Milk, Meat and Spiritual Maturity in Our Christian walk 542 - 6 - 7

Warning #3: Stagnation: the failure to progress to spiritual maturity, needing milk rather than feeding on meat. Paul included being dull of hearing, unskillful in the word of righteousness and need to be taught “the first principles of the oracles of God” when they should have progressed to being teachers themselves.

I searched for “the oracles of God” and found another reference in Romans 3, the chapter of Romans which deals with God’s Solution to God’s Greatest Problem.; how does a righteous God forgive sins without compromising His righteousness? How was God to bridge the gulf between His righteous and sinful man? God stepped out of eternity to pay the ransom for our salvation. Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

But I digress and to digress even further. Romans 3:1-3, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?”

The Jews had the Oracles of God but now it was time to move onto “The just shall life by faith.” Those Jews who had accepted Jesus as their Messiah were in danger of backsliding into the Law. In the Book of Galatians we read of the Judaizes and Paul’s response, 3:1, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?”

 Peter had this to say, 1 Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk (G1051) of the word that ye may grow thereby:” And Paul had this to say, 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal (G4559), even as unto babes (G3516) in Christ. I have fed you with milk (G1051), and not with meat (G1033): for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

So it is time to man/ woman up and seek the strong meat of the Word, to teach rather than being taught the same thing again and again as we progress in our spiritual maturity.   

On a scale of 1-10, I would rate my spiritual maturity at about 2. I still have issues with pride and with pride rather a lack of patience with those who seem to have problems even with milk. I often have to work at holding my tongue during Wednesday night Bible study.