THREE SPIRITUAL CONDITIONS
Hebrews 5:11-14 NKJV
11 of whom we have much to say, and 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 first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
One thing we can surmise about the author of Hebrews, he is not worried about the feelings of his audience. He describes the condition of the believers and is blunt in his assessment. Remember, these are people dealing with persecution. The author is writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and does not coddle these believers. It makes me wonder if we can be so cognizant of people’s feelings that we don’t help them see the truth. I can plead guilty as charged.
The believers were dull of hearing. The word dull is also translated sluggish. We might say today that these believers were not sharp when it came to hearing God’s word. Their dullness was not a function of a spiritual defect, but rather a condition of the heart. They had not matured as they should have.
That would be the second condition, lack of maturity. These believers should be teaching others, but because of their lack of attention to spiritual things, they were in need of being taught again. And instead of being spiritually mature they were considered babes in Christ. As I mentioned the writer is not concerned with sparing the feelings of these Christians. He is telling them they should be big boys and girls, but they are still in a babyhood state of Christianity.
And these Jewish Christians were considered unskilled in the word of righteousness. They had not spent the time applying God’s word to their lives and so were inexperienced when it came to God’s word. So instead of the meat of God’s word, they were still on milk. You don’t give a baby steak until they can handle it. Steak would cause the child to choke. You don’t give spiritual meat to a baby Christian; they would not be able to handle it.
When a believer matures, they can handle stronger teaching and have learned to discern good and evil. The NLT of our passage for today says the following: “There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”
APPLICATION
Even though the message was written to Jewish believers under pressure, the principles in our passage today are just as applicable as they were two thousand years ago.
We must stay sharp in our ability to hear what God is saying in His word and by His Holy Spirit. One of the best ways to stay sharp is to fast. When you eat a big meal, you can feel sluggish. When you fast, you may be hungry, but you are not nearly as dulled down. Fasting is simply saying no to our fleshly desires for a season. Our flesh may protest, but it will help us stay sharp.
Maturity comes with time and effort. As we develop our relationship with the Lord, renew our minds, and practice His ways, we grow and mature. We can become more skilled in God’s word and will not as easily fall into the evil traps the enemy has set for us.
All of us have the potential to be sharp, skilled, and mature as believers. Those are worthwhile goals.
PRAYER
Lord, show me anything that has dulled me and caused me to slow my spiritual development. My heart is to grow up strong and mature in You.