November 3 - Spiritual Bluntness

The author of the Book of Hebrews tried to explain further the priesthood of Melchizedek and of Christ, but he found it difficult because of the spiritual immaturity of the believers. They had become dull of hearing, always staying with the basic principles of the oracles of God and could not go any further. As a result, they were still going around with the ABC’s of Christian doctrines with no desire to go deeper into the Word of God.

In the next chapter, the author would outline some of the fundamental doctrines that they must move away from. Looking at our present church conditions, we can find a lot of spiritual babies, still stuck in the fundamentals. There have been many debates about the mode of baptism, the meaning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the end times and the dates of Christ’s return. We argued and debated on church polity and organization, even different worship styles that can easily split the Christian church. These are signs of spiritual immaturity but those who are involved in them think that they are mature and discerning.

The sign of maturity is the ability to discern and discernment comes from constant practice of what one knows. It is by practicing what we believe could our sense of discernment grow. It is not just knowing some doctrines or teaching, it is about putting them into practice. You can talk all you want about love, but until you do it, you do not know it and there is no discernment about love. It is not enough to talk about healing but we have to put it into constant practice. Receiving some teaching through the intellect is to know in theory and putting it into practice is to know it experientially. This is the basic difference between drinking milk and eating solid food.

The Bible is not just a collection of different books, it is an instruction manual for our daily living. We cannot approach the Bible just like we read any other book. While the academic model is applied in our seminaries and churches, God’s children are starving for lack of nutrients. Reading books of theology written by a person is different than you go to the Word directly and being taught by the Spirit. People in the church are used to milk and very few are fed solid food.

Spiritual growth comes from repeated practices of the Word. To know the Word is to do the Word. Are you experiencing spiritual dullness at this juncture of your Christian life? You need solid food and not milk. It is not about just reading the Word, you have to practice what you read and your spiritual life will then grow. When you are skilled in the Word of righteousness, you may distinguish good from evil so that you know what is from God and what is not.