Hebrews 6:1–3: Moving Toward Maturity Without Abandoning Christ (Beyond Judaism and Legalism)

Hebrews 6:1–3: Moving Toward Maturity Without Abandoning Christ (Beyond Judaism and Legalism)

We make progress as we delve into Hebrews chapter 6, aiming to liberate God’s children from legalism and religious rituals, and to help us understand what Christ has accomplished. This series is designed to challenge traditional teachings, emphasizing a deeper understanding of scripture, particularly verses 1-9. Misinterpretations in these scriptures have caused many believers to feel bound, and through this exploration into scripture, we seek to encourage confidence in the reality of Christ's work for us. 

Hebrews 6:1–2 lists foundational teachings: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Many interpret this passage as a call to leave behind the foundational aspects of faith in Christ, but this misinterpretation stems from a religious misunderstanding.

Therefore, “leaving” these foundations means abandoning basic teachings about Christ to advance to a supposedly higher level of Christian life. True growth in Christ does not require abandoning any part of His teachings, as the concept of 'higher' or 'deeper' Christian life is misleading and unfounded. The Bible never teaches such a thing as higher or lower Christian life, or higher or lower Christ life, or deeper or shallower Christian life, or deeper or shallower Christ life. The Bible never teach such things. All of such idea is made up by religionists.

The Holy Spirit will never tell you to leave anything about Christ.

The focus should remain on the complete identity and truth of Christ, rather than on misconceptions propagated by traditional interpretations.

True growth means progressing in knowledge and understanding while retaining the realities of Christ.  As believers we do not leave any part of Christ behind as we mature.

Christ as Every Believer’s Life and God’s Lasting Work

Every believer's life is centered around Christ, who is our complete identity (Colossians 3:4). The notion of superficial or deeper levels of relationship with Christ is misguided, as salvation and the new identity in Him are consistent for all believers, regardless of maturity in understanding. 

Focus should remain on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, rather than on personal shortcomings or the comparison of spiritual levels. Stop paying attention to your shortcomings. Stop paying attention to the challenges. Rather, pay attention to what scripture has said concerning us. Pay attention to Christ, who is your life.

Christ, complete, not shallow. If you're in Christ, you're in Christ. There's nothing like going deeper in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17–18 says the new creation is “new”, and its defining realities are “of God.” They are all new. Salvation, new birth, union with Christ, and the believer’s life in the new creation are all God’s work; they are all of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:14, says that what God does lasts forever and cannot be added to or taken away. Salvation and the new-creation life are not lost through a believer’s failure or shortcomings. You cannot lose it.  

We acknowledge that as believers, we may “fumble” or err. The most appropriate response is to return our attention to Christ rather than treat our shortcomings as the measure of our standing. Just keep your gaze on Christ because that's your life. Christ is the true picture of what you have become, spiritually speaking. So if you take your attention away from Christ, then that's where the problem comes.  We should look to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, and take up our task of pointing others to Christ and not earning acceptance by meeting a performance standard. You are not the author of your faith, nor will you ever be the finisher. Your faith was authored and already finished by Christ. 

Growth in Christlike Knowledge 

True growth is about grasping the realities of our identity in Christ and His resources and divine power made available to us, enabling us to better access and utilize that power in our lives  rather than about maturing our born-again spirits, which are already complete in Christ. Therefore, the focus should be on expanding our understanding of who we are, what we have and where we are in Christ, rather than viewing church as a place for spiritual self-improvement. 

Ephesians 4:15 says “But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way in him”. Therefore, growth happens in Christ and not by leaving some part of Christ behind. It doesn't say grow by leaving some parts to be discovered.

So, growing in the faith or growing in Christ has nothing to do with leaving any atom concerning the Christ life. It has nothing to do with leaving anything behind. Growing in Christ simply has to do with growing in knowledge and understanding. Adding more knowledge, getting to understand more, not leaving any principle of the Christ life. 

Hebrews 6: 1-2, “For speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way in him”. This growth or development is not the development of your spirit man. Remember, we read earlier that we are complete in Him. Complete. 

Ecclesiastes 3 verse 13 says, I know that all that God does lasts forever, or is permanent (as some translation says). Nothing can be added to it, nothing can be subtracted from it.

So the growth or development the New Covenant talks about is not the growth of your spirit man, your born-again spirit. It's not the development of your born-again spirit. Your born-again spirit don't need no further development. It's not your born-again spirit growing taller or becoming fatter or going to the gym (that's the way some people think it). 

The growth is simply talking about what? Growing in your knowledge and understanding of reality, of truth in Christ. Getting to know and understand these things, how they are and why they are the way they are. The more you grow in this knowledge and understanding, the more you are able to draw upon the power of God that is already within your born-again spirit.

You draw it out, you bring it out. The more you grow or you're educated in scripture, the more this power finds easy latitude to flow out of you, out of your born-again spirit into your natural environment. We are nourished as we learn, becoming less governed by fear, condemnation, guilt, and a sense of lack. 

Ephesians 2:21, describes two kinds of growth: believers’ growth in knowledge and understanding of the grace life, and the growth of the “building” or temple as more people are added to the body of Christ. 

Believers’ Spiritual Authority

Humanity has been included in the Godhead through Christ, and believers have authority to operate in the spiritual realm on God’s behalf. 

Believers are entrusted with the authority to control the spiritual realm from earth, as God has given us the power to act on His behalf. So you control your own sphere of the spiritual world. We are in control. We control the spiritual world. The spiritual world is not controlled by God. God has more than enough children to control the spiritual world on his behalf. 

So, growth occurs both in individual understanding of God's grace and in the expansion of the body of Christ through the addition of new members. Additionally, God's desire is for everyone to be saved, but He does not determine who will accept that salvation. God's desire is thwarted by individual choices. 

God desires for everyone to be saved, but this does not mean that all will experience rebirth, as human free will plays a crucial role in this decision. Jesus died for everyone, but God does not force people to accept him. 

The belief that God predetermines salvation (God determines in advance who will be saved) as seen in Calvinist doctrine, and the claim that only 144,000 people will be saved as seen in Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine is a misunderstanding. 

Believers are encouraged to continue growing in their understanding of salvation and the truths of Scripture, emphasizing that spiritual growth necessitates a continual engagement with both elementary and advanced teachings. 

After being born again, a person grows in knowledge and understanding of the salvation already received. 1 Peter 2:2, believers are urged to desire the “sincere milk” of the word. This shows that foundational teachings remains useful rather than being discarded as immature.

The milk analogy makes the point that an early-stage source of nourishment can remain relevant as someone matures. Believers ought to carry foundational truths forward and add understanding, rather than throw away teachings about Christ. 

Growing Through Grace

2 Peter 3:18 says but grow in the grace through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Growth in grace is linked to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, grace is not obtained through pride or self-reliance. We must reject the idea that believers grow in grace by persuading God to give them more grace through displays of humility. God’s grace is already sufficient and available to be drawn upon.

When the Bible says, God resists the proud but gives more Grace to the humble; it simply means you cannot flow in the Grace of God through pride. 

Pride in this context, means relying on personal performance instead of Christ’s finished work ( trying to be independent of God) for example, trying to earn or maintain salvation through works, believing blessings are earned by tithing, or asking God to forgive sins as though Christ’s work had not already provided forgiveness. This is pride, and of course God resist that. 

Humility simply means agreeing with God on the basis of all that he has done for us in Christ : acknowledging, believing, embracing and focusing on Christ and his finished work. Humility is not wearing tattered clothes, walking gently to deceive people. Humility doesn't mean talking softly, gently, and pretending you cannot even kill a fly. That's not humility.

Saying the same thing with God, believing the same thing with God, agreeing the same thing in Christ with the Father. That’s humility. 

So, pride is independence from God and reliance on personal efforts for salvation, which God resists. In contrast, humility is recognizing and accepting the finished work of Christ, agreeing with God about our identity in Him. 

Growth in grace does not mean stopping sin as a condition for receiving grace. Grace is the answer to sin and growing in knowledge of one’s identity in Christ can change how a person responds to destructive behavior. 

Take for instance, a child eating sand: the parent moves the child away and nurtures them, rather than rejecting or punishing them. In the analogy, God’s response to a believer’s error is likewise nurture, and increased understanding helps the believer recognize and move away from what is harmful. 

True growth in grace comes from acknowledging His sufficiency and drawing upon it in faith. 

Growing in grace is achieved through knowledge and understanding of one's true identity in Christ, rather than by merely stopping sin. Struggles with sin stem from ignorance; as believers gain awareness through revelation and nurturing from God, they naturally outgrow sinful behaviors. God's approach is not punitive but loving, guiding believers towards a life where they recognize the harmful nature of sin and choose to avoid it.

(A PRIZE CHUKWUKA TEACHING)