Moving beyond

A first century Scripture writer exhorts a certain church that is stuck in the mud: ". . . let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity . . ." (Hebrews 6:1)---not at all meaning that we should pass on to other things on our list beyond Christ, but that we should at this point be moving deeper into Christ. We should be progressing beyond the same old elementary presentation of the Bible week after week.

Here we are 2,000 years later and how much have we moved on? It is surprising to me how we still are stuck on arguments about the very things the writer mentions as examples: "What is repentance?" "What is faith?" "What order do they come in in the ordo salutis?" "What about baptisms: immersion or sprinkling? Adult or infant? Baptism of the Holy Spirit only once or repeated?" "Are we supposed to lay on hands for sick people's healing, or is that only for the early Church?"

C.S. Lewis said in his Narnia books that the experience of coming into Christ is to be a continual movement "further up and further in." And this is not just in the realm of spiritual ideas, but also in our actual experience here on earth. Things are possible on earth today that weren't before the Resurrection because Jesus has returned to the Father and given us his Spirit. An important transaction has occurred that is supposed to make a big difference. But if we don't believe that there is more to the Christian life than a flat repetition of doctrine every Sunday, with no deepening, we are like a man who has been told his car has a new engine, and who says he believes it, but he never turns the ignition to test it.

Why do we get stuck on the surface? It is because there are some truths in God's Word that we don't understand until we obey them. This is a spiritual principle. And it is the reason why no amount of academic study of Scripture, and no number of letters behind your name, can profit as much as a simple man's belief and adherence to what he reads. This is by God's wise design and it is marvelous.

Here is how it happens: You obey something the Holy Spirit is prompting you to, and then a verse comes to mind, and you say, "Oh, this is what it means!" Eureka! Also, when you obey the Spirit, Scriptures rush to mind. You know it is the Holy Spirit and not you because you had forgotten all about those Scriptures, and moreover, you had never applied them this way.

For example, you will resist some temptation by understanding and believing the situation in God's way instead of your old worldly way, and you will proceed to act according to this new understanding, and you will feel liberated as a result. And then suddenly pops into your mind: "The truth will set you free." You are surprised. And you will realize that that verse is not the irrelevant abstraction you used to think it was, but real truth on the ground for daily living and refreshment.

God means us to have these wonderful epiphanies regularly. They are ours for the having as we press into the treasures Christ has won for us. It is important not to get stuck in chronic unbelief or disobedience. "Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity." The exhortation written 2,000 years ago is still open to takers.

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