Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity. (Hebrews 6:1)
We do not ever leave Christ, his teachings, nor the gospel. Those who think they have outgrown Christ can never know Christian perfection. Yet Hebrews 6:1 opens with an explanation from the writer that he is moving from the foundation message he has been giving to another message—a message of completion. The writer of Hebrews expressed impatience with those who were still infants on milk when they should be mature and on solid food.
The adjective teleios in Hebrews 5:14 is related to the noun teleiotes in Hebrews 6:1. This Greek word refers to perfect or perfection, but modern translations render it maturity. The debate over translation asks whether it is better to strive for accuracy and leave it to interpreters to explain or whether it is better to make the Bible easier to understand and interject more interpretation into the text.
Perhaps Jesus intended to raise questions by declaring “Be perfect” (Matt 5:48). While in an absolute sense, no one is perfect except God, what did Jesus mean? Can there be perfection for Christians? John Wesley has drawn frequent ridicule for teaching Christian perfection, but at least he attempted to wrestle with the words of Scripture.
That same word Jesus used occurs here in Hebrews 5:14. Regardless of how it is translated, we are urged not to remain new babes in Christ but to go on and grow up. We are urged in Hebrews 6:12 not to be slothful or dull but to pursue the promises of God. At some point, discipleship must define what constitutes a mature Christian and how one becomes mature. Wesley declared, “The perfection I teach is perfect love; loving God with all the heart; receiving Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King to reign alone over all our thoughts, words, and actions.”((Wesley, Works,12:239))
It is at this point that maturity may fail to convey all that Scripture intends. Maturity is often conceived as a natural process that happens gradually and spontaneously. Therefore, it is dangerous for us to conclude there is no urgency. However, there is an opposite danger—that we must take it upon ourselves to raise ourselves to maturity by our own bootstraps. The result can be a misguided asceticism that lacks any value (Col 2:23).
In Hebrews 6:1 the verb pherometha is first person plural present passive subjunctive. The passive voice indicates that the action is done by the agency of God. We are being carried or moved. B. F. Westcott explained, “The thought is not primarily of personal effort, but of personal surrender to an active influence. The power is working: we have only to yield ourselves to it.”((Westcott, Hebrews, 143.))
The Holy Spirit is the executive of the Godhead. Apparently, this term was coined by a Calvinist theologian, Charles Hodge, for which he was congratulated by a Methodist, Daniel Steele.((Steele, Gospel of the Comforter, 31; Mile-stone Papers, 116.)) It means that in the economic Trinity, the role of the Holy Spirit is that of administration. He is the efficient cause of our salvation.
To put these concepts into pictorial language, the Holy Spirit is the finger of God. When Matthew quotes Exodus 8:19, which speaks of the finger of God, Matthew substituted Spirit for finger (Matt 12:28; Luke 11:20). While the Holy Spirit is the helper, the veritable hand of God, in contrast, legalism will not lift a finger to help people with their burdens (Luke 11:46). Christian perfection enables us to love our neighbor, while too much religion tends to make us a pain in the neck to our neighbor.
And so, it is the distinct role of the Holy Spirit to lead or carry believers on to Christian perfection. This “maturity” does not happen automatically. The Holy Spirit is deliberately at work in us to accomplish this maturity—if we will cooperate.
He is not limited by churches, theologies, or preachers who do not believe Christian perfection is possible. A devout Calvinist, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, is famous for his prayer, “Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made.”((Bonar, Memoirs of McCheyne, 209.)) His theology insisted that Romans 7 was the highest state of grace possible in this life, but his hunger for more was this perfecting work of the Spirit. God, through his Spirit, is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph 3:20).
However, it is preferable that the church disciple believers by teaching them a “maturity” that comports with Scripture instead of teaching something which falls short of, or even contradicts, Scripture. We need not grasp the doctrine to enter into the blessing, but the more we can grasp it, the better equipped we will be to mentor others. We need to be clear that the will of the Father is for us to grow up to reflect the character of his Son. And we are enabled through the Holy Spirit to become Christlike.
Sermon Suggestions
- God’s will is for us to be perfected in love.
- This perfection is the deep hunger of every true believer.
- The Holy Spirit is at work perfecting every believer, bringing them to points of crisis and surrender.