Hebrews 5:11-14 How to Grow in Christ

There has been such a spiritual downgrade on what it means to be a mature Christian, and how believers can go about growing in their faith, that many of us look at the joy and fullness of life that Christ promised and think that its out of our reach.

That godliness and Christ-like maturity are things that are reserved for pastors, spiritual leaders, or at the very least, other Christians.

And so this morning as we study I want to focus spiritual maturity. What is it, and how do you grow in it?

When the Author first wrote this passage, he was warning the Hebrews because they had grown lazy in their faith and had regressed back to spiritual infancy.

And because of this regression they were in great danger of losing their faith altogether because they weren’t feeding it.

They weren’t making every effort to follow Christ and anchor their lives to the gospel.

But as I thought about this sermon for our church, I don’t think most of you are content with immaturity. More than likely, one of the reasons you love this church is because we are serious about God’s Word and growing in Christ together.

So as we talk this morning about how to grow in Christian maturity I’m going to try to speak to three types of people in our church, and my goal for each group is different.

First, immature Christians who are immature because they are new in the faith. These are people who have only been following Jesus for a few years or maybe even believers who have never been part of a biblical church that makes disciples.

If you fit in that category, I don’t want you hear this sermon as a condemnation. It is perfectly ok for infant Christians who have just been born again to be immature. We expect infants to be immature. That’s why they are called children.

My goal for you this morning is to show you what spiritual maturity is and then give you some practical discipleship on how to grow in your faith.

Second, there are immature Christians who are immature because they have grown lazy like the Hebrews. They’ve let their love grow cold, and are making little to no effort to live by faith and grow in Christ.

If that’s you this morning, my hope is to wake you up. For you to see God’s call to grow in Christ, to leave spiritual infancy behind and grow up into maturity. To equip you to return to your first love and treasure Christ.

Sure, there are some members who have allowed their love to grow cold and have stopped growing in Christ, and one of my goals is to wake them up. To show them the danger they are in in their imma because they had lost their focus and their

believers have resigned themselves to think that growing in Christ may be m in the life and joy Christians are able to experience, because they don’t know how to grow out of the spiritual infancy of their new birth.

Even worst, this downgrade has hurt our Christian witness to the gospel.

Finally, there are maturing Christians. Even if you have been following Jesus for 50 years and others might call you spiritually mature, none of us should ever stop growing.

Many Christians are no different than the world. Because of their immaturity they hold the same values, same desires, even the same priorities as people who do not know Jesus.

Instead, we should continue growing in our faith, so that we can help others grow in theirs.

And so when we share the gospel and tell others that God is Holy and worthy of all our worship, its hard for the lost to actually believe us because they see the lives of professing believers who live no different than they do.

My aim for you is to give you a spiritual tune up, and that has two parts. First, I want to remind you how God grows us through his Word so that we can recommit our lives to his Word together.

Was this all the Christian life was meant to be? A get out of hell free card until Christ returns or is there something more?

And second, to hopefully, by God’s grace, equip and release you to disciple others. To come alongside those who are less mature in their faith and show them the way. To teach them how to love Christ and live for him like you do.

So if you take notes, the BIG IDEA I want you to take away from this passage is this: Christians are called to spiritual maturity and grow in Christ by feeding on God’s Word.

So to kick things off, let’s look at , to first set the ground work that God does indeed expect Christians to grow in Christ.

I. God Expects Christians to Grow in Christ

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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.

When the Author says about this we have much to say he is talking about the superiority of Christ’s priesthood.

In , Jesus is shown to be infinitely superior to the high priests of the Old Covenant because he is the great high priest of the New Covenant between God and his people.

And the author will go on to say much more about the priesthood of Christ and what that means for us in the rest of the book, but right now, he interrupts himself because the Hebrews aren’t ready to hear what he has to say.

He writes, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.

Its not that Christ’s priesthood is such a difficult topic that only master theologians can understand it. The reason why its hard to explain is because the Hebrews have become dull of hearing.

Literally, that means they have become lazy or sluggish.

Too lazy and too sluggish to actually hear what God is saying in his Word and follow it.

The rebuke here is that the Hebrews had stopped making their faith a priority. They had stopped listening to what God had said, and as a result had regressed to spiritual infancy.

That’s why it says, 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.

The oracles of God is just a fancy way of saying God’s revelation of himself, both through his Word recorded in the Scriptures and in the Word incarnate Jesus Christ.

