Growing in Jesus Christ through Everyday Experiences

Hebrews 5:12-14

• Maturity is to Build and Grow on Foundations of Christ.
• Unskilled in the Word of Righteousness.
• Skilled through Practice and Senses.

These verses of this post refer to maturing in the knowledge of the Scriptures. When the verses below were written, it was in the context of Jesus Christ being the High Priest over the temple of God, our body. They had to be told that humans are not sufficient to rule over the temple of God, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16

It was necessary to teach the readers that no human is to consider another human to be a substitute for the Deity of Christ. Taking our eyes off Christ, to focus on another human, is to serve the thing that makes itself an angel of light with many ministers that masquerades as ministers of righteousness. “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 Their purpose is to make the human body the seat of government for the mark of the beast.

Maturity is to Build and Grow on Foundations of Christ.
If someone needed to be constantly reminded that Jesus Christ is the High Priest, the Son of God, the sacrifice for the atonement of sin, and the source of eternal life, then they are not maturing. They are still babes in the Holy Scriptures. These are those who are easily beguiled by the false angel of light and are susceptible to the false ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). They have taken their eyes off of Jesus and have focused on distractions to the Gospel. Those babes need to be reminded constantly that Jesus Christ is the Lord above all lords.

Growth is like building a house, the foundation is laid and then all the other parts are added to put together a house. Someone who has a desire to be a teacher of architecture has to have knowledge of more than just the foundations of a building. If a student had to be constantly reminded to get the foundation right before continuing forward, there isn’t much hope for that student to be a teacher of architecture. If we need to be reminded constantly of John 3:16, then there isn’t much to be said about our ability to teach from the Holy Scriptures.

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you
again the first principles of the Scriptures of God;
and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
Hebrews 5:12

Unskilled in the Word of Righteousness.

“For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.”
Hebrews 5:13

Being unskilled in the Word of Righteousness comes from discarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The churches are unskilled in the Holy Scripture because they no longer acknowledge the Deity of Jesus Christ, do not believe in His death and resurrection, nor do they believe in eternal life and the judgment to come. Followers of Christ have to wonder where the Gospel message is, why do they need to be reminded to return to the foundation of the Cross of Christ? Their doctrines are based in humanism empowered by the mark of the beast. They are babes to God’s word but mature as false angels of light masquerading as ministers of righteousness. They are unskilled in teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ which makes them inadequate to teach any part of the Holy Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

Skilled through Practice and Senses.

“But solid food belongs to those who are mature, that is, 
those who by practice have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Hebrews 5:14

Holy Spirit filled people mature from everyday practice which sharpens our senses to be able to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. We gain experience in the home around family, at the workplace, within social settings, in the schools, and in everything that we do. Because our foundation is firmly built on Jesus, we easily discern when those around us are hostile to the testimony of Jesus Christ. When we mature in the Holy Scriptures, such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Revelation, our senses are exercised to discern the good and evil surrounding us. We can sense that we are living within an environment that is hostile to the Deity of Jesus Christ, blasphemous to the Divine God, and ignores the Holy Spirit as a person in the Godhead. We become skillful in presenting the Holy Scriptures rooted in Jesus Christ.

Through experience, we know that the thing that has power over physiology and is able to form thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behaviors is hostile to the Deity of Jesus Christ. It’s easy to put two and two together to know that it is the mark of the beast wearing the clothing of humanism. We are able to discern what thoughts and feelings belong in the temple of God, our body, and which do not. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, not the seat of government for the mark of the beast.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11