Text: Hebrews 5:11-14 and 6:1-12
Title: Teachings Against Falling Away
The Immature Christians Described (Heb. 5:12-13)
1. Slow to learn (v.11). Immature Christians are slow to learn the things that we are teaching about Christ. It’s like teaching them how to read the Bible and how to have a quite time. Now if those long time Christians found it hard to read the Bible, how much more the baby Christians? Many of us are now parents. And I believe that each parent have a story to tell about their children on how they taught them how to eat, how to go to the bathroom, how to speak, how to dance, how to write, how to read, etc. And it is completely the same as parenting in the ministry.
2. Ought to be teachers, but still need to be taught (v.12). All Christians ought to become a teacher in one way or the other. There are people who have a gift of teaching, but that gift is about teaching to a big group. But as Christian however, we have to be teachers in a way that we can teach someone or some people about Christ. We can be teachers to our friends, to our own kids, to our family. Teaching is a gift given to all. And I believe that some of us are now teachers, not all but some.
3. Helpless (v.13). The word “infant” here is very significant. Let us picture an infant. They are dependent to parents. They cannot do anything without the parents. They do what they are told to do, which means they don’t think for themselves. To summarize everything, they are helpless. They cannot survive without someone assisting them. They cannot eat with themselves. All they know is to suck milk but unless no one is feeding them or assisting them, they cannot do anything.
The Mature Christians Described (Heb. 5:14-6:3)
(Note: the passage was presented in a negative way, but first we will look at passage in a positive way.)
1. Are able to train themselves to distinguish good from evil (5:14). They can now identify what is good and what is evil. They know what they are doing. It’s like your children learning now how to decide minor things for themselves. Whether to do this, or do that. They are now learning how far they can go.
2. They are now at least with the High School teachings about Christ (6:1). High School teachings are more like on practical applications in life as Christians. Though it was not mentioned directly in our passage, we can see here that Heb.5:14 give us a clue to what kind of teachings are they. Here we see that Christians are being taught on how to apply spiritual discipline and Christian living. It’s like they already know the basics of Algebra, and now they are starting to learn how to solve the word problems in it.
The Elementary Teachings (6:1-3):
a. Repentance
b. Faith to God
c. Baptism
d. Laying of Hands
e. Resurrection of the dead
f. Eternal Judgment
3. Enlightened (6:4). Received Biblical instructions and truths which were accompanied by intellectual perception. Take note however, that enlightening is not an equivalence of salvation. Mature Christians suppose to know the truth (though the context does not signify full acceptance).
4. Tasted heavenly gift (6:4). A figure of speech that may stand for “consciously experiencing something” and might be momentary or continuing. They have experienced God’s presence one way or the other. It’s like experiencing deep emotional connection with God.
5. Shared in the Holy Spirit (6:4). Mature Christians suppose to have accepted and experienced the workings of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Significant changes in their lives through the power of the Holy Spirit have seen in them.
6. Tasted the goodness of God’s Word and tasted the powers of the coming age (6:5). Mature Christians are supposed to be those people who enjoy God’s word. Meaning they recognized that God’s word are true and good for them. They are those people who crave for more. That’s why they love to be in the church attending discipleships, worship services, growth groups. For they have tasted the goodness of God’s word. (The Hebrews that this verse is being referred has not been regenerated in spite of the truth that they have heard and seen.)
Warning of Falling Away (Heb. 6:4-6)
(Note: now let’s look at the passage as it is, in a negative presentation)
Take note however, that verses 6:4-6 is a passage that also described a kind of person that have probably seen the truth and exemplified a “Christian life” but at the end, fall away. This passage is very controversial where there are lots of arguments concerning whether our salvation can be lost or not. And this has been one of the major passages in the Bible that has been most debated.
Some Christians believe that salvation can be lost because of this verse. Meaning, after we accepted Jesus Christ, but in the end denied Him and turn back to their old sins, they will lose their salvation and that they are to be judged. That can be a good point. However, there is a loophole with this view. If this will be our view, then we also have to accept that our salvation, once lost, cannot be renewed. Meaning, after losing what we have received, we have lost it forever. And there is no turning back to Christ anymore. There will be no more hope. And that could picture an unmerciful God. The word “impossible” here gave an emphasis that there could be no repentance in becoming an “apostate”. Apostate means unfaithfulness to religion, disloyalty, or denial of spiritual belief.
In addition, the words that describe mature Christians in 6:4-6 does not necessarily mean that the person have experienced all those things received salvation. Meaning they have probably have seen and worked with all the things mentioned earlier but have not accepted Jesus Christ. The passage did not use any term that would apply for a Christian recipient. So meaning, this verse could probably pertains to the unbelievers who have heard the gospel and have their acquaintance but have not digested the word of God. And this could make them easily become an apostate when trials and temptations come.
This passage is hard to understand especially if we fail to understand the spiritual condition of the recipient. That’s why in studying this passage, we have to pray hard that the Spirit of the Lord will enlighten us and so understand the passage.
But this is my personal application on the matter discussed in this passage. If there are people who are like “Christians”, but did NOTE genuinely accepted Christ, the more I have to check myself, whether or not I am a true Christian and truly His. And if I backslide, I have not probably accepted Jesus Christ. Just like what this passage is saying. This means, that backsliding should never be a choice for our spiritual life or it will be of question. I am amazed though with some people that I met, backsliding has been their regular habit when suffering conflicts and problems inside the church.
The thing is, God hates apostasy. He doesn’t like people falling back to the old nature. That’s why there is no such thing as backsliders. Be warned then brothers and sisters that backsliding is a sign of immaturity and rebellion against God. Hold on to the faith. Be faithful to him. For he who began done a good work in you will carry into completion until the day of Christ Jesus. –Philippians 1:6
Conclusion
Are we immature Christians? Are we ready to eat solid food? Take note what a mature Christians do. If we can see that even people who experienced what we have tackled sometimes fall away, what more if we remain infants in our faith? God wants us to be mature and obedient to Him.