And so the basic principles of God’s revelation are are literally the fundamentals or the ABC’s of the Christian faith. They are the basic doctrines of Christianity.

And these basic principles are explicitly laid out in . They are repentance and faith, instructions about washings, That is baptism, the laying on of hands which probably refers to the need for a sacrifice to atone for our sins, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement.

What’s interesting about these principles is that these are basic beliefs that Christianity shares with Judaism. There is nothing in these basic principles that an unbelieving Jew would not also be able to agree with.

So what was likely happening was that the Hebrews had settled for a minimalist Christianity. One where they could worship Jesus in a way that passes for Judaism so they could escape persecution.

That’s why the author says you need milk, not solid food.

Now this metaphor of milk and solid food is used to talk about what nourishes a Christian’s growth and development. In other words, what feeds them and helps them grow from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity.

And the food that nourishes us and helps us grow in Christ is the truth of God’s Word. Its Theology or Doctrine. However you want to say it, we grow in Christ by knowing and living God’s Word.

Thats because what you believe determines how you live.

Milk refers to those basic truths of the gospel. For example, we are sinners. God is holy. Jesus died for our sins.

Solid food, on the other hand, refers to the deeper truths of God’s Word. The deeper theology that expands our understanding of who God is and what he has done to save us in Christ.

And by studying these deeper truths, it changes how we live. We grow in our love for the Lord, and as we grow in our love for the Lord, we turn from sin and obey him.

Let me show you what I mean. In the immediate context of the letter, the solid food the Author has in mind is the priesthood of Christ. It is solid food because the doctrine of Christ’s priesthood goes beyond the basic principle “Jesus died for our sins.” Instead it explains how that actually happens.

In talking about his Priesthood, the author made it clear that Jesus lived a sinless life so that when he died on the cross, his life was given in our place as our substitutionary sacrifice. In Christ’s death, all the the wrath God had against us was poured out on him so that we could be forgiven.

You see, when we start feeding on the deep truths of God’s Word, its like our worship of God goes from black and white, to full blown color.

The more robust our theology, the more we are able to worship God. Our love grows for the Lord because when we pray to him or sing to him we have a greater understanding of what we are actually saying. As our theology grows, our love and worship grows.

And as our love and worship grow, we grow in Christ. In the light of God’s glory, we see the foolishness of living in sin, and we turn from our sin to walk in the newness of life, to walk in godliness, which is what Christian maturity is all about.

But the Hebrews had grown dull of hearing. They had grown lazy in growing in Christ, and before they could go on to the deeper truths of God’s Word, they needed relearn the basics of the gospel.

Remember, the Hebrews were suffering persecution and were struggling to hold fast to Christ. They were being tempted to abandon the Lord and go back to Judaism. So the Author’s whole point is, “What good is it to go into all the deep an wonderful truths about our atonement in Christ if you are still struggling to believe that atonement in the first place?”

This is why he rebukes the Hebrews. He says by this time, the Hebrews ought to be able to eat solid food like grown ups. They ought to be mature disciples who are able to learn deeper, more complex theology so that they could worship God even more. But here they are, still needing the diet of infants.

They aren’t able to grasp the deeper truths of God’s Word like the priesthood of Christ, because they still haven’t learned what it means to deny themselves and follow Jesus no matter the cost.

In other words, they were not able to grow to maturity because they were still struggling to trust in the basic principles of the faith and of follow Jesus.

The Hebrews had regressed to spiritual infancy where they were again counting the cost of discipleship. Some of them were wondering, “Should I keep following Christ or should I just go back to Judaism so I don’t have to worry about all this?”

But the Author says that by this time, they should be well beyond wondering whether or not to follow Jesus. It should already be settled in their mind to follow Christ no matter the cost and they should now be eating the solid food of God’s Word.

They should be growing in their theology, and as a result of that theology, worshiping God for who he is by living a life of godliness.

The Hebrews shouldn’t still be living on a diet of milk, trying to figure out the basics of discipleship. By now, they should be well fed on a diet of solid food and teaching others the fundamentals of the faith.

This is where we see that God expects his children to grow in Christ. When we are born again, we are like spiritual infants. We are learning all over again how to walk and live in light of Christ and his gospel.

But as we grow, we should move from a diet of milk to solid food. The more we feed on God’s word, the more we are changed by the gospel to walk in godliness and life instead of sin and death.

As we grow in our knowledge of God and what he did to save us in Christ by feeding on the deep truths of God’s Word, it changes our lives. And from that, we are called to teach that theology and way of life to others so that they can grow as well.

