Hebrews 6:1-8
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, [2] and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [3] And this we will do if God permits. [4] For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. [7] For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. [8] But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
BIG TRUTH:
JESUS FOLLOWERS GO ON TO MATURITY
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity…
Hebrews 6:1
Big Idea:
The pursuit of maturity is essential, not optional. (Heb 6:1-3)
Big Idea: The neglect of maturity is a path to destruction.
(Heb 6:4-8)
Warning: Association with Jesus is not devotion to Jesus.
Warning: A life that continually neglects and dishonors Jesus leads to eternal separation from Him.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. [21] For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. [22] What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
2 Peter 2:20-22
Elder Conversation: Eternal security
HOW DO WE GO ON TO MATURITY?
Big Idea:
We grow in maturity by leaving the elementary doctrine of Christ.
(Heb 6:1-2)
Big Idea:
We grow in maturity by learning to train in truth. (Heb 5:11-14)
- Desire to hear and not grow “dull of hearing” (Heb 5:11)
- Become skilled “in the word of righteousness” (Heb 5:13)
- Train through “constant practice” (Heb 5:14)
- Grow in discernment to “distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:14)
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22
Big Idea:
We grow in maturity by longing for God’s help. (Heb 6:3)
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
Big Idea:
We grow in maturity by looking at the fruit of our lives. (Heb 6:7-8)
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.
Matthew 12:33
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
2 Corinthians 13:5