Spiritual Growth
jneely
1 Therefore [dio] leaving [aphiemi] the principles [arche] of the
doctrine [logos] of Christ [Christos], let us go on [phero] unto [epi]
perfection [teleiotes]; not [me] laying [kataballo] again [palin] the
foundation [themelios] of repentance [metanoia] from [apo] dead
[nekros] works [ergon], and [kai] of faith [pistis] toward [epi] God
[theos],
2 Of the doctrine [didache] of baptisms [baptismos], and [te] of laying
on [epithesis] of hands [cheir], and [te] of resurrection [anastasis]
of the dead [nekros], and [kai] of eternal [aionios] judgment [krima].
3 And [kai] this [touto] will we do [poieo], if [ean] [per] God [theos]
permit [epitrepo]. KJV-Interlinear
1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us
press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from
dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings,
and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal
judgment. 3 And this we shall do, if God permits. NASB
Once a person has been saved, he needs to begin the growth process to
maturity. Too often people believe in Christ and after that they never
get off the ground in their spiritual growth process. Things begin to
fall apart for them in life and they wonder why. Where are the
promises from God?
The primary problem? They never grew up. They never learned anything
more than the fundamental basics of the Christian life, if they ever
learned the basics.
A new believer can attend church every Sunday for years and never learn
a thing. They might think they have learned doctrines. They might
even think they are living the Christian life, but they are not. What
has happened in their life is that they have become accustomed to the
emotional evangelistic calls, and/or they have come to the conclusion
that living a good moral life is really the Christian way of life.
Those morals being defined by their pastor, or by politicians, by
conservative thinking folks, or things that they have just heard and
selectively adopted from society in general (socially, television,
radio, movies, etc.).
The truth? They are all wrong.
Believers who do not get off of the basics of doctrine or who
improperly apply, to the spiritual realm, the opinions of society never
grow up. Even though various topics of discussion in society are
valid (Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly), if they are not weighed against
the perfect standard of Gods Word, then they become irrelevant and
nothing more than fuel for the empty discussions of jungle contestants.
Believers get emotional about various issues in life - politics, social
values, environmentalism, abortion, global warming, dancing on Sundays,
wearing colors other than black, and so forth. They base their
opinions, their beliefs, on personal preferences or emotions rather
than on truth.
Even though some issues may be valid (patriotism, honesty, etc.), if
God is excluded from the standards of the persons life, then all values
eventually become irrelevant in the long run of the individuals life.
Why? Because each person has a destiny and it is not related to how
they live their good life, but how they grow up spiritually.
Good living does not produce spirituality. Spirituality does however
produce good morals and ethics.
Remember that truth is where facts and reality meet and match up
perfectly. Opinion more often misapplies facts and begins with its
conclusion, then finds facts to support the conclusion. This is
typical of the liberal minded person.
In order to get ahead in life, a person has to grow up spiritually.
Physically growing up, mentally growing up are irrelevant. Spiritual
growth is the key to ones life.
The writer of Hebrews lists some of the basics of the spiritual life.
Things that the infant believer should know, but more often doesn't
know, or just can't seem to get past. The more we neglect our
spiritual growth, the more we become immune to it and the deeper our
true spiritual indifference becomes.
We become blind to truth having become consumed by our well entrenched
beliefs. When the warnings from God finally do come to us, we don't
recognize them and the sufferings intensify until we either wake up, or
die, or God relegates us to the role of historical filler.
By the way, the bulk of the world has the role of historical filler.
And, in that role there will be lots of positioning for places in the
jungle of the world as we see in the world of liberal or celebrity
driven politics, as well as great suffering for lots of folks as we
have seen over the decades of Aids infected people who just won't
change their life style.
Stubbornness in attitude perpetuates all of the problems of the world.
The next real threat seems like it will come in the form of this bird
flu. It is just hanging out there on the horizon like a stalled
threatening storm, but not quite ready to move onto shore.
The fundamentals of the Christian life begin with the gospel. Believe
in Christ and be saved. In our country this is not generally a barrier
as it is in other countries around the world. Most folks across the
planet can't seem to come to the point of belief. But faith in Christ
is not our topic here. Our topic here is moving on after you have
believed in Christ.
Here many folks just want to believe in Christ this week and again next
week and the week after and so forth. It is their emotional high and
they center their life on their emotions.
Emotions do not think, they were never intended to think. They are
there for appreciation, not decision making. You only need to believe
in Christ once and you are saved. Christ went to the Cross only once.
Don't crucify Him over and over, again and again.
Likewise, repentance from dead works, faith toward God, instruction
about washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and
eternal judgment, all these are fundamental subjects which the infant
believer should understand.
The first four (dead works, faith, washings, laying on of hands) deal
with the concept of the fellowship function of the spiritual life.
Dead works are those works of production from the sin nature. Faith is
the function of your belief in spiritual matters - not from empiricism,
not from logic. Washings is the confession function for regaining your
fellowship status. The laying on of hands is the 'picture' of
transferring our sins to Christ as He has paid the price for all of our
sins. In the Levitical offerings the priest or the offeror, placed his
hands on the animal to be sacrificed thus portraying the transfer of
his sins to the animal. These are all teaching aids aimed at teaching
the fundamental spiritual concepts they are associated with.
The last two items mentioned deal with the hereafter. There will be a
resurrection of everyone. Granted these resurrections will come is a
specific sequence - Christ was resurrected first, the Royal Family will
be resurrected second at the Rapture, Old Testament believers will be
resurrected at the Second Advent, the Millennial believers will be
resurrected at the end of the Millennium, and last and finally all
unbelievers will be resurrected for the Great White Throne. The last
resurrection for unbelievers will not be a happy one for them. Their
next stop will be the Lake of Fire.
This brings us to the eternal judgments. There are several of those.
For believers after each of the respective resurrections, there will be
an evaluation - the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is a good judgment
to be in.
It is where all believers will receive their just reward for their
spiritual growth. Those who grow up spiritually will receive great
reward which they will have for all of eternity. Those who do not grow
up will receive little to nothing in rewards. And by the way, our
subject ultimately in Hebrews is the very real risk you take by not
growing up spiritually. The risk of receiving nothing.
And of course there are the unbelievers who will be resurrected for
their judgment, and that judgment will be the Lake of Fire.
History is set. History will play itself out in the exact detail
which God decreed it in eternity past. Those who will believe, will
believe. Those who will not believe, will not believe.
The dispensations of human history will continue on course until Jesus
Christ pulls the lever of history and finally ends all of human
history.
We are not here to grow up physically, be successful, retire and sit
watching the sunset forever. We are here to prepare ourselves
spiritually. As for the various events of human history, God controls
history directly through the application of His own power, God uses
prepared believers to guide history in the direction of His choosing,
and God permits certain jungle activities to unfold, limited by the
laws of divine establishment.
Your ultimate role in history depends on the decisions you make
throughout your life. Today is the time to begin making the right
decisions for yourself.
John 6:44
44 'No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and
I will raise him up on the last day. NASB
End of Lesson.
Todays Bible Study Question:
A person who never grows up spiritually?
A. Loses out on great reward in this life as well as in the next.
B. Will be fine if they are sincere.
C. Just needs to go to church every Sunday.
D. Will be better off with pizza and beer.