And as we mature, we are called to come alongside younger Christians to teach them how to crawl, and eventually walk in the newness of life.

That is, Christians are called to a life of discipleship. We are called to grow in our faith, and as we grow, come alongside others to help them follow Jesus as well.

That’s because the word translated teachers is not a reference to pastors. The Author is not telling all the Christians in this church that by now they they should all be pastors.

What he is saying is that all of them should be teachers in the sense that they are able to disciple new believers in the fundamentals of the faith.

That the congregation should have believers who are mature in Christ and willing to train and equip new believers to follow Jesus.

So here there are two principles that all of us we need to take to heart in our church.

First, all of us should be growing in Christ.

We cannot allow ourselves to grow lazy in our faith and live as spiritual infants who can take it or leave it when it comes to feeding on the Word and growing Christ.

And second, the work of the Christian life is to disciple others.

That is what it means for us to be a Great Commission Church.

When the Author says about this we have much to say he is talking about the superiority of Christ’s priesthood.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

After his resurrection, Jesus gathered his disciples and said, “Listen. I’m about to leave for a little while, and while I’m gone, I want you to do something for me. Because More people need to hear about me and my gospel. More people need to know that I alone can forgive their sins.”

And so Jesus entrusted to us, his church, the Great Commission. He said...

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

An essential part of being a Christian is being a disciple who makes disciples. It is following Christ, growing in him, and helping others to do the same.

Sometimes, that is going to look like sharing our faith with an unbeliever. Like sharing the gospel with someone so they can trust in Jesus and be baptized.

Other times, and I think more often in the Bible belt culture we live in, that is going to look like teaching immature disciples what it means to follow and obey Christ so that they too can grow into maturity.

And this is the responsibility of every Christian. If you are a follower of Christ, God has called you to grow in your faith and disciple others.

In , Jesus is shown to be infinitely superior to the high priests of the Old Covenant because he is the great high priest of the New Covenant between God and his people.

For all of us, together, to move from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity.

So your job as a Christian, the thing that God has given you to do until you die or Christ returns is to Live a Great Commission life. It is grow in Christ by feeding on his Word, and to teach others to do the same.

So if that is our calling as a church, then we need to know what that looks like. What does it mean that someone is immature in their faith and how do they grow in Christ?

And he will go on to say much more about the high priesthood of Christ and what that means for us in the rest of the book, but right now, he interrupts himself because the Hebrews aren’t ready to hear what he has to say.

We need to know this for two reasons.

First, so that we can test ourselves against these standards to make sure that we have not become dull of hearing ourselves and continue growing in Christ.

And second, so we can also know what we are working towards when we disciple others.

So in the next section of this sermon, I want to focus on what it means to be an immature Christian, and then in the third section we are going to look at what the Hebrews says a mature Christian is.

He writes, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.

To start...

Its not that Christ’s priesthood is such a difficult topic that only master theologians can understand it. The reason why its hard to explain is because the Hebrews have become dull of hearing.

Literally, that means they have become lazy or sluggish.

Too lazy and sluggish to actually hear what God is saying in his Word and follow it.

The rebuke here is that the Hebrews had stopped making their faith a priority. They had stopped listening to what God had said, and as a result had regressed to spiritual infancy.

That’s why it says, 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.

The oracles of God is just a fancy way of saying God’s Word, God’s revelation of himself, and the basic principles are literally the fundamentals or the ABC’s of the Christian faith.

And these basic principles are explicitly laid out in . They are repentance and faith, instructions about washings, or baptism, the laying on of hands which probably referred to the need for a sacrifice to atone for our sins, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement.

What’s interesting is that these are basic beliefs that Christianity shares with Judaism. There is nothing in these basic principles that an unbelieving Jew would not also agree with.

So what was likely happening was that the Hebrews had settled for a minimalist Christianity. They had grown lazy in hearing and applying God’s revelation in Christ so that they could still worship Jesus but do so in a way that could also pass for Judaism and thereby avoid persecution.

So the author says you need milk, not solid food.

Now this is a metaphor the author uses to talk about what nourishes a Christian’s growth and development. In other words, what feeds them and helps them grow from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity.

And the food that nourishes us and helps us grow in Christ is the truth of God’s Word.

Milk refers to those basic truths of the gospel. That we are sinners. God is holy. And Jesus died for our sins.

