"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 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. . . . 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." (NKJV)
"Unskilled in the word of righteousness."
The word "unskilled" here is apeiros and it means inexperienced and ignorant. Not having learned and not having put into practice.
There are, I think, three kinds of Christians: those who are both ignorant and inexperienced; those who are well-versed in scripture, but who put very little of it into practice (except with their mouths); and those who are spiritually mature.
There is no excuse in this day and age to be ignorant of the Bible, but there are many who are. There are many who limit their instruction in the things of God to Sunday mornings, and then, not every Sunday morning, but only some. And I will admit, it is so easy to allow your life to become occupied—even controlled—by the things around us. We are surrounded with calls to satisfy the lusts of our flesh. Frequently, we are even told it is good for us! "Do this for yourself." "Take care of yourself before you take care of anyone else." "Love yourself so that you can love others." Add to that all the commercials and advertisements for things we are told we have to have and it’s easy to see how it would be hard to focus just on the Lord. There are so many distractions!
Regardless, there are also many tools available for us to learn about the Bible. There are, first of all, many English translations. There are even paraphrases for beginning Christians (though these versions should be discarded after the first year or so as they are not reliable for building good doctrinal foundations). While there are translations that are better than others, it’s better to start with something than to become logged down in the process. Pick up a Bible. Begin reading. Begin learning.
There are also many study helps, sometimes perhaps too many. It can become overwhelming! In Matthew 7:15-20, the Lord Jesus Himself tells us how to choose our teachers. This also means how to choose the authors that we read. He tells us that we can tell false prophets by their fruit. This word, fruit or karpos, is the same word as that used in Galatians 5. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit (or the fruit of their lives). We cannot tell false prophets by the results of their labor because even Satan can produce success, numbers, and fame. We have to tell false prophets (or teachers) by how they live. Wow! That means, we cannot usually trust published books unless the authors are dead. Why? Because their private lives aren’t exposed. But if we attend a smaller church, it may be possible to judge the life of the pastor and determine whether or not we should follow him or her. You can also sometimes tell the life of an author by what they write. If what they write is uncomfortable and challenges the lusts of the flesh, you may be able to trust them. Or if you know someone who knows them personally, you can find out if they are a trustworthy teacher. (Some good "dead guys" to read include A. W. Tozer, Alan Redpath, and John Wesley.)
Once you begin this journey of studying the Bible and have a fairly decent understanding of at least what’s in the Book, you will also need to begin a study of the basic doctrines. There are many study helps, as well as websites, to help you with this. Pray as you go and the Lord will lead you. Carefully watch the lives of the leaders of various groups who espouse to certain doctrines and it will help you decide what you want to believe. Be open to changing your doctrinal stance as you grow spiritually. Remember that "being" a Christian is a process, a journey, not a one-time event. That means that the Spirit will grow you, and as you grow, you will likely change how you think about certain doctrines.
However, none of this will do you any good if all you do is study and learn. The other part of apeiros is inexperienced. If you don’t apply what you learn—if you don’t allow the Word to change your behavior and your choices—you will remain apeiros; you will remain a baby in Christ. It’s not enough to read. You have to spend time in meditation and prayer, allowing the Spirit to convict you of the sins you’ve committed against others and to show you the patterns of sin in your life. Once you see those, you need to ask the Lord how you should change. Don’t expect Him to hit you on the head; the Lord never forces us to move toward Him! He calls, He compels, but He doesn’t force. We have to want to move toward Him, to become more like Christ! The Word will clearly show us our sin and what our life is supposed to be like, but we have to want to make the changes.
"Have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil"
These "senses" are more than just the five of taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touching. This is our sense of right and wrong, our judgment, our conscience. We can exercise our conscience or we can deaden it. If we embrace lust and sin enough, our conscience becomes dead to the evil with which we are filling our lives. If we embrace the Word and the Spirit, our conscience becomes alive and we become immediately convicted when we sin! The more we embrace the Word and the teaching of the Spirit, the more sensitive our conscience becomes. The more we quickly confess sin, the more quickly we are able to discern when we do sin. We need to become top spiritual athletes, those who train our souls and spirits to do the hard things of God. We need to grow up!
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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