We often talk about the importance of keeping the Gospel simple—making sure we can explain our faith in terms anyone can grasp. And that’s vital. But if you look at the Book of Hebrews, the writer actually takes a bit of a different tone. He’s actually pushing his readers, urging them to ‘move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity’ (6:1).
If you read between the lines in chapter six, you can catch a hint of real exasperation. These believers hadn’t just slowed down; they had stagnated. But—and this is key—the writer doesn’t leave them in the doghouse. There’s this powerful thread of encouragement running through the letter. He spends the first five chapters building this massive, airtight case for why Jesus is superior to everything else. And then he pivots to build them up. He says, ‘We are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation’ (6:9). He eventually points them toward the heroes of the faith in chapter eleven, calling them to ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus’ (12:1–2).
But let’s get practical. Think about a child. When they’re an infant, they live on milk. Their bodies aren’t built for anything else. And in the spiritual life, that’s perfectly fine—if you’re a new convert. But the writer’s point is that if you stay in that state of ‘spiritual infancy’ forever, when you should have grown enough to handle solid food? Well, at that point, the responsibility falls on us.
The author actually warns his audience that they’re going to miss out on the deeper, richer meanings of the faith because they’ve become ‘dull of hearing’ (Hebrews 5:11). In the original context, that ‘dullness’ isn’t about intelligence—it’s about laziness. It’s apathy.
See, just like a child has to be trained to move from milk to solid food, spiritual maturity requires effort and experience. The Greek word used here for these ‘spiritual babies’ is apeiros, which essentially means ‘unskilled’ or ‘inexperienced.’ And let’s be clear: spiritual maturity has zero to do with how many birthdays you’ve had. You can be a Christian for forty years and still be an infant. Maturity is about putting your faith into practical use.
In Hebrews, this is a call to action. It means we have to ‘pay much closer attention’ to the faith (2:1). It means following God’s will without the baggage of fear or disobedience (4:11). And ultimately, it means learning to use our greatest tool—the Word of God—to sharpen our discernment (4:12).
The end goal? A believer who can distinguish between good and evil. And I’m not just talking about big moral dilemmas; I’m talking about having the spiritual ‘palate’ to know the difference between truthful, godly teaching and the hollow, worldly stuff that tries to pass for faith.
So, the question for us today is: are we still on the bottle, or are we ready for the meat?”
By: Asher Christman