Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. - 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
When the Apostle Paul wrote these words he was in the process of disciplining the church of Corinth. The Corinthians were, by all accounts, an immature group of believers, who for whatever reason struggled to grasp the easier parts of the Gospel. They were undisciplined, a church full of gossip and quarreling, lawsuits against one another, and they even celebrated sexual immorality. Of all the churches in the New Testament that Paul writes to, they are the ones straying the farthest from the Gospel. Because of this, Paul expresses his frustration. They are "infants" in Christ, and he cannot even begin to give them spiritual meat because they refuse to grow up.
We find this same analogy in the book of Hebrews, where the writer expresses their frustration with their audience.
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. - Hebrews 5:11-14
The writer of Hebrews then proceeds to tell us exactly what spiritual milk is.
Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God, the doctrine of baptisms, the laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.
- Hebrews 6:1-3
There it is, our foundation, laid out for us. Milk is the laying foundation of the doctrine of the Gospel. The truths that are to unite all believers without any debate. Let's go through them one by one.
1) Repentance from Dead Works (or Acts that Lead to Death, depending on the translation, both are useful)
Contrary to popular opinion, all sin is not the same. In 1 John 5:16-17 the Apostle John is clear that all wrongdoing is sin and all dead works are sin, but not all sin leads to death. We all still struggle with sin at times (unless there is someone out there I don't know about...) but none of us are to still be in sinful lifestyles once we are redeemed by Christ. Repentance, true repentance, makes that impossible. Lifestyles such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, addiction, idolatry, and others show that we have chosen something other than Jesus as our god. It is one thing to struggle with a familiar spirit, it is another to justify it and remain living in it freely while also claiming Christ.
We are to repent from all sin. We are to be ready to be changed always so that we sin less and less until all sin in our lives is gone. Ultimately our goal is to be like Jesus. Perfect. Acts that Lead to Death, I believe, are sins that are more than simple hindrances in our lives, but they are bondages. Sometimes they are sins we make excuses for, even change our theology to accommodate. These are the sins that will ultimately destroy us. These are the sins that we must break free of immediately.
This is a "milk" truth of the Gospel because it is foundational to who God means us to become. We must repent of dead works and of Acts that Lead to Death because if we don't we are ultimately choosing something else over God and we will never go deeper into Him as a result.
2. Faith in God
This one seems obvious, but is it really? I would argue that the acts of many Christians betray that it is not. Faith in God is not simply belief. Anyone can acknowledge a belief in God. Faith is actually living that belief out.
Faith looks like something. As James writes, faith without works is dead. A faith in God is not only believing in Him, but also knowing Him and trusting Him. Faith is exemplified by someone who takes risks for God and by someone who is growing in the fruits of the Spirit. Faith in God, to the world, should look irrational and illogical at times, for the Word is clear that the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world.
What faith in God is not is simply reading your Bible occasionally and trying to "live a good life." Anyone can do that. Faith in God requires something of us. It requires us to place God's will in our lives above our own. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, that is perfect faith. This "milk" truth is not requiring perfection of us, but it is requiring that we are stepping in that direction.
Faith in God is a "milk" foundation because we cannot truthfully claim to be a Christian without being willing to lay our own life down and trusting God with the results. All Christians, real Christians, must at least be on the journey of learning what that looks like for them.
3. Doctrine of Baptisms
While the theology of baptism has differed in certain parts of the church one thing is Biblically certain; baptism is an absolute must for any believer. Baptism is not only symbolic of our death to sin and rebirth in Christ, it is also a prophetic spiritual act which legitimately changes us. Even Jesus was required by God to go through a baptism before starting His earthly ministry. If baptism was only about washing away the sinful nature then Jesus would never have needed it. Yet through baptism God announced to the world that Jesus was His son, and through baptism Jesus was given more access to the power of the Holy Spirit. Not because He had to, because He chose to for our sake.
In the Bible there are two baptisms: the baptism of water for repentance, and the baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit. Both are necessary for Christians.
The baptism of water is a choice we make when we choose Jesus. It is a physical act done in the presence of witnesses and it announces to the world and to the spiritual realm that we are a new person. The dead is gone, the sinful nature is gone, and the reborn person emerges. It is through this we first receive the Holy Spirit into us. It is the equivalent of both John's baptism (the baptism of repentance) and when Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples (John 20:22). It seals us for Christ.
The baptism of fire and Holy Spirit is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit falling upon us. This is best exemplified in Acts 2. The disciples, who already had the Spirit in them (John 20:22) now had the Spirit come upon them and from this point on walked in supernatural power. But they weren't the only ones to receive this as Acts tells us about 120 were gathered when the Spirit fell and they all started speaking in tongues. This outbreak led to the conversion of 3000. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the baptism of power. It is the next step for the believer, the step from being changed internally to impacting the world more externally. Once the Spirit fell is when believers started being added daily.
There are times when both baptisms occur at the same time, and other times when they occur separately. Why this is remains a mystery only God knows. Yet the doctrine of baptisms, plural, is pretty clear from scripture both the baptisms of water and fire. Why is it a "milk" foundation of the Bible? Because I believe it is clear that we need both to be a fully effective disciple of Jesus. We must have the baptism of water to lay aside our old nature and step into the new. We must have the baptism of fire in order that we can walk out our lives in the full empowerment of the Holy Spirit. God fully intended His children to walk in the real of the supernatural, both on the inside with the fruit of the Spirit, Godly wisdom and knowledge, and on the outside with signs of the miraculous. That is what Jesus did, and we are on a journey of becoming more like Him.
