt, or shame. You won’t be perfect, but you’ll have so much grace and love to give to others, and you’ll be a source of life and peace to anyone who meets you. Move forward in your understanding, and over time you will gain maturity. That’s the main message of Hebrews 6:1-2.

Christianity as exclusive

Parable of blind men and elephant

“way the truth and the life”

But the person telling the parable is claiming that they have superior access to knowledge, which is exactly what they accuse Christians of. If you say that it is arrogant to claim that only one religion is right, then you are just as arrogantly claiming that your own interpretation is superior to others.

To say, “All major religions are equally valid and basically teach the same thing” is to make a claim that gives you superior knowledge over others, who follow that religion. Further, it is a doctrinal truth that other religions can’t agree with. Buddhism doesn’t believe in a personal God at all. Judaisim, Christianity, and Isalm all believe in a personal God who holds people accountable for their personal choices, and God’s attributes in this sense cannot all be reduced to love. Anyone we claims that all major world religions basically teach the same thing obviously hasn’t taken time to actually study those world religions.

We make moral judgements every day that are rooted in metaphysical beliefs about the origins of the self, the world, and God. We need religion and faith because it forms the most basic and essential parts of who we are. We cannot claim that everything we believe in neutral and objective because our moral

Suffering

C.S. Lewis: “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. How how had I got this idea of “just” and “unjust”? … What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? … Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if i did that, then my argument aginst God collapsed too - for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. … Consequently atheism turns out to be coo simple.”

Suffering is a problem, but Jesus became human and suffered for us. He suffered seperation from God, the deepest kind of suffering, so that we wouldn’t have too. “We don’t know the answer to why God allows evil and suffering. However, we know what the answer isn’t. It can’t be that He doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he is indifferent or detached from our condition. God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself.”

Apologetics

“Some people doubt the wisdom of the Bible because of what they suppose is its conflict with science: “Darwin has disproved the Bible” is a common way of putting this misconception. Others reject it because of its purported sexism: from its almost exclusively masculine language for a God who is not male, to its accounts of male leadership and status from cover to cover, to its apparent support for gender hierarchies in the both the Old Testament and the New Testaments. Still others have read the deliverances of the Jesus Seminar and other critics of the Bible’s historical reliability, and wonder how much they can believe when they read some of the extraordinary stories the Bible contains. Some of our neighbours don’t see why they should read any ancient literature to deal with contemporary problems. Their counterparts don’t see why they should read this collection of religious writings when there are so many others now easily available from the worlds religions from which to choose. So there is a lot on the apologetic agenda when it comes to this crucial resource of the Christian religion.” Humble Apologetics by John Stackhouse, 194-95.

Resources on apologetics:

Apologetics Canada: Andy Steiger

- Go to “apologeticscanada.com/resources, and when you scroll down there’s a collection of headings that lists helpful books about all kinds of apologetic topics that you can check out. There’s books on apologetic evangelism, the Bible, Church history, the Trinity, Islam, Judaism, the problem of pain/evil, philosophy, science, Mormonism & Jehovah’s witnesses, LGBTQ+ issues, New age and “spirituality,” and even a section for kids. It even recommends a list of Youtube channels that you can check out. They also have a podcast called the AC Podcast.

- Some books that I’d recommend are Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. That one is a bit old, and he does make some remarks about gender in it that are not helpful for our current day, but generally it’s a classic that has great content. If you are a skeptic, then I’d recommend reading Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig, or The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. If you’re a Christian you could also read On Guard: Defending your faith with Reason and Precision by William Lane Craig, or I Don’t have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler.