Conducting a Spiritual Checkup Pt 1

Growing or Dying (Pt 1)

Hebrews 5:11-6:8

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food…Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity.”

                  When a baby is first born, it depends on the mother to provide the necessary nutrition for life. For a baby, life begins with a single need: milk. However, as the body grows and the demands for nourishment increase, the child will eventually need to move from milk to solid food. If a baby stops growing and maturing, we become concerned and call the doctor. If the child continues not to grow, it may lead to hospitalization and even death.  

                  Paul uses this analogy to describe our spiritual growth. It is easy to be complacent in our spiritual life.  Life marches slowly onward, and we become distracted by the daily events that demand our time and energy.  In this passage, we find a challenge to remain dedicated to growing in our spiritual life.  The passage begins by pointing us to the goal of the Christian life.  To be a Christian is not just to affirm fundamental doctrines and conduct of the Christian life. As Christians, we are to be growing. If a Christian stops growing spiritually or regresses, then there is the danger of spiritual death.  Hebrews 6:6 remains one of the most troubling verses in the Bible, for it warns us that if someone “falls away,” then it is “impossible to renew them again to repentance.”  This passage does not refer to the loss of salvation, for the Bible teaches that our security in Christ is not based upon our abilities but on God’s power. Instead, the point is that if we continue to reject the offer of salvation, we are in danger of judgment, for there comes a point when God confirms our judgment and salvation is no longer available (Amos 8:11-12; 2 Cor. 6:2). 

                  God’s desire and purpose for us is not just to be saved from the clutches of hell but to transform our lives so that we become more like Christ.  The solid food is the ability to discern right from wrong, truth from error, and righteousness from sin.  Spiritual growth is demonstrated by our desire to increase our knowledge of God’s Word and obedience to Him. This stems from God’s work in us.  Growth is the inevitable result of salvation.  Paul makes this point when he states, “Work out our salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phi 2:12-13).  In other words, when we are genuine disciples of Christ, God works in us by giving us both the desire (the will)  and the ability (the work) to grow in our relationship with Christ. This does not mean we are perfect. We still struggle with temptation (Phil. 3:12-15).  It means that our goal is to become more like Christ.  Just as we conduct physical checkups to ensure we are physically healthy, we need spiritual checkups to ensure we are spiritually healthy.  Am I  growing in my knowledge and obedience to Christ?  Am I being a witness for Christ and able to share with others what it means to follow Jesus? Do I desire to obey Christ and manifest His character in my thoughts, attitudes, and actions? Is Christ increasingly becoming my desire? If the answer is no, we must ask Christ to restore our spiritual health.