#4 The Laying on of Hands
This "milk" of the Gospel is one that I believe has often been neglected to be taught on and therefore has passed many times into the background. The laying on of hands has roots all the way back to Jewish tradition, where it was symbolic of transferrence of inheritance and of laying on blessing. In the new covenant under Jesus the laying on of hands is how most miracles occur and how most anointing is given.
In Mark 16:18 Jesus says that His followers will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. In Acts 8:18 Simon the sorcerer sees that the Holy Spirit is given to others by the apostles through the laying on of hands. Ananias laid his hands on Saul to restore his sight. Timothy was given his spiritual gift by the laying on of hands. There are many clear examples of the power of laying hands on people in scripture.
In the early church this was such an accepted truth that Paul warns Timothy not to lay hands on people in haste (1 Tim. 5:22). When we touch someone something happens spiritually. Things are transferred, both good and bad. I do not know why, but I do know that is what scripture tells us.
So why is the laying on of hands a foundational "milk" of scripture? I believe it is because it is to be something we are actively doing at all times. We are called to give because we have received (Matthew 10:8) and that is much more than a physical principle. We are to give spiritually as well. This is done mostly through the laying on of hands. We are also called to use wisdom in doing so, for it is a powerful practice that is not to be taken lightly. The early church was called to understand that, we are to as well. These days we do most of our giving and receiving through teaching and preaching, yet we need more. The laying on of hands is part of that more.
#5 Resurrection of the Dead
This should be a fairly easy one for it is generally accepted that Jesus rose from the dead among Christians. In fact I've never known a Christian who didn't believe that.
What is more controversial is that the writer of Hebrews doesn't simply say "Jesus' resurrection from the dead." I would argue that the writer of Hebrews is getting at something much more broad here.
To label the resurrection of the dead as a spiritual foundation, a "milk" of the Gospel is to imply that we must believe in the supernatural. We must believe that death is defeated, which has a whole lot of meaning behind it. Do we believe people can be raised from the dead still? I believe we should. Do we believe that we died spiritually and were raised again? I believe we should. All of this is contained in this one powerful phrase.
In many ways the resurrection of the dead is the greatest miracle. Taking something that has died and bringing it back to life is an amazing thing. Whether it is simply spiritually or physically or both, it is a miracle of the highest degree. As Christians, even immature Christians, this belief in the miraculous is to be a foundational core belief that we build upon into maturity. Basically it is the belief that God can do anything, that He has already done it, and that He will do it again.
#6 Eternal Judgment
And finally, the last core "milk" foundational truth that the writer of Hebrews gives us is that we must believe there are eternal consequences to our life here on earth. There is a coming day of judgment for all of us where God will either see our name written in the book of life, or He will not. This is not about our mistakes on earth or our sins that have been forgiven, it will be about whether we chose to receive the gift of forgiveness or not.
I believe very strongly that scripture tells us there is a hell. It has become popular these days to become more and more universalist in the beliefs of some. The idea of hell is scary and sobering, so many don't want to think about it. But it is inescapable. I could and probably will some day write more on the subject, but not today.
But even better is that those of us who accept the gift will be judged into heaven. We will get to spend eternity with God, free from sin, pain, sorrow, failure, and remorse! We will get to reap the rewards of being eternal sons and daughters of His. How glorious!
I love the core value of eternal judgment. I love it because it means that we all live a life full of meaning. I love it because it means that no matter what I do on earth, as long as I say "yes" to Him I am forever secure! It is the most freeing, amazing thing to realize that you are an eternal being.
I believe that eternal judgment is a core "milk" foundation of the Gospel because it sets our perspective straight. It forces us to view everything through the lens that our time here is limited and we should not waste it. It frees us from thinking that we need to "get all we can" because we only have "one life to live" and instead gives us permission to take risks and try to accomplish the impossible. What's the worst that could happen, I get to spend eternity with my savior? How unbelievably awesome is that!
Eternal judgment, for the Christian, is a wonderful amazing doctrine. I do not believe we can fully live out our destinies in this world without knowing this doctrine. I believe it is a core doctrine because everything we learn about God and every decision we make on earth needs to be viewed through this lens in order to best grow in wisdom. What a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Concluding Thoughts
The milk of the Gospel is so simple, yet so important. I believe that every one of these foundational principles must be where we begin as Christians. We need to be taught these things from the beginning until we are secure in them. From there, once they are ingrained in us, the sky is quite literally the limit as to how far we can grow in the revelation of God.
While these must be laid as a foundation, it is important we also grow beyond these truths. That we make them our foundation and from there pursue God and seek out His mysteries. The writer of Hebrews was ready to move on, Paul was ready to move on, and they both urged all other believers to get to the point of moving on as well. A mature Christian will have these foundations so deeply inside them that they will rarely need to talk on them anymore. They are the ABCs to a mature Christian.
My concern is that today in the church we are full of immature Christians. We are full of people who don't want to go deeper. Sometimes they are weak in foundational truth, but more often than not they are simply stuck on them. This is the fault of leadership in the church. We are to lay the foundations, and then take the people further.
My hope is that the leadership of the church begins to realize this more and more. That it grows better at laying these "milk" foundations in their people, and then has the courage to take the people on the process of maturity. To stay on these principles forever means a weak church. It means an immature church. That is never what Christ intended for us.
Toward the end of John's gospel John shares Jesus' words to His disciples. Jesus tells them that they have been upgraded, that He no longer considers them servants but friends. That designation is available for all of us, but we must be willing to grow in order to do it. Jesus is alive, He is not a principle. As we grasp His principles He invites us into deeper relationship, and that is where the true treasure is.
