Should Be Teachers. What was the result? They did not know the meaning of scripture.     For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary 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 not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (NASB) Heb. 5:12-13   The Holy Spirit uses strong language. He says they should be teachers by this time. Does He mean they should have the spiritual gift of teaching? Does He mean they should be able to teach others biblical truth, or know more than they currently do? He means the last two. Every Christian should make it their goal to know enough to accurately explain scripture to another person. The Spirit does not imply they should be gifted teachers.       They had been Christians for a long time. The Holy Spirit says “by this time” and “need again.” Time had passed since they first heard the truth about Jesus. They were not new Christians or spiritual infants. Some Christians today believe that “growing older in the Lord” makes them a spiritual Christian. That is not true. These folks had been Christians for a long time. They started spiritually growing when they were new Christians and some time later they started going backward spiritually. They now needed someone to teach them the elementary truths of the Christian faith - once again - one more time. What a sad condition.       Elementary Truths. The Spirit says they needed to be taught the elementary truths again. What elementary truths is He talking about? Six of them are given to us in Heb. 6:1-2: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, teachings about baptism, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. They needed to be taught these once again. How would we do? How would you do? Could you teach these to someone else? The Hebrews could not do that. They needed to be taught again.       Many believers think they know basic Christian truth. Yet many cannot explain why 1 Timothy 2:5 calls Jesus a man. This is just one example. This is one verse the Jehovah’s Witnesses use. Basic foundational truth is what is missing. Many Christians want to hear words that meet their needs, that comfort, or encourage them. But if someone offers to teach theology, few Christians will come. R. C. Sproul says it well with,     Part of our problem is the disdain for theology that abounds in Christian circles. Although theology is taken from two words that, together, mean “the study of God,” many brothers and sisters prefer shortcuts to “relevance.” To say that theology is boring is really to say that God is boring.         Babes Again. The Hebrews had become spiritual babies. The Greek word the Holy Spirit uses for babies is NEPIOS. The word does not refer to an infant, but to a preschooler.           < Back    Next >
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