Solid food, on the other hand, refers to the deeper truths of God’s Word. The things that show us more of who God is and what he has done for us in Christ that gives us a deeper love for the Lord, and out of that love we grow in Christ.

For example, the solid food the Author is talking about in the immediate context is the priesthood of Christ. Its solid food because it goes beyond “Jesus died for our sins” to talk about how that actually happened. Jesus lived a sinless life, facing every temptation we face to die as our perfect substitute so that all the wrath God had against us could be poured out on him.

You see, when we start feeding on the deep truths of God’s Word, our worship goes from black and white, to full blown color.

A deep and robust theology from God’s Word gives deeper meaning to all our worship because when we pray, Jesus thank you for dying for my sins, we pray that with a greater understanding of exactly what we’re saying which in turn allows us to worship God with a greater, more meaningful love.

But the Hebrews had grown dull of hearing and before they could go on to the deeper truths of God’s Word, they would need to relearn the basics of the gospel.

Remember, they were struggling to hold fast to Christ because they were being tempted to abandon the Lord and go back to Judaism. The Author’s point is, “What’s the point of telling you about all the implications of the atonement if you are struggling to believe it in the first place?

This is why he rebukes the Hebrews. Basically what he says is by this time, the Hebrews ought to be able to eat solid food like grown ups. They ought to be able to learn deeper, more complex theology as mature men and women of the faith so that they could worship God even more. But here they are still needing the diet of infants.

They aren’t able to grasp the deeper truths of God’s Word, like the priesthood of Christ, because They are apparently still learning what it means to deny themselves and follow Jesus no matter the cost.

In other words, they were not able to move on to mature discipleship because they were still struggling with the very first steps of following Jesus.

Because of the rise of persecution, the Hebrews had regressed to spiritual infancy where they were again counting the cost of discipleship. Some of them were wondering to themselves, “Should I keep following Christ or just go back to Judaism so I don’t have to worry about all this?”

But the Author says by this time, you should be well beyond that. It should already be settled in your mind to follow Christ no matter the cost and you should now be eating the solid food, the deeper theology of God’s Word, to see what it actually looks like to do that. What it looks like to grow as a disciple of Jesus.

Because by this time, the Hebrews should not just be figuring out how to be disciples drinking spiritual milk, the basic fundamentals of Christianity. They should now be teaching others those basic fundamentals.

This is where we see that God expects his children to grow in Christ. After being born again, believers should move from spiritual infancy where they drink milk, to spiritual maturity where they grow in Christ on a diet of solid food, so that they can teach others to do the same.

That is, Christians are called to discipleship. That means they are called to grow in their own faith, and as they grow, come alongside others to help them do the same.

That word to teachers is not a reference to pastors. The Author is not telling all the Christians in this church they they should all be pastors by now.

What he is saying is that all of them should be teachers in the sense that they are able to disciple new believers in the fundamentals of the faith.

That the congregation should have believers who are mature in Christ and willing to train and equip new believers to follow Jesus.

So here there are two principles that all of us we need to take to heart in our church.

First, all of us should be growing in Christ.

We cannot allow ourselves to grow lazy in our faith and live as spiritual infants who can take it or leave it when it comes to following Christ.

And second, all of us should be growing in Christ, and teaching others to grow in Christ as well.

That is what it means for us to be a Great Commission Church.

After his resurrection, Jesus gathered his disciples and said, “I’m about to leave for a little while, and while I’m gone, I want you to do something for me. More people need to hear about me. Every sinner out there needs to hear that I alone can forgive their sins.”

And here it might be helpful to explain to you the role of theology in the Christians life. Theology is just a fancy word for studying who God is. Who God has revealed himself to be in his Word.

And so Jesus entrusted to us, his church, the Great Commission. He said...

And theology, good doctrine, is essential for the Christian life. Its not something that is reserved for pastors and theologians, but is necessary for every single Christian to glorify God.

An essential part of being a Christian is being a disciple who makes disciples. It is following Christ and growing in him, and helping others to do the same.

That’s because we can only worship God as much as we know him.

Sometimes, that is going to look like sharing our faith with an unbeliever. Like sharing the gospel with someone so they can trust in Jesus and be baptized.

What that means is the more you know who God is, and what he’s done, the more you are able to praise him for his glory because you have a deeper understanding, a deeper knowledge, of what it means that God saves sinners.

And other times, and I think more often in the Bible belt culture we live in, that is going to look like teaching immature disciples what it means to follow and obey Christ so that they too can grow into maturity.

