The Danger of Immaturity (Hebrews 5:11-6:20)

The Danger of Immaturity

(Hebrews 5:11–6:20)

By Dr. Hal Harless

Men's Breakfast, Calvary Chapel Rock Harvest, Cedar Hill, TX

May 2, 2009

I. Introduction

A. Please turn to Heb 5:11. While you are turning … Amy Grant has a song called "Fat Baby." The lyrics go like this:

I know a man

Maybe you know him, too

You never can tell

He might even be you

He knelt at the altar

And that was the end

He's saved and that's all

That matters to him

His spiritual tummy

It can't take too much

One day a week

He gets his spiritual lunch

On Sunday he puts on

His spiritual best

And gives his language

A spiritual rest

…He's just a fat little baby

He wants his bottle

And he don't mean maybe

He's sampled solid food

Once or twice

But he says doctrine

Leaves him cold as ice

He's been baptized, sanctified

Redeemed by the blood

But his daily devotions

Are stuck in the mud

He knows the books of the Bible

And John 3:16

He's got the biggest King James

You've ever seen

I've always wondered

If he'll grow up someday

He's momma's boy

And he likes it that way

If you happen to see him

Tell him I said

He'll never grow

If he never gets fed.[1]

B. It has been said, "You are young only once, but you can stay immature indefinitely." However, you cannot stay immature without endangering your spiritual life.

II. Exposition

A. Background

1. The setting of the book of Hebrews

a. The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish believers in Jerusalem during the time leading up to the rebellion against Rome that began in AD 66.

b. Once the rebellion had begun, the separate factions of the sedition fought each other and killed those that would not join with them. Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote:

Now, while these factions fought one against another, the people were their prey, on both sides, as we have said already; and that part of the people who would not join with them in their wicked practices, were plundered by both factions.[2]

c. Josephus recorded that the violence of one Jew against another was as bad as the Roman siege of Jerusalem:

For this internal sedition did not cease even when the Romans were encamped near their very walls. But although they had grown wiser at the first onset the Romans made upon them, this lasted but a while; for they returned to their former madness, and separated one from another; and fought it out, and did everything that the besiegers could desire them to do; for they never suffered anything that was worse from the Romans than they made each other suffer.[3]

d. Josephus concluded:

I venture to affirm, that the sedition destroyed the city, and the Romans destroyed the sedition, which it was a much harder thing to do than to destroy the walls; so that we may justly ascribe our misfortunes to our own people and the just vengeance taken on them to the Romans; as to which matter let every one determine by the actions on both sides.[4]

e. Because Messiah had made the final sacrifice (Heb 10:10–18), Messianic Jews would not have been able to participate fully in the Temple rituals. This alone would have caused them to stand out from their fellow Jews and drawn the wrath of the Zealots.

f. The pressure would have been tremendous to return to the temple's sacrificial system. However, that would have been a betrayal of the value of Christ's sacrifice by their actions.

2. The context of the passage

a. The author of Hebrews has been extolling the superiority of Christ to Moses, Joshua, and the angels.

b. He was about to explain Christ's superiority to the priesthood using the mysterious OT figure Melchizedek.

c. The author of Hebrews wanted to continue with his explanation, but the immaturity of his readers hindered him.

d. Therefore, he warned them about the danger of immaturity.

3. Today, we will see in this passage the reality of their immaturity, the risk of immaturity, the reward for maturity, and the reassurance of God's promises.

B. Exposition: The danger of immaturity (Heb 5:11–6:20)

1. The reality of their immaturity (Heb 5:11–14)

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil (read Heb 5:11–14).

a. The author of Hebrews wants to explain more about Melchizedek. However, he complains that his readers are not mature enough to understand.

b. The Gk. verb translated "you have become" means grammatically "you have reached a settled state."

c. The Gk. word translated "dull of hearing" means "sluggish, lazy."

d. By this time, they "ought to be teachers."

e. The Gk. word translated "elementary principles" means "things that constitute the foundation of learning, fundamental principles … letters of the alphabet, ABC’s."

1) Illustration of GI who forgot his English.

