The Third Warning: The Peril Of Spiritual Immaturity Series

C. They had adopted a faith that had no zeal, little energy, and no growth,

and perhaps a regression as well

B. You may even hear a bit of the author’s frustration with this particular congregation.

C. The author calls attention to their slowness to learn in Vs. 13, he writes, 12In fact,

though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the

elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

1. Their lack of progress is noted here, the Author is convinced that they have

had enough instruction that they should be able to teach others now, but they

cannot.

2. He says in effect that they need remedial training in the”elementary truths of

God’s word.

A. He does not suggest there is a problem in this fellowship, he names it,

though they claim to be followers of Jesus, they don’t really know and

understand what it means, they need to be instructed again in the basics.

B. He does not say it was because of a lack of teaching, but they were not

learning. They put forth little effort

3. The author makes the comparison between adults who eat solid food and

infants who get their nourishment from milk. It’s like having an infant who

never matures, never grows, never understands any more than the day he or

she was born. As a parent wouldn’t you be concerned about that?

D. Vss. 13-4 continues this imagery, and also provides a sense of what it means to mature

in faith. 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the

teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant

use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

1. Teaching about righteousness constitutes maturing in the faith and it is equated

with solid food. But what does this mean? Solid food, maturity has to do with

being trained in distinguishing good from evil.

2. At the time this letter was written the scripture was the OT, and the most read

portion of that would be the Pentateuch, the Books of Moses, the first five

books of the OT. Along with Psalms. You may even consider the moral

passages specifically like the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20 as an example

3. The differences between good and evil are not discernable by instinct, it is

rather something that comes by training, by instruction, by learning.

II. Chapter 6 continues this thought, notice again the therefore in 6:1, it is built upon the

preceding discussion. Always remember that chapter and verse demarcations are arbitrary.

You will not understand chapter 6 without looking at chapter 5

A. Vss. 1-3 read 1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go

on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to

death, and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the

resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.

1. What were considered the elementary teachings about Christ?

A. Repentance from acts that lead to death, sinful behavior, those

behaviors that separate us from God and his people. Any of our