The reason why unbelievers don’t worship God is because they don’t know him. They have no reason to worship him because there’s no understanding, no theology, of who he is or what he’s done.

And this is the responsibility of Christian. If you are a follower of Christ, God has called you to grow in your faith and to teach others to do the same.

So having a deep and robust theology changes our worship from being only black and white to being full color.

For all of us, together, to move from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity.

We understand more about his holiness which shows us the true wickedness of our sin which in turn shows us the amazing love God had to send his Son to die as our substitute,

As we grow in our knowledge of God, we see more and more of his glory. We see the infinite heights of his holiness and what that means for the infinite depths of our sin. We see his amazing love for us in Christ, and this theology allows us to love God more and worship him more fully for who he is.

And the more we know God

So your job as a Christian, the thing that God has given you to do until Christ returns is to grow in Christ and to teach others to grow in Christ.

And you might be thinking to yourself, “Well that sounds good and all, but I’m not a theologian. I’m not smart enough to understand all the intricacies of God’s Word.”

So if that is our calling as a church, then it would do us well to know what that looks like. What does it mean that someone is immature in their faith versus someone that is mature in their faith.

But Hebrews isn’t condemning anyone for their lack of knowledge or ability to understand. The Author is rebuking the Hebrews because they have grown lazy in their faith.

We need to know so that we can test ourselves against these standards to make sure that we have not become dull of hearing, but also so we can know what we are working towards in discipling others.

The question isn’t whether or not you currently have a certain level of knowledge or understanding. The issue is do you hunger for God’s Word.

So in the next section of this sermon, I want to focus on what it means to be an immature Christian, and then in the third section we are going to look at what the Bible says a mature Christian is.

Do you desire to grow in your faith, or have you become lazy and sluggish? Have you grown apathetic in growing in Christ so that you can follow him more faithfully, content to stay at the level of maturity you currently are.

To start...

Everyone starts somewhere following Christ. The concern here is that we not allow ourselves to become dull of hearing. That we stop listening to what the Lord has said in his Word.

II. Immature Christians Are Unskilled in Following Christ

You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

Now, I need to qualify some of these words for you so as not to discourage new and young Christians. Words like immature, unskilled, and child can come across as derogatory, but if you are a new or a young believer, this is not a rebuke or an indictment on you.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving milk to an infant. You need to learn the basics of discipleship and faith in order to grow into maturity.

In fact, the Bible says there’s nothing better to help you grow and develop as a Christian than learning the basic principles of God’s Word.

Speaking to new Christians, Peter said Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.

Some of you may be immature in your faith not because you are sinful or lazy, but because you are just a young believer.

It is perfectly acceptable for you to be immature, and its our responsibility as a church to disciple you.

So if that is you, then ask another believer that you respect to grab lunch or coffee to talk about your faith because you want to grow in Christ.

And don’t be embarrassed. Don’t let the fear of what others will think stop you from reaching out. I promise you, any mature believer who truly wants to live out the Great Commission would be grateful to disciple you in some way.

However, the Hebrews were not new Christians. They were believers who had had more than enough time to grow up in their faith.

So while there is nothing wrong giving milk to an infant, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t eventually move on to solid food.

Why? Because everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

This verse gives us a clear definition of what it means to be an immature Christian. An immature Christian is someone who is unskilled in the word of righteousness.

In other words, they are unskilled in living their lives according to God’s Word. Immature believers are still trying to figure out how to take God’s Word and apply it. How to live in a manner worthy of the gospel.

And that is perfectly acceptable for a young believer, but someone who has been following Christ for , don’t know how to live in a manner worthy of the gospel with all of their lives, because they only have the basics to help them do so.

They don’t quite know what it means to walk in the newness of life as a mature spiritual person because they are still learning what it means to crawl.

Again, that is perfectly acceptable for young Christians but people who have been following Jesus for years and years should have grown out of this by now.

Immature Christians are unskilled in the word of righteousness because they are still learning how to take God’s Word and say, “OK. How do these truths practically and actually work themselves out in my life?”

Whereas a mature Christian is someone who knows how to live out God’s Word and walk in godliness.

You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

Paul said something similar to this in :1-3

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh.

Here’s what is interesting. Where Hebrews contrasts those who are skilled versus those who are unskilled in the word of righteousness, Paul contrasts those who are spiritual with those who are of the flesh.

What that means is that there is a direct connection between someone’s spiritual maturity and godly living.

If someone is spiritually immature, we would expect them to live according to the flesh, whereas someone who is mature will walk by the Spirit and obey God’s Word.

Now what does it mean to be of the flesh? Paul tells us in .

A life of the flesh is one that is characterized by sin and disobedience. So an immature Christian is one who readily gives into sin that should be put to death.

Now I want to be careful here. I’m not arguing for Christian perfectionism. All of us will struggle with sin this side of heaven.

What I’m saying is that immature Christians are immature because they give into sin more easily. They are unskilled in applying God’s Word to everyday situations and following Christ.

And there is great danger for someone who refuses to grow up in their faith and leave behind spiritual infancy by feeding on the solid food of God’s Word. Paul said...

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Those that persist in immaturity, those that fail to mature and grow in Christ will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Why? Not because our obedience is what gets us into heaven. We are only saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Its because when someone who fails to grow in Christ, it might actually mean they aren’t saved.

Now this doesn’t talk about new or young Christians. Why? Because they are still growing they are moving out of these things. They aren’t desiring to stay in them.

But what it does say is that Christians that persist in immaturity and continue to live according to the flesh because they are unskilled in taking the truths of God’s Word and applying it to their lives for obedience, might not actually be Christians.

Now, I need to qualify some of these words for you so as not to discourage new and young Christians. Words like immature, unskilled, and child can come across as derogatory, but if you are a new or a young Christian that is immature in your faith, this is not a rebuke or an indictment on you.

That only believers will inherit the Kingdom of God, and true believers grow in spiritual maturity.

Paul clearly says only believers will inherit the Kingdom of God, and true believers will grow in spiritual maturity. The gospel truly does change us. When someone is saved by God’s grace they can’t help but grow in Christ.

In salvation, we are given new hearts with new desires. We no longer have a hunger for sin, a life of the flesh. Instead, we have an appetite for God and his Word.

And Jesus said in Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

If we truly have been saved, that means we have been given new hearts that long for righteousness, and Jesus said if we desire righteousness, we will be satisfied, we will grow in it.

One of the great dangers of spiritual immaturity for those that should be eating solid food is that it might not just be a sign of your laziness to feed on God’s Word. It might be a sign that you are deceived about your salvation.

This is one of the dangers that is immediately facing the Hebrews. They are being tempted to commit apostasy and go back to Judaism. And remember, we’ve said that if someone abandons Christ it doesn’t mean they lose their salvation. It means they never had salvation to begin with.

This is why the author is so concerned for the Hebrews. They are so spiritually immature that they are considering abandoning Christ and going back to Judaism. We know that because after warning them against immaturity in 5:11-14, the Author uses chapter 6 to warn them against apostasy.

And we know this is one of the dangers of perpetual immaturity that is heavy on the Author’s mind because that is what chapter 6 is all about.

So what I’m telling you as one of your pastors who loves you dearly, some of you need to wake up and get serious about your faith. Its time to put the milk down and start eating some solid food.

So what I’m telling you as one of your pastors who loves you dearly, some of you need to wake up and get serious about your faith.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving milk, which remember is the basics of discipleship and faith to an infant.

It’s time to grow up and move passed spiritual infancy and move on to spiritual maturity by growing in your skill to live all of your life in accordance to God’s Word.

It’s time to grow up and move passed spiritual infancy. Its time to get serious about growing in your skill to live all your life in accordance with God’s Word to the glory of Christ, and move on to spiritual maturity.

Because the danger if you don’t is that your immaturity may not be evidence of your spiritual infancy. It might mean that you are deceived about your salvation and are not far from walking away from Christ.

In fact, there’s nothing better to help you grow and develop as a Christian than learning the basic principles of God’s Word.

But here’s the good news. God wants you to grow into maturity. And because God wants you to grow, that must mean that its actually possible for you to do so.

But here’s the good news. God wants you to grow into maturity. And because God wants you to grow, that means it must be actually possible for you to do so.

So what does that look like? What does it mean to grow from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity and how do you get there?

Speaking to new Christians, Peter said Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.

So what does that look like? What does it mean to be a mature believer and how do you get there?

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation

That’s the idea of our next point...

Some of you may be immature in your faith not because you are sinful or growing lazy, but because you are a young believer.

That’s the subject o

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

It is perfectly acceptable for you to be immature, and its our responsibility to disciple you.

So if that is you, ask another believer you respect if you can grab lunch or coffee to talk about your faith because you want to grow in Christ.

And no matter your natural age don’t be embarrassed, because I promise you, any mature believer would be grateful to live out the Great Commission in discipling you in some small way.

However, the Hebrews were not just new Christians. They were believers who have had more than enough time to grow up in their faith.

So while there is nothing wrong giving milk to an infant, there is something deeply wrong when a believer who should be eating solid food is content to live on a diet of milk.

Why? Because everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

This gives us a clear definition of what it means to be an immature Christian. An immature Christian is someone who is unskilled in the word of righteousness.

In other words, they are unskilled in living their lives according to God’s Word. Immature believers, don’t know how to live in a manner worthy of the gospel with all of their lives, because they only have the basics to help them do so.

And so when the author says that immature Christians are unskilled in the word of righteousness, he means that they don’t quite understand what it means to live in a manner worthy of the gospel.

They don’t quite know what it means to walk in the newness of life as a mature spiritual person because they are still learning what it means to crawl.

In other words, immature Christians are immature because they still need to learn how to take God’s Word and say, “OK. How do these truths actually work themselves out in my life?”

Because when someone is mature, they know how to live out God’s Word.

As someone grows in their knowledge of God’s Word, as they grow in their skills to apply the deeper truths of the Scriptures to their life, they move from infancy to maturity.

Paul said something similar in .

Paul here, draws a straight line between spiritual immaturity and ungodliness. That spiritual infants are susceptible to living a life that is characterized, not by obedience and life, but by sin and the flesh.

Now what does it mean to be of the flesh? Paul tells us in Galatians 5:19-21.

So here we see a great danger with spiritual immaturity. Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now this doesn’t talk about new or young Christians. Why? Because they are still growing they are moving out of these things. They aren’t desiring to stay in them.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

That only believers will inherit the Kingdom of God, and true believers grow in spiritual maturity.

And we know this is one of the dangers of perpetual immaturity that is heavy on the Author’s mind because that is what chapter 6 is all about.

As someone grows in their knowledge of God’s Word, as they grow in their skills to apply the deeper truths of the Scriptures to their life, they move from infancy to maturity.

As one of your pastors who loves you dearly, some of you need to wake up and get serious about your faith. It’s time to grow up and move passed spiritual infancy and move on to spiritual maturity.

So what I’m telling you as one of your pastors who loves you dearly, some of you need to wake up and get serious about your faith.

It’s time to grow up and move passed spiritual infancy and move on to spiritual maturity by growing in your skill to live all of your life in accordance to God’s Word.

But here’s the good news. God wants you to grow into maturity. And because God wants you to grow, that means it must be actually possible for you to do so.

So what does that look like? What does it mean to be a mature believer and how do you get there?

III. Mature Christians Practice Godliness

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The word translated mature is very telling. It carries the idea of something being whole or complete. The author even used it earlier to say that Jesus was made perfect.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

In fact that’s how Paul defined maturity. In Paul says to be mature is to grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Basically, a mature Christian is someone who has grown to be like Christ. That’s what godliness is. Its Christ-likeness.

The word “mature” was also used to talk about reaching a high level of competence to effectively carry out a task such as a doctor or a teacher.

In other words, when someone is mature they are complete. They don’t lack anything in their Christian walk to follow the Lord faithfully. They are someone who is skilled in the practice of godliness. Someone who is like Christ.

And if maturity is simply living a life of consistent g

Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Paul says Mature manhood, or spiritual maturity, is to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

That means, growing to be a mature Christian is growing to be more and more like Christ. In his life, Jesus showed us what it means to be spiritually mature.

In every situation, in every circumstance, He glorified God and resisted temptation all while feeding on God’s Word.

Remember what he said when he was tempted? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

He was steadfast in his love for the Father, and that love allowed him to live a perfectly godly life.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

That’s why Hebrews says the mature, have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Now discernment is one of those words that we all know, but is hard to explain.

Think of it like a theological grid or worldview that we process life through. Its a way of knowing in any given situation what does godliness look like here?

So basically, a mature Christian is someone who knows God’s Word intimately, and then also knows how to apply it to their life.

They can quickly and easily face a given situation and determine, “Ok. Based on what I know from God’s Word, doing this would be the good and godly choice that would honor Christ, whereas doing that would be the evil and ungodly choice.”

And then they choose godliness because they want to live a life the worships the Lord.

Thats why it is by constant practice. So much of the Christian life is a refusal to just drift along and coast through life, but to instead make every effort, in every moment, to live for God’s glory.

