Prayer of the Day: O Lord Jesus Christ,
You have called us to grow in the knowledge of Your Word and in the maturity of faith. Guard us from spiritual immaturity and from the dangers of neglecting Your truth. By Your Spirit, strengthen us to go forward together, holding fast to the hope of eternal life, until we inherit the promises You have given; who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Dearly Beloved Fellow Believers,

One notable example of humility in the Bible is Daniel. God gave him great gifts and abilities and exalted him to a position of authority and honor in Babylon during the Babylonian captivity. Yet Daniel was not proud or conceited; he did not consider himself above his fellow Hebrew exiles. When he prayed for his people Daniel, expressed repentance as one of them. “We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments,” Daniel confessed.

Daniel’s humble attitude toward his fellow Hebrews is the proper one for all Christian teachers and leaders. There is no place for a self-righteousness or superior attitude in those who are called to be pastors, teachers, or elders, for they, like the people they serve, are subject to weakness and temptation. So when they talk to their fellow Christians about the need for repentance, the importance of service, or the need for the means of grace, the word “we” is called for. It should be that we need to repent, we ought to serve the Lord, we need to hear His word, not just that you need to do these things.

In today’s text we notice that the writer of Hebrews does this. He gets after his readers, sternly warns them, chides them for their spiritual immaturity, but notice that he also says to them, “Let us go on to perfection.” “We all need to learn and grow,” he is saying.

Let this also always be our manner of speaking, that we say to one another,

LET’S GO FORWARD TOGETHER

To Christian maturity

If we are to say to one another as fellow Christians, “Let us go forward together,” we need to know where it is that we are going. What is our common goal as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ? It is the goal that the writer identifies and states in our text: Christian maturity. Our version translates, “Let us go on to perfection,” and the word used here does mean perfection or completeness. But in the context in which the writer uses it here, it would better be translated “maturity,” because he’s talking about moving on from the basics of Christian teaching to a more mature understanding.

So, this should also be our goal as we urge and admonish one another to go forward. Maturity should be our goal because it is never wise or good to remain in a state of immaturity. Immaturity is what we expect from young children; we don’t criticize a toddler for being immature. But as a child gets older and grows taller we expect to see a corresponding growth in maturity. And when the child reaches adulthood we expect to see an adult level of maturity. When that isn’t there, the young adult will not flourish. A young adult who has not yet learned to get up and get going on his own will not succeed in school, will not be able to get and keep a job, etc. An adult who is still childishly self-centered will have trouble maintaining friendships and will find it hard to make and keep the commitment necessary for a good marriage.

The signs and dangers of mental and emotional immaturity are probably easy for us to recognize and understand. But what about the signs and dangers of spiritual immaturity? Our text helps us to identify them. The writer addresses Christians who hadn’t grown in their understanding of the Word, even though they had had plenty of opportunities for growth. They weren’t beginners; they had had the privilege of sound teaching in the Christian faith, probably for some years. Yet the writer here, one of their teachers, found it necessary to keep going over the same ground with them. He complains about this a few verses back from our text, saying that his readers were still able to take only the milk of the Word when they should have been ready for solid food (Heb. 5:12-14).

We understand from this that one sign of spiritual immaturity is refusing to grow in understanding of the Word. It is not that someone hasn’t had the opportunity to grow. It is not that someone is naturally simple and childlike and can’t learn more than the simplest truths of the Christian faith. No, spiritual immaturity is the problem of those who do not want to grow. Some don’t want any more instruction in the Word; they are satisfied with what they have. Others do listen to the Word but don’t want to accept what it says; they argue with it and reject it. Others are careless about whom they listen to and what they read; they pick up bits and pieces from all over the place, some of it true and some of it false. The Apostle Paul speaks of those who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). These are examples of spiritual immaturity.

We should want to grow in knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. We don’t want to be like the Hebrews who had become “dull of hearing” (Heb. 5:11). We don’t want to be like the kid in school who has intelligence but doesn’t want to learn anything. The whole purpose of our life is that we should know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent to save us (John 17:3); it is to know that Jesus died for us to cleanse us of our sins and that through faith in Him we have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The knowledge of God and salvation is the food of life, the basis for everything that we think and do. Anything else that we gain in life—whether it is knowledge, money, fame, or honor—will leave us unsatisfied, and will not really benefit us, if we are not at the same time growing in the knowledge of God.

Spiritual immaturity is also a dangerous state in which to be. Our text warns against it, and in terms that are sobering. The writer is addressing those who were in danger of complete apostasy from the Christian faith. Some have found his words here to be troubling because he seems to teach that those who fall away from Christ can never come back to Him. But these words are most certainly not intended to discourage anyone who wants to return to Christ. They are rather intended as a warning to those who are on the brink of renouncing Christ in favor of something or someone else. Anyone in that position should be admonished to turn back immediately and warned that that road is one from which there may be no return.

To salvation

But although our text warns sharply, the end is positive and optimistic. The writer invites his readers to go on with him to maturity, adding, “And this we will do if God permits.” He warns his readers against apostasy but adds, “Beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.” He also points to his readers’ works of love to Christ and His disciples as evidence of their faith. Christian teachers can always reprove and admonish with optimism because they are applying God’s Word which has in it the power of the Holy Spirit. And the call to repentance is the call away from what is detrimental to what is good and beneficial. The invitation to go on together to maturity is an invitation to blessings that begin and increase in this life and continue in perfection in eternal salvation.

We have talked a lot about spiritual immaturity, its symptoms and dangers. It’s opposite, spiritual maturity, is a great blessing. If we continue in the Word, take advantage of opportunities to grow by hearing and studying the Word of God, we will grow in knowledge, in strength of faith, in peace and joy, in good works. But such growth doesn’t happen overnight; it happens slowly and invisibly over time. Just as those who grow weaker in faith and knowledge are not conscious of what they are losing, so also those who are growing may not always be conscious of what they are gaining. The kingdom of God is like seed growing secretly, Jesus says (Mark 4:26,27); there’s growth going on, but you may not see it right away. Yet the growth is real and will become evident. This is important to understand so that we don’t get discouraged about hearing the Word, thinking that it isn’t helping us. We can, for example, go to church on a Sunday and come away thinking, “That didn’t do much for me.” Perhaps we thought that sermon wasn’t very interesting. Maybe we didn’t see how the Scripture lessons applied to us. Or maybe the hymn singing was kind of weak, so that it was hard to appreciate the Scriptural message. Even if we feel that way, we should be patient and keep going back. If we are hearing God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will give us growth. And the day will come when we will see it. It may be when someone asks us a question about Christ and salvation and we have the answer. It may be when we are overtaken by some sudden trial and find that we are strong and endure it better than we ever thought we could.

And remember what it is that makes a mature Christian a truly blessed person. It is that he or she has a firm grasp on the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Think of mature Christians that you know or have known. Are they not people with a cheerful, hopeful, peaceful spirit? Let us take them for our examples, as our text says, “Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Continue patiently and steadfastly in the Word and you will grow strong; you will weather the storms of life; you will leave this world in peace; and you will enter into eternal life. To this end let us go forward together. Amen.

—Rev. John Klatt

Watertown, SD

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