Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
Hebrews 5:13
At least in my little slice of reality, milk used to be simple. When you asked for milk, everyone knew exactly what you meant. In first grade, there was that half-pint of plain 4% whole milk that was at the end of the cafeteria line. That was it. When I went to the grocery store with my mom, there was chocolate milk, but that cost more and was a waste of money.
My, how things have changed. Whole milk has dropped to 3.25% of milk fat. There’s the familiar 2%, 1%, skim milk, and butter milk. But that’s only the beginning. There’s organic milk. Soy milk. Almond milk. Coconut milk. Oat milk. Rice milk. Potato milk. Hazelnut milk. Lactose-free milk. Ultra-filtered milk. And perhaps my favorite, hemp milk.
Just to see how far the idea of milk has changed from the simple days of my life, I turned to the source of all knowledge and wisdom. The internet. I went to Walmart.com and searched for milk[1] to see what they might offer for me to buy. Would you believe that my computer was filled with 18 long screens of different kinds of milk and milk products.
But the writer is using the idea of milk for the Hebrews to picture the difference between spiritual infants and adults. Infants can only drink milk because they’re immature. That’s all the spiritually immature can handle. Their spiritual minds, understanding, and sensitivity are immature. There’s really nothing else they can handle.
Milk helps immature bodies get a great start in life. It’s full of all sorts of stuff that’s good for them. It boosts their immune systems that find and destroy potential infections. The milk also has lots of energy that the infant needs to mature and stay healthy. Milk helps their bodies and bones grow and develop.
And milk is great. That is, up to a certain point. After that, only living on milk will hold them back. There’s not enough nourishment in milk to energize them through the different ages of their lives. Toddler. Adolescent. Teenager. Adulthood.
The same is true with the spiritually immature. They haven’t had a lot of time and experience looking at spiritual things. They haven’t had much practice figuring out the difference between what’s best[2]. They haven’t grown or built up their spiritual muscles. Their spiritual hands and fingers are all that skilled to correctly handle the word of truth[3].
Now all this talk about the spiritual immature and mature is all good. But it’s not just a general kind of spiritual goodness. Not at all. Notice that the big question regarding maturity or immaturity is focused. There is a measuring stick that’s used to figure it out.
Maturity is not measured against what I think or anybody else. The one true measurement is what God has to say about righteousness. And his kind of righteousness is the one true righteousness. Period. That’s it. That’s the list. It’s his righteousness. He has the right to call it the righteousness.
And how are we to receive his righteousness teaching? It’s been given to you and me through the two-sided coin of teaching and their learning. If you try and do one without the other, you’ll have lots of trouble and wind up in hot water.
Teaching without learning is a waste of time.
Learning without teaching lets you believe anything.
We need to look at this warning carefully. Did you notice that the writer isn’t talking about just any kind of teaching about righteousness. This is so important for us today because there are more kinds of righteousness than you can shake a stick at. But all the different kinds of righteousness in the world basically boil down into tow kinds.
God’s righteousness. God’s kind of righteousness comes because he alone gives it to us through the one-time payment of Jesus’ death on the cross. He does it all. He paid it all. All sin has been taken care of and there’s nothing more to do. No more sacrifices need to be made. This frees us to run to God and thankfully worship him. It inspires and energizes us to want to please him.
All Others. Every other kind of righteousness comes from us trying to pay the price. We have to keep making sacrifices. Over and over, more and more sacrifices. It’s never enough. The weight and penalty for all our sins is on us and us alone. No one’s there to help us. We approach God with fear, wondering if it’s time for him to smack us because we’re broken and dirty.
This was a big question for the Hebrews. And it’s a big question for us. Are we going to think that we’re good enough to pay for our own sin? Or are we going to abandon our own goodness and receive God’s gift of a fully restored loving relationship with our Heavenly Father. The choices couldn’t be any different. There’s no comparison between them. There’s Jesus and then there’s everybody else. Now that’s a choice that even an infant on milk can make. So, why not choose Jesus and start down the road of good teaching that leads to maturity in Christ.
Noodling Questions
What’s our assumption about milk?
When you think about yourself, does the word mature come to mind? Why?
How is not trying to pay for our own sins a relief and release?
[2] Philippians 1:9 ASV
[3] 2 Timothy 2:15
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