2) Illustration of German neighbor who forgot German.

f. It is a tragedy to remain immature, but even more tragic to slip back into immaturity.

g. Our discernment is sharpened by the practice of making right decisions.

1) The Gk. word translated "practice" means "a condition of body or mind acquired through practice skill; … exercise, doing again and again."

2) The Gk. word translated "senses" means "the ability to make moral decisions sense, ability to understand, power to discriminate."

3) "Trained" (gymnazō) means "train in gymnastic discipline; … discipline control oneself, exercise self-control."

4) Why would God continue to show us more when we are not applying what we already know?

2. The risk of immaturity (Heb 6:1–8)

a. We need to progress beyond the basics (Heb 6:1–3).

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, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits (read Heb 6:1–3).

1) "Press on to maturity" is the present passive of a verb meaning "bring, bear, carry".

2) Wuest translates this as "let us be carried along" (NTET).

3) We mature through cooperating with the Holy Spirit's work in us, not self-effort and striving.

4) The Gk. verb translated "not laying again" conveys the idea of repeatedly laying the foundation.

5) It is never an option to maintain the status quo. We have seen in Heb 5:11–14 that even the maturity we have can be lost!

6) These six subjects are a summary of basic teaching presented in three pairs:

a) "Repentance from dead works and of faith toward God"

i) The Gk. word translated "repentance" means "a change of mind."

(a) This change of mind is about "dead works." This is changing our mind about "the useless things we did" (GW) or "dead formalism" (Amplified Bible).

(b) We have our conscience cleansed from "dead works" by the "blood of Christ" (Heb 9:14).

(c) We are saved "not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5), "because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His [God's] sight" (Rom 3:20).

(d) Salvation is "apart from works of the Law" (Rom 3:28) and "apart from works" (Rom 4:6).

(e) The change of mind that they had experienced was to stop trusting in their own good works as the rabbis taught and begin trusting in Christ alone.

(f) In order to mature, a Christian must settle conclusively in their mind that legalistic effort has no value before a holy God, either before or after salvation.

ii) The Gk. word translated "faith" means "confidence, faith, trust, reliance on" and is a "state of believing on the basis of the reliability of the one trusted."

(a) The value of faith lies in the one in whom it is placed.

(b) When anything is added to simple faith, faith is destroyed.

b) "Instruction about washings and laying on of hands"

i) "Washings" (baptismos) is literally "baptisms."

(a) OT observance involves many washings.

(b) John the Baptist baptized those who had repented (Matt 3:11).

(d) We are baptized because we have been forgiven (Matt 3:11 and Acts 2:38 have the same Greek construction), not in order to be forgiven.

(e) The ritual of baptism demonstrates outwardly the union with Christ that was accomplished by the Holy Spirit baptizing us into the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13).

ii) "Laying on of hands"

(a) The practice goes back to the OT.

(i) Hands were laid on burnt offerings (Lev 1:4) and the scapegoat (Lev 16:21).

(ii) Hands were laid on those being ordained (Num 27:18).

(b) The action of laying on of hands thus symbolized recognition, identification, and approval.

c) "The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment"

i) "Resurrection of the dead"

(a) This teaching is also found in the OT (Job 19:25; Isa 26:19; Dan 12:2).

(b) Orthodox Judaism in the 1^st century expected a resurrection (John 11:24; Acts 23:6–10).

ii) "Eternal judgment"

(a) The OT is clear about divine judgment (Gen 18:25; Ps 1:5–6; Isa 33:22).

(b) Hebrews 9:27 indicates that judgment follows the death of the unsaved, "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment."

(c) The one who has trusted in Jesus alone does not come into judgment, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24).

7) "If God permits"—There is some doubt that, in their condition, God will allow them to continue to progress to maturity.

b. The impossibility of progress for some (Heb 6:4–6)

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame (read Heb 6:4–6).

1) "Those"—Note the third person form, not "you!" (cp. Heb 6:9).

2) The statement falls into three parts:

a) A description of a class of persons.

b) A fact about these persons.

c) The cause of this fact.

