When Being a “Baby Christian” is Abnormal
Chapter 5 ends with a description of spiritual babies in Christ that cannot do much for themselves. Their Christian lives has been relatively easy because they have someone else doing things for them and their diet is consists of easily digestible foods. Being a spiritual baby is normal for new Christians, but they too should grow and not remain a baby. Because they are babies their caretakers in the church tend to them lovingly, tenderly, patiently tolerant of their wines and cries and hold little expectation of them. A baby Christian however who always remains a baby is abnormal, maybe even fatally so. Even after all the milk and extra love and care, to have no growth to speak of is actually a sign of disobedience to God’s and His word. While the basics of the Gospel might be called milk, it still has the expectations of being obeyed. If the Gospel message Jesus taught is “Repent for kingdom of heaven is at hand”, then belief in the Gospel must be defined as a repenting belief where one turns away from disobedience to obedience. If Christian maturity comes from obedience, then a perpetual baby “Christian” who is not maturing on the grounds they are refusing to obey God will possess nothing to prove that their faith is a saving faith, rather it appears to be nothing more than a superficial faith that only remains when the Christian life is convenient.
Therefore Chapter 6 begins by urging Christians who have been fed by the word of Christ for a period of time to grow and mature. The message of repentance from doing things that God does not approve is good and necessary for unbelievers and new Christians, but it is also basic. An extended diet of easily digested milk combined with little expectation for service is not something that will grow a Christian into full maturity. And full maturity is needful for what lies ahead of anyone who is going to stand for Christ in a world to hates Him and structures itself in opposition to God (v1). It should be the desire, as it is for growing children to want to mature and do adult things (v3). The issue of baby Christians who stay babies is more than simply saying they are stunted in their growth, but it quite possible they haven’t grown because unbelief and rebellion, and because repentance quite possibly never took place.
Parents who love their children will prepare them for the hard things in life. If you utterly despise your children, tell them they can achieve any fanciful thing as long as they believe it hard enough to achieve. If you want to hurt your children, tell them nothing about failure, hard knocks, disappointments, and the common realities of life. But the author of Hebrews is talking about spiritual children. And if a Christian is going possess their faith in a world that hates God and hates Jesus, they must be told more than just believe and attend church. Only coming to church, listen, and do nothing else is fine for babies. But eventually they must be given more than that easy food, the spiritual milk. They must be prepared for trials of their faith. God expects them grow and to be able to the preach the Gospel to ever creature. God will expect them to love him more than father and mother.
Jesus Saves and Teaches Them Obedience
Jesus in Matthew 9 holds His arms open for the lost sheep. He does the hard work of seeking those who are lost. He gives them milk. He binds the broken, He heals the sick, He makes them lie down to rest, it is easy. But in Matthew 10, after He has found them and built them up, he sends them as sheep among wolves, that’s hard. It is the crucible that will reveal the believing from the unbelieving, which has been a theme all through Hebrews. Christians have to be prepared for the hard life at some point. They have to grow at some point. Only those sheep who truly belong to Him will possess a saving faith that leads them trust their Shepherd so that they will obey Him. Jesus will lead them, command them, teach them. Only those who truly trust Jesus will be able to accept it, obey it, and grow because of it. If they are going to sent as sheep among wolves, then they must be prepared for the scorching sun of persecution. They must be prepared to love Jesus more than father or mother, or more than son or daughter. They must count the cost, they must forsake all that they have. Because in this world, they will receive no encouragement to maintain a saving faith, they must be wholly committed to the Savior. And more often then not, the most vocal against your obedient faith to Jesus are the people of your own house.
Can Saved Christians “Fall Away” to Damnation?
Having understood the context of what the author meant by using the analogy of baby Christians, we allow the context to speak in verses 4-8. These verses have unfortunately been pulled out of their context by some to teach that ones truly saved have can somehow fall away from salvation and be damned. I argue it does not. But I also argue against those who assume that repentance is somehow divorced from salvation, for belief leads to repentance which leads to obedience.
So then, how to understand these verses? As I mentioned, the context and begun to argue Christians who remains as spiritual babies is a bad thing. It does not assume they have a saving faith, but it assumes rather that they have unbelief in their heart. They are as the unbelief Hebrews who came out from Egypt, but failed to enter the promised land because they refused to obey, in other words they refused to repent and obey. Recall 5:9 which says Jesus “is the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.”
This in no way assume “works unto salvation” or that salvation is earned through obedience. But it does assume the biblical teaching that saving faith leads to repentance which leads to obedience. Therefore the obedience of a Christian does not earn his or her salvation, but it does prove that he or she possesses it. Obedience is evidence of repentance, which is evidence of saving belief. If a so-called Christians demonstrates stubborn, long lasting disobedience to their professes Lord, then they deny the only true biblical evidence that they are saved. Guilt will crush them because they have refused to repent and receive the grace the cross provides. Saving faith always repents because it always eventually concedes that one is better off let go of rebellion and trust God’s goodness in the matter.
Therefore, I deal with verses four through six in this manner: It is indeed impossible to repent while he or she is in a state of refusal to obey God, even for someone who has understood the goodness of God and His gospel (4-6). For merely tasting and experience that God is good does not mean such a person has repented in saving faith. For example, if we continue to use the contexts baby “Christians” as our example. We should wonder why such a person has not matured after so long a period when they ought to be teachers rather than babes. If maturity is the outcome of obedience to the words of Christ, then the assumption is that person is refusing to repent and obey Christ. Hebrews 4 has already argued that those who remain ultimately in disobedience and refuse to repent are counted in unbelief, they will not enter God’s rest just as the unrepentant Hebrews did not. They are not saved, nor did they ever show evidence that they were. They simply experienced something good in God. Even a sinner who absolutely refuses to repent would be open to such goodness as long as it is convenient and doesn’t ask too much.
