SUNDAY October 26, 2025

Are You Maturing in Christ?

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
Hebrews 5:12

Paul exhorted the Jewish Christians. He recognized that they were going backwards instead of forward in their spiritual growth. By now they should have matured in the faith and gained considerable understanding of what the Scriptures taught about Christ and salvation, yet they had remained infants––babes in Christ. As a result, they were being persuaded back into Judaism. Paul showed them their immaturity. They were so immature that they needed to be retaught the fundamentals––the first principles of the oracles of God’s Word.

There are people who are just like that in the church. They remain immature, and they are easily led astray. In the past, immature believers were drawn away into the Emerging Church. It was a “feel good” church. The preacher never mentioned sin in his messages. The church preached tolerance and acceptance because they did not want to offend people. The services became centered on entertainment, not on Christ. People were moved emotionally, but not spiritually.

If you have been a Christian for 12 years or more, and you do not know the Word of God, Paul gives you a sound rebuke––shame on you! You have remained an infant when you should have grown into a mature Christian. Newborn infants desire milk; then, as they grow, their diet changes to solid food. In the same way, new believers are to grow by the milk of the Word: ...as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby... (1 Peter 2:2), but once they mature, they are ready for the meat of the Word. Notice the Jews who had failed in their transition: ...such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat (Hