Going on to maturity

Today's reading Hebrews 5:11 – 6:12

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Today’s blog

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity.” (Hebrews 6:1a)

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Because Jesus is our great high priest, we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence and find the help we need in temptation and weakness (4:15-16), learning from him the way of obedience (5:8). This is a great salvation – what a shame if we neglect or ignore it (2:3). Instead, “having tasted that the Lord is good, like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Pet.2:2-3).

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But babes move on from milk to “solid food” (5:12). This is the danger point in spiritual growth. Milk is easy to digest and in the early days of Christian experience we are keen to grow in our faith. But growth mustn’t stop once we’ve learned the basics. We are to go on to maturity, growing in “righteousness” (5:13), becoming more like Jesus, our brother who obeyed perfectly and who can teach us to do the same.

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The apostle Paul puts it like this: “Not that I have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phl.3:12-14). Such an aim is only sustained by solid food e.g. letting God’s word dwell in us richly (Col.3:16), relying daily on his life within us (Jn.15:4-5), and looking always to do God’s will, as Jesus did (Heb.10:7). It’s as we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ” that we come to maturity (2 Pet.3:18).

(To dig a bit deeper into Hebrews 5:11 – 6:12 click here for some commentary notes.)