I have heard it said that there is nothing more exiting than a "new babe in Christ" and there are few things more concerning than an old one. Although I may not completely agree with this saying, there are no doubt elements of truth to it. In the fifth chapter of the Book of Hebrews we find the author saying that there was much to say about Melchizedek but that it was hard to explain to them because they had "become dull of hearing". He went on to write, "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 an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." Enough time had passed since their infancy in Christ for them to have matured to the point of being able to be teachers of the faith. In the Hebrew passage we find the serious consequences of not maturing. The mature, "because of practice" are able to discern between good and evil and such discernment is ever relevant for the believer sojourning in this world. Today's passage tells us that remaining "infants" in Christ can result in "fleshly" living. It can cause the born again, the called of God, the new creature in Christ, the child of God, to walk as a mere man. But we are anything but mere men. We are believers. We are indwelt by the Spirit of God. We are partakers of the divine nature. By God's mercy and grace we are anything but mere men.
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