3) "Those who" includes the next five participles that describe the class of people that it is impossible to renew to repentance.

a) "Have once been enlightened"

i) The Gk. word translated "once" means "just the once" or "once for all."

ii) The Gk. word translated "enlightened" is phōtizō.

iii) In Heb 10:32, phōtizō is used to describe conversion.

b) "Have tasted of the heavenly gift"

i) In Heb 2:9, "taste" is used as "experience" (see Ps 34:8; 1 Pet 2:3; John 6:51–58).

ii) The Gk. word translated "gift" is always used in the NT to refer to Christ, the Holy Spirit, or something given by Christ.[5]

c) "Have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit"

i) Paul wrote to the Romans, "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." (Rom 8:9).

ii) Paul wrote to Titus:

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5–7).

d) "Have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come"

i) The Gk. verb is in the middle voice, which indicates that they have experienced for themselves personally God's word and the powers of the coming age.

ii) The Gk. word translated "word" (rhēma) means "spoken word."

iii) "Powers"—They had seen miracles.

e) "Have fallen away"

i) There is no "if" in the Gk. text here! Apparently, some translators wanted to see this as a theoretical problem.[6]

(a) Two problems with the theoretical view:

(i) The first is that both the author and his readers know that this cannot happen, so it is theoretical for all of them. How would this deter them from falling away?

(ii) The second possibility is that the author knows this is theoretical, but he believes his readers will take it seriously. In that case, it would serve as a warning, but it would be a deception.

(b) The author of Hebrews writes as if he knew of such cases.

ii) This Gk. verb used only here in the NT means "fall beside, befall, go astray, err" in Gk. literature through the first century.

(a) The noun form is common in the NT and always means "sin" or "transgression."

(b) Williams translates it, "have fallen by the wayside" (NTLP).

(c) In fact, if this verb means "to fall away from the faith," this verse would have to be the ONLY place in Gk. literature where it has that meaning![7]

iii) What do we know about the sin that the Hebrews were in danger of committing?

(a) The Transgression.

(i) This admonition concerns those who have seriously transgressed but not apostatized. They had fallen down, not away.

(ii) If the readers had been in danger of giving up all faith in Jesus, it would have been useless to warn them against crucifying the Son of God. The response would be, "But we doubt that Jesus is the Son of God."

(iii) The transgression in Heb 6:6 addresses the same issues as the sin in Heb 10:26.

(b) Those mentioned were believers.

(i) However, they were not holding fast to their confession without wavering (Heb 4:14; 10:23).

(ii) They had abandoned meeting with other Christians (Heb 10:25).

(iii) Christ has "perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb 10:14). They had been "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb 10:10).

(iv) Nevertheless, they had returned to the Levitical sacrifices to avoid persecution (Heb 10:32–36).

(v) However, the Levitical sacrifices were no longer of any value (Heb 10:18; 26) and they were "sinning willfully" by going back to them.

4) "It is impossible"—This is actually at the beginning of Heb 6:4 for emphasis.

a) It is impossible to dilute this word into difficult.

b) "To renew them again to repentance"—They need to change their mind, but cannot. They cannot "press on to maturity."

i) In going back to the sacrificial system, their actions were denying that the Messiah had "offered one sacrifice for sins for all time" (Heb 10:12).

(a) One who does this, in effect, "has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace" (Heb 10:29).

(b) In short, "they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame" (Heb 6:6).

ii) Were then these individuals lost eternally?

(a) The book of Hebrews does not say that.

(b) It does indicate that "much severer punishment" (Heb 10:29) awaits them. In context, this is a much severer punishment than the Exodus generation who died naturally over forty years in the wilderness.

(c) Even physical death is mentioned and they are warned that "it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb 10:31).

