Hebrews 5:12

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need that someone would 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... For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened... if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

God's goal for His children is to grow up—and Scripture's hardest warnings exist to keep us from falling away from the only Savior there is.

Emerging Adulthood and God's Goal for His Children

Over the last ten to fifteen years, as the generation now called millennials—from my age down to about seventeen—has moved through college and into careers, a new term has emerged. What was once pejoratively called "delayed adolescence" now gets a positive spin: "emerging adulthood." It describes a stage in which most in this age category choose undergraduate and graduate studies, delay marriage (the average age for a man to marry is now nearly 28), don't quickly move out of mom and dad's house, and often don't earn a livable wage until their early 30s.

Researchers believe most of this generation will have a hard time reaching the five major stages of adulthood—finishing education, starting a career, getting married, starting a family, and buying a home—until well into their late 30s or 40s. This has become a huge frustration to many adults. More than a few baby boomer parents who dreamed of the empty nest have had that dream dashed, waking to the harsh reality that it may not come to pass in any foreseeable future. In their frustration they think, would you just grow up?

If you can identify with that, you'll have no trouble understanding this text, because it makes the same point. God's goal for His children is that they grow up. Hebrews 5:12 says it: "for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need that someone would teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food."

Discipleship: Moving from Milk to Solid Food

Since that is God's goal for His kids, it is our goal as the leadership of this church for you, the body of Christ. In fact, it is the commission of Jesus, who told His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to observe all He had commanded. That is the work of pastors, teachers, apostles, prophets, and evangelists. Ephesians 4 says these offices exist to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.

This is why we study through the Scriptures the way we do. Paul tells Timothy that the word of God is inspired and useful for reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so that the man or woman of God would be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17). The Bible is often pictured as food for us to grow. Peter writes, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2). We consume God's word so that we would grow.

But sadly, growth doesn't always lead to maturity. Some in churches—maybe even ours—don't always reach that place. And this is not new. People love to decry that the church no longer teaches the word as it once did. But two thousand years ago Paul identified this very problem in Corinth: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able... for you are still carnal" (1 Corinthians 3:1–3). God wants to make us more like Him, but they were behaving like mere men.

Never Satisfied with Baby Christianity

The author of Hebrews delivers a scathing indictment: you have been believers a long time, and by now you should be able to teach others. Instead, someone needs to come back and teach you the very basics, and you can only handle milk. This leads to our second point: we should never be satisfied with baby Huey Christianity. Prolonged Christian infantilism is unacceptable.

I'll admit babies are cute—I have four of perhaps the cutest specimens on the planet. But a few years ago we were watching a documentary called My Crazy Obsession. In one episode there was a thirty-something man who spent eight to ten hours a day dressing in baby clothes, sucking a pacifier, drinking from a bottle, and sleeping in a crib. I'm not mocking him; he clearly needs help, and God's grace could help him wonderfully. But here's the point: what is cute in a toddler is disturbing in an adult. We cannot be satisfied with an ongoing infancy. We need to grow up.

So what should we do? Hebrews 5:13–14: "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." We should grow to the point where we can consume the Scriptures as solid food on our own—not needing it chewed up for us, not needing a parent, pastor, or leader watching over us every moment to make sure we do right.

The Measure of Maturity: Discernment and Obedience

That brings us to the third point: the measure of maturity is discernment and obedience. I can discern what is right and what is wrong, and I can obey—doing what is right and not doing what is wrong. Maturity is evident in those who know what to do and do it.

Every parent here knows your kids did not come pre-programmed to do right. Mine didn't, and this was no shock—I believe wholeheartedly in original sin, and I have a perfect example of it in these cute little kids. They do have a conscience; God has written a basic morality on our hearts, as C.S. Lewis describes in Mere Christianity. But that has to be built upon.

And what a glorious thing it is when the kids start to show that the work is working—especially when other adults tell you they saw it. John writes, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth" (3 John 4). It's like a beacon on the horizon telling you maybe you can launch them into the world and they won't be complete hooligans. But it takes parental training, all for the purpose of growing them up. We call that process discipleship. So Hebrews 6:1 says, "leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection," to maturity. Don't keep laying again the foundation—repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment.

A Disciple Is a Faithful and Obedient Follower of Jesus

Point four: a disciple is a faithful and obedient follower of Jesus. That is the target we aim at. If you put your trust in Jesus, we want you to grow into a faithful and obedient follower who can, in a sense, feed yourself—knowing what is right and wrong, not always requiring a pastor at your side. This is why we teach through the Scriptures and don't spend every week on the foundational things alone.

The implication is that early in your following of Jesus you should already understand repentance, faith, the gifts of the Spirit, and heaven and hell in a good way. If you don't, that's one reason we offer things like our School of Discipleship. But when we gather on Sunday, we want to move beyond the elementary and step into things that lead to maturity—and that brings us to some sinewy, hard-to-chew verses.

A Heavily Debated Warning Passage

Hebrews 6:4–6 are among the most discussed and debated verses in the entire Bible: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame."

This has to do with apostasy—the abandonment of religious faith. Some conclude that if a person abandons trust in Jesus, they also abandon the benefit associated with that trust, namely salvation. And that gets to the long-standing debate: can a believer abandon their trust in such a way that they lose the benefit of it?

This year, 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and much of this debate grew out of it. Two camps are named after two sixteenth-century reformers: John Calvin, the French theologian, and Jacobus Arminius, the Dutch reformer. Calvin held, on the sovereignty of God, that one cannot lose salvation. Arminius taught, on the responsibility of man, that it is possible someone could become apostate and lose salvation. This passage is the beloved proof text of Arminianism, which the Calvinist is not exactly fond of—just as the Calvinist loves to beat the Arminian over the head with Romans 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Spurgeon Says These Are True Believers

When a Calvinist comes to this verse, the favorite argument is to say the person described here was never really a Christian in the first place. That is the most common position in Calvinistic commentaries. But one of my favorite Calvinists, Charles Haddon Spurgeon—the Prince of Preachers—takes a striking view.

Spurgeon wrote: "If you read Dr. Gill, also a Calvinist, Dr. Owen, and almost all the eminent Calvinistic writers, they all assert that these persons are not Christians." Then he says: "Now it strikes me that they would not have said this if they had not had some doctrine to uphold. For a child reading this passage would say that the persons intended must be Christians. If the Holy Spirit intended to describe Christians, I do not see that He could have used more explicit terms than these. With all deference to these learned doctors, whom I admire and love, I humbly conceive that they allowed their judgments to be a little warped... and I think I shall be able to show that none but true believers are here described."

I wholeheartedly agree. What is described here is a Christian, and that is what makes the passage so challenging. There are five characteristics in verses 4–6: they were once enlightened; they have tasted of the heavenly gift; they have become partakers of the Holy Spirit; they have tasted of the good word of God; and they have tasted of the powers of the age to come. If that describes a non-Christian, then I might fear being a non-Christian myself.

Walking the Wire Between Sovereignty and Responsibility

Let me be clear: I'm not an Arminian. If you hear me teach Hebrews 6, you may say, "Goodness, he's an Arminian." But listen to my teaching on Romans 8 and you'll say, "He's a Calvinist." Why? Because there is a tension in the Scriptures. Both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man are clearly taught, so we have to wrestle with that tension—and that's what we do here.

Spurgeon, having admitted this describes a true believer, gets around it by saying what's described is a hypothetical that couldn't really happen because of God's sovereignty. But I see point five: there is such a thing as infant Christian mortality. And that is striking; it should cause a reverential fear. My objection to calling this merely hypothetical goes back to what I preached on March 26th in Hebrews 3: warnings exist for a reason. We must take heed, because the language is so strong. He doesn't say it's difficult to renew the apostate—he says it's impossible.

So how do we handle such challenging warnings? The same way we handle all Scripture—wisely, prayerfully, and carefully, so we can apply them fully. It is impossible, the author says, for these formerly true Christians, if they fall away, to be renewed to repentance, because they put the Son of God to open shame. They spit upon the risen Lord, and in so doing forfeit the promise that only Jesus gives.

Falling Versus Falling Away

Point six: there is repentance for those that fall, but not for they that fall away. The wording is crucial—approach it carefully and look at every word. There is a real difference between falling and falling away.

To fall is to stumble into sin. Every one of us does that far too often. By sundown today, everyone in this room will stumble into sin—maybe not as much the ladies, but all you husbands, absolutely. And when we do, we look to Christ and say, "Forgive me." "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). What Christian hasn't rejoiced over the continual forgiving grace of Jesus? Thank God that when I come to His throne of grace, He doesn't put up a sign saying, "Sorry, closed for business." We stumble, we confess, and His merciful grace makes us right with God.

But to fall away is to leave the faith of Christ—to remove your trust in Him for forgiveness and salvation and to place it in something else: yourself, another religion, some other thing. This is exactly the issue the author of Hebrews is writing about. He is writing to Christians who left the old covenant of Judaism to trust in Jesus and His new covenant, and who are now being tempted to return to the temple, the priesthood, and the sacrifices. The whole book says: no, Jesus is preeminent, supreme, the only way. "Do not fall away from that trust."

When Belief Dies: The Reality of Deconversion

Some of you may say, "I can't imagine anyone abandoning trust in Jesus." I hope you're right. But warnings exist for a reason, and there are stories. This past week, on April 24th, 2017, the Religious News Service ran an article titled "When belief dies, can it be resurrected?" It promoted a new book co-authored by minister Tony Campolo and his son Bart, titled Why I Left, Why I Stayed. Tony describes why he stayed in trusting Jesus; Bart describes why he left. At fifty years old, Bart told his parents on Thanksgiving Day, "I'm sorry, but I no longer trust in Jesus." Bart is now a humanist chaplain. These are literally being called "deconversion" stories.

In our so-called post-Christian society, more and more of these accounts will appear—people who say, "I went to church, I served, I prayed to Jesus, but I no longer think I need to." The Calvinist will say, "This person was clearly never a Christian; those who went out from us were never of us." Maybe. Or maybe they were once enlightened, had tasted the heavenly gift, partook of the Holy Spirit, and then left the place of trusting in Jesus to trust in something else.

Not Cowering, but Watching the Snake in the Brush

Someone may object that teaching this makes Christians live cowering in perpetual fear of losing their salvation. After all, the author of Hebrews said Jesus through His death destroyed the one who had the power of death—the devil—and released us from that fear. Why bring it back?

But there is a difference between stumbling into sin and abandoning your trust in Jesus. These cautions are not meant to make us cower. Here in San Diego County we have a real rattlesnake problem this time of year. I tell my kids before they go outside, "Watch out, don't go into the brush, there may be rattlesnakes." Now, my kids don't sit in the living room cowering, afraid a snake will come pursue them. But when they venture near that brush—the danger zone—they remember. They even tell me, "Dad, watch out for the rattlesnakes." The word of their father arises in their hearts as they approach the danger.

So it is with this caution. I'm not afraid as I walk with Jesus that He'll cast me aside for my many sins. But if there begins to arise in me, as Hebrews says, "an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God," then the words of Peter come to mind: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." The warning is there for the one who begins to depart. Walk circumspectly, walk worthy of your calling—but do not be tempted to leave the faith of Jesus, because Hebrews 10 says that if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no other sacrifice for sins. He is the only way.

Why It Is Impossible

Why is it impossible to renew the apostate to repentance? The author speaks of absolute impossibility. Who will not repent except the person who thinks they no longer need to? If someone has decided salvation is not in Jesus, or that He isn't God, or that He never existed, why would they ever feel the need to repent? My friend David Guzik says it well: "If someone falls away, we must understand why he or she cannot repent. It is because they don't want to. It's not because God prohibits their repentance."

Consider Bart Ehrman, professor of New Testament history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was once an evangelical believer; today he teaches that he isn't even sure Jesus was a historical figure. I would call him apostate—he sure seemed once enlightened, having tasted the heavenly gift and the powers of the age to come—but he has walked away. And if he doesn't even believe Jesus existed, he would never feel compelled to repent and turn to Him. So it is impossible.

How We Move Forward

Having chewed on this heavy steak, how do we move forward? Under the first words of Jesus's ministry, which were also the first words of John the Baptist and the first words preached at Pentecost: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). So I say to you, repent. Turn to Christ. There is only one place for salvation; there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

I firmly believe in the sovereignty of God, and by His sovereign grace He has brought you here today to hear His word. Turn to Him; put your trust in Him. Hopefully you already have. But if not, there is salvation in no other—Jesus is the only way. That was the message the author of Hebrews gave to his friends from Judaism who were tempted to go back: do not turn back. Put your faith in Christ. He is the only way.

Closing Prayer

Father, we come before You today. We ask that You would speak to our hearts, fill us with Your word, and help us to solidly trust in You, Jesus, not turning to the left or to the right, but trusting only in You—because there is salvation in You alone. Even though it has become politically incorrect in our culture to say the way is narrow and the gate is narrow, encourage and strengthen us to speak this truth clearly and boldly. Help us not to deviate from it, and help us to take heed to the cautions and warnings of Scripture, even when they are heavy.

It may be that someone here has never put their trust in Jesus. I call to you as the Scriptures call: repent, trust in Him; He alone is the way. If that is you, pray with me: Dear Jesus, I recognize my need for You. I cannot live perfectly; I have fallen short of Your perfect standard. Would You come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith. In Jesus' name.

God, we thank You for Your salvation and Your good grace. Help us to walk boldly in it, not just today but for the rest of our lives. And now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.