In fact, the words translated by constant practice could be translated as habit.

So someone who is mature, has a habit of consistently living out God’s Word. They might not be perfect, but their normal pattern of life is one of godliness.

What all this tells us is that maturing is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, we have to have the long game in view.

Many Christians stop short of maturity because they think that because they aren’t mature just like that, that it is too difficult or impossible for them.

But the fact is, true spiritual maturity comes as we practice consistent discipline to live according to God’s Word.

That is what it means to live a life that glorifies God. It just means you live biblically.

Therefore, if we want to grow in Christ, then we need to train our powers of discernment. We need to train ourselves to think biblically through every area of our life and then follow that.

That’s what Christ did. He lived a life that glorified God the most. He was sinless and perfect. He fed on God’s Word so he could know how to distinguish good from evil.

by training ourselves to think biblically through every area of our life and then follow that.

Well how does that happen? By eating solid food. Feeding on the deep truths of God’s Word so that we can renew our minds to conform our life to the truth.

Look how Paul said it.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

That is maturity. It is living all our lives for God and his glory, living a life of worship to God for all he did to save us in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

Paul continues.

2 Do not be conformed to this world,

In other words, don’t continue to live like those who are spiritually dead. Don’t live a life of the flesh like those who do not know Christ.

but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Notice Paul uses the same language. He says that we should not be conformed to this world. That we should not live our lives according to the flesh.

What this passage says is that we’ve lived and thought one way our entire life and that led to a sinful way of life. But in Christ, we are called to a new way of thinking and therefore a new way of living.

We need to have our minds renewed through the deep truths of God’s Word so that we can know, or discern, what is the will of God.

Paul is saying the same thing the Author of Hebrews is.

If we want to live a life that glorifies God for saving us in Christ, then we live with his Word as the highest authority in our life.

That is all it means to be a mature Christian. We need to renew our minds to be like Christ.

And we do that by feeding on God’s Word. God has spoken to us in his Word to show us who he is and who we are in Christ so that we can know him and live a life that worships him.

That is all it means to be a mature Christian.

We can hear sermons like this and determine to will ourselves to maturity no matter what. But take it from first hand experience you won’t get very far.

Paul said in Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

We can’t will our own holiness. We can’t force ourselves into maturity.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Yes we are called to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling like Pauls says in . But he also says it is God who works in us.

But here is the temptation. When we talk about Christian maturity, we can start to think to ourselves that its all on us.

That if we just read the Bible and check the boxes, we will be mature.

But in the same way that our justification is dependent on the grace of God, so too is our sanctification.

Did not Paul say, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

So if we are going to grow in Christ, which is our responsibility, then God must also work in us to make that possible.

So “How does that happen?” The answer is, that God works in us through his Word.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Fruit here is Christian character. It is the fruit of the Spirit. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. The things that characterize the mature Christian.

And Jesus says that unless we abide in him, and he in us, that we cannot bear fruit.

Now here’s the problem when we talk about abiding in Christ. Many Christians have an overly mystical idea of what it means to abide in Christ. They think it is characterized by an emotional feeling or worship experience.

But Jesus is actually being very practical here because he tells us what it means to abide in him and he in us.

First, we abide in Christ as we keep his commands. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Likewise as we abide in Christ, He promises to abide in us. And he does this according to as his words abide in us. If you abide in me and my words abide in you.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

So what does all this mean? It means that abiding in Christ involves allowing him to abide in us through his Word.

His Word renews our minds and affections to help us discern what it means to live a godly life.

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Then out of these new ways of thinking and new affections, we keep Christ’s commandments and abide in him.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Basically, just to boil it all down for you, abiding in Christ means allowing his Word to be the highest authority in our life. It means living all of our lives for him and for his glory, by living every moment according to his Word.

So God says just like the rain waters the earth to make it sprout food for all people, so will God’s Word accomplish his purpose.

And Jesus said, These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

And Jesus says that unless we abide in him, and he in us, that we cannot bear fruit.

And that is to change sinners into worshipers.

When we grow in Christ. We we make our faith our number one priority and work by God’s grace to bring every area of our life in submission to God’s Word, Jesus promises that our joy will be full.

Verse 7 says let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

But Jesus is actually being very practical here because he tells us what it means to abide in him and he in us.

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

God reveals himself in his Word so that sinners will forsake their way and live for his glory. And that is the very definition of growing in Christ.

And what did we say Christian Maturity was? A life of worship lived according to God’s Word.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.