(d) Since they had returned to the sacrificial cult in order to avoid persecution, incurring divine chastisement should have given them pause (Heb 10:32–39).

iii) "Since they again crucify"—The tense of the Gk. verb indicates continuous action.

iv) The Gk. verb translated "put Him to open shame" also indicates continuous action and means "publicly disgrace, make an example of, hold up to contempt."

v) The impossibility of renewing them to repentance locked them into immaturity. The source of that impossibility is their continuing to "again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame" by offering sacrifices.

vi) While they continue in this transgression, it is impossible both to bring them to repentance and for them to mature.

vii) However, if they stop this, there is hope that restoration is possible. Nevertheless, like the Israelis at Kadesh, some lost opportunities cannot be recovered.

c. The parable of the field (Heb 6:7–8)

1) Blessing (Heb 6:7)

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God (read Heb 6:7).

a) "Blessing … cursed"—This passage uses the language of covenantal discipline.

b) We should not equate blessing for good works, i.e., rewards, with salvation.

2) Curse (Heb 6:8)

But if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned (read Heb 6:8).

a) The Gk. word translated "worthless" means "failing to meet the test" or "not approved."

b) Burned"—This is not referring to hell. The burning of a field to destroy the weeds it had produced was a practice known in ancient times. Its purpose was not the destruction of the field, but the destruction of the weeds in the field. Thereafter, the field might be useful again for farming.

c) In AD 70, God burned off the "weeds" of Temple worship to make way for faith in Christ.

3. The reward for maturity (Heb 6:9–12)

But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (read Heb 6:9–12).

a. "We are convinced" comes first in the Greek for emphasis. The author thinks that they, in contrast to the others, can go on to maturity.

b. "Your work" is the same as "things that accompany salvation" in 6:9. Evidences of real faith in their works.

c. The Gk. word translated "show" is defined "as giving outward proof show, demonstrate." We do know other people by their fruit (Matt 7:15–20 [Fruit in this context is teaching.]; James 2:14–26). However, lack of fruit does not mean that there is no faith. It simply means that we do not know.

d. Personal assurance is based on the word of God and God's trustworthiness.

e. The Gk. word translated "sluggish" is the same word that was used in Heb 5:11.

f. "Those who through faith and patience inherit the promises"—We need two things to receive God's promised rewards:

1) Faith

2) Patience

4. The reassurance of God's promises (Heb 6:13–20)

For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU." And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (read Heb 6:13–20).

a. "The promise to Abraham"—This is the Abrahamic covenant, which promised three things: a land, a seed, and a blessing. It is a grant or unconditional covenant. These promises resulted in three later covenants. The land promise resulted in the Land or Palestinian covenant. The seed promise resulted in the Davidic covenant, and the blessing promise resulted in the new covenant.

b. Abraham waited patiently—it was 25 years from the time God had promised him a son (Genesis 17:16) to Isaac's birth (Genesis 21:1-3).

c. ANE covenants were established by swearing oaths. God could only swear by Himself.

d. "An oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute"—Oaths were taken very seriously in the ANE.

e. "Two unchangeable things"—In Scripture, two witnesses confirm a matter (Deut 17:6; 19:15; Matt 18:16; 1 Tim 5:18; Heb 10:28). The two witnesses here are the promise and the oath, i.e., the Abrahamic covenant, which promised that in Abraham all the families of the Earth would be blessed.

f. "Impossible"—See Heb 6:6.

g. "An anchor of the soul"—More nautical language.

h. "A hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil"—That is the very presence of God in heaven.

i. "Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us"—No Israeli high priest was a forerunner because nobody followed him into the Holy of Holies. Messiah, in the order of Melchizedek, went into the heavenly Holy of Holies and has remained. He has promised to return in order to take believers into glory (John 14:1–3).

j. "Having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek"—This segues back to the subject of Messiah's priesthood that we left off in Heb 5:10.

III. Applications

A. It is a tragedy to remain immature, but even more tragic to slip back into immaturity.

B. The practice of making right decisions sharpens our discernment.

C. In order to mature, a Christian must settle conclusively in their mind that legalistic effort has no value before a holy God, either before or after salvation.

D. The impossibility of renewing to a change of mind can lock people into immaturity. The source of that impossibility is continuing to attempt to avoid persecution by blending in to the old life. While people continue in this, it is impossible to bring them to a change of mind so that they can mature.

E. We need two things to receive God's promised rewards: faith and patience.