Bible Studies

Meat Goes Down Better With Milk

by Terry Barlow
11/13/14
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    Hebrews 5th Chapter toward the end tells of a class of believers who, though they ought to have been teaching others, were still in need of others to teach them the basics. They still needed milk as their central diet and not solid food which is the spiritual diet of the mature. Even as we go on into spiritual maturity though we continue to need milk to wash down the meats and other solid food. So we never outgrow our need for the basics, which chapter 5 describes as repentance from dead works, faith in God, instruction about baptisms(plural, including baptism with the Holy Spirit by Jesus himself) the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. So as we continue to hear of these things we are solidifying our foundation and reviewing our lessons so to speak, perhaps washing down the understanding of deeper, more advanced and meatier doctrines to which we are continually being introduced.

  Also we know that there are other kinds of basic lessons about life and love that we need to be taught before we graduate from sitting under assigned “tutors” to truly become heirs, as full-grown sons and daughters of God. (see Galatians 4)  Beware, though,  of unassigned,  would-be tutors with questionable motives who attempt to "teach us a lesson" in life,  and let us beware of ever being such a "tutor" ourselves no matter how tempted.   This never means we won’t continue learning, teaching and growing right up until the day we die,  unless we are caught away with the others by Jesus our heavenly groom first.

  Note that sons are never too old to cry out "Abba!" or "Daddy!" to their heavenly Father. In fact, I think they get even better at it.  With spiritual maturation process, we actually grow into this kind of simplicity of intimate dependence, whereas paradoxically with natural maturation we grow OUT of this direct dependency upon parents.  (As when my oldest daughter informed me in a bittersweet moment that she wouldn't be calling me "Papa" anymore because it sounded too "babyish.")

 This is all consistent with the teaching of the Apostle John in his first epistle (an epistle is not the wife of an apostle! :)) and second chapter where he writes or quotes (what may have been a hymn) to children that they are forgiven, and to young men that they are strong and have overcome, and to fathers who have known him who is from the beginning. Of course a young man continues to be forgiven like the children, and a father continues to be strong and overcome the evil one like the young men, so that each level of spirituality builds upon the previous one(s) which continue to manifest at the new level, though often in very different ways.

  So it is that we never out grow spiritual milk any nore than we do natural milk, but continue to benefit from it all our lives, no matter how mature as God’s Abba-dependent heirs we may become. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++