So it matters not that a person calls oneself a Christian, or even if they attend your weekly meeting. It does not matter even if they are the pastor of the flock. All true Christians mature because they obey the voice of their shepherd. If Christ has spoken a matter that is to be obeyed, but that person refuses to obey and is unwilling to yield in repentance, then that person has demonstration unbelief. In the book of Hebrews unbelief is damnable, just as those who possessed an unbelieving heart failed to enter God’s rest. The parallel the author is making is unmistakable. Unbelief, revealed by an obstinate disobedience in a so-called Christian, is not a saving faith. They too will fail to enter God’s rest.
It is then, impossible for someone to repent unto a saving faith as long as they are refusing to obey God in a matter where He expects obedience (4-6). God expects the Gospel to be obeyed as the sign of repentant, true belief. God required obedience from the Hebrews to enter the promised land. They did not meet God’s promises of deliverance with obedience and by 10 spies who gave an evil report, they only condemned themselves by revealing their unbelief. These “Christians” then are not Christians who once possessed a saving faith, but rather imitators who have always refused Christ’s reign in their lives thereby demonstrating their damnation and rejection of Christ.
Milk Only Does Not Do the Body Good
How many times have we seen in our congregation people who taste the goodness of God, make a profession, but leave as soon as they pass the easy stages of Christian. We do right as ministers to make it easy for sinners to hear a Gospel presentation. We invite them, we are willing to drive them in our own car if they cannot on their own. We provide dinners, we meet them at the doors, we meet them during the week in their homes. We love them and make it easy for them to come. We feed them with milk and we do not give them something they are not ready for. And we ought to feed them with milk.
In other words, they have fed on the milk, benefitted from that diet, but we know if they should profess Christ as Lord, they will soon enter the metaphorical swamp that all Christians must enter. The swamp they enter is the trial of their faith, it is the wilderness after leaving Egypt. They have been fed with milk, but if that is all they have digested, their frail faith will not be strong enough to stand against Satan on the world full of its swamp-ish lies and seduction.
How many times have we fed people with the easy milk of the Word, give them love, make it easy for them to listen but as soon as they feel the slightest bit of discomfort they immediately leave without a word. The moment the hit the swamp they are offended at its discomfort. They world now hates them. To serve Christ means to deny oneself uncomfortably in sacrifice. And so the offense overwhelms them and they leave the that narrow road and head back to old life. They have refused to obey God because the trial is uncomfortable. How many times have we seen this where they leave and do not have a concern for the other Christians who entered that swamp with them. They leave others who are being hated for Christ. They leave the others who must wade through sufferings without a good bye back to the former life where sin will continue to hold them captive. It is impossible to bring that person again to repentance as long as they refuse to obey God. Just as Christ must learn obedience, so must Christians who profess Jesus as their Lord, they to must enter the swamp.
Mature Christians know, that not long after the weening of the milk, there is a crucible of our faith, either in persecution, familial manipulation, or just the seduction of a more comfortable life in the world. As John said, they left us because they were not of us. Perhaps they did experience the goodness of God. Perhaps they did enjoy the milk that we gave them. Perhaps they enjoyed the loving spirit of a Christian church service, but that does not mean they have repented from their sin in saving faith. So this person who refuses to obey God will not be able to repent unto a saving faith until that person is willing to believe, trust God, and obey Him (4-6).
To ultimately and finally reject the reign of Christ in ones life, they ultimately reject and nail Him openly to the cross saying, “away with this man, for He wants me to believe in Him even when it is not convenient (v6)!” They shame him publicly and show Him no gratefulness for His atoning sacrifice. This is how a Bible describes an unbeliever. It was unbelievers who did not enter God’s rest from the wilderness, and they will not enter God’s ultimate rest in heaven from the swamp. An unbeliever is not merely someone who thinks God doesn’t exist, but rather someone refuses to obey, even after they have tasted something of God’s goodness. They are only showing their unrepentant heart and refusing to believe that God is completely good. If one believes that God is good, then that person will ultimately trust Him, even if there is a swamp. They will repent knowing what goodness Jesus has prepared for Him lies beyond the trial of faith and is worth going through the swamp to have it.
Only Faith that Leads One to Obedience is Evidence of Belief
Verses 7 and 8 then are easily understood as a summary, not only of this chapter but of everything Hebrews has been saying thus far. The good crop of obedience to Christ’s word reveals a believing and repentant heart, a saving faith. While the crop of unbelief, thorns, thistles is utterly useless to the Farmer and will soon be condemned to burn.
Joy for the Repentant, Guilt for the Unbelieving
Finally, let me say that guilt used as a motivator to make someone conform to a moral life style is not of the Gospel. While the Gospel pricks the heart and convicts of sin, the Gospel provides a solution to this sin burden by calling people to believe and repent towards Christ who makes the atonement. Therefore there is no need for guilt in a Gospel presentation. Christians are not controlled by guilt for their moral failures. There is no need to worry as long as their is a solution to the problem. For Christians, our morals are settle when we repent and believe in Christ. But, if one should refuse to repent and believe Christ, then guilt will crush that person, but he or she has refused the only solution to their sin burden.
Let the reader read with joy knowing that God who cannot lie has promised an eternal salvation to those who obey (4:9). His promise is an anchor for the soul that cannot be destroyed. So great a salvation from such a good God is worthy of our belief and repentance. No guilt needs to be spoken when one knows there is a High Priest that can be approached at anytime to receive the grace, forgiveness, and help whenever it is needed (4:16).
J. C. Walz – Faith, Fiction, and DEvotional Writing 
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