1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this will we do, if God permit.
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Heb. 6:1-12
The meaning of this scripture is clear: the church must move on, on to maturity. It must not remain forever teaching the Christian basic principles of “baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”
The Bible says we must leave these. Moreover, the Bible relates our dwelling on these principles as a recipe for sinning against God. How is that so? Because these are basic principles in Christianity, and if we are not taught anything else beyond these, we will remain spiritual babes all our lives; and spiritual babes cannot stop sinning against God. If we do not progress beyond these principles, we shall be prone to constantly sin against God. And if we keep sinning, we risk dying spiritually.
7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
However, if we move on to maturity by being taught and holding onto the doctrine of maturity: “Jesus Christ and him crucified”, we shall arrive at the place where we are not sinning any more, and this is God’s perfect will for our lives. This was the doctrine that the early apostles taught in every church. This was the doctrine of which the Apostle Paul bound himself to know, and nothing else.
“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2).
This was the doctrine that he taught the Corinthians and it made them to stop walking after the flesh and to begin walking in the Spirit (1 Corinthians chapters 2 and 3).
In the absence of this doctrine, the church quickly reverts to the flesh, for the power of God is no longer operating in their midst. The Bible declares that the doctrine of the cross is the power and wisdom of God.
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18)
“23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor. 1:23, 24)
That is why a believer should move on from the church he started in if it continues preaching the same doctrine into his 20th year. Some churches never change their teachings. There are some churches and ministries which are actually dedicated to teaching principles like faith in God, and they have been teaching faith and nothing else for decades.
In mainstream Pentecostalism, the basic teaching is – and should be – that God is love. That we are God’s children, and that all God wants to do is to bless us. That is the doctrine of faith, and we should believe it. But we ought to move on.
The Pauline epistles clearly indicate that, after we have been taught the basic principles of Christianity, we should move on and be taught to deny self, to take up our cross and follow Christ. That is the only way we are going to grow into spiritual maturity and:
- Stop forever acting like babies and become responsible heavenly subjects; and
- Walk in the perfection of God by not sinning against Him.
After the initial act of salvation, God has another work to do in us. We cannot be forever singing, “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good”. That can only be acceptable with God if we are doing God’s will in our lives. But we all know that doing God’s will cannot be accomplished by singing “God is good” all our lives. The Bible says:
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification…” (1 The. 4:3)
We must move on from learning these principles and begin doing God’s will by dealing with our flesh.
This is the purpose of this blog. This blog is dedicated to teaching the church the doctrine of the cross of Jesus Christ. Not that I, the writer, consider myself to be anything. I am nothing. But God has an agenda which He desires to communicate to us, His children. The Apostle Paul wrote:
“Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.” (1 Cor. 15:11)
It does not matter the person through whom we receive this message: it is the Holy Spirit, after all, who delivers it. The important thing on our part is that we believe it.
[God’s Word directs us to move on to maturity through the revelation of the cross in our hearts]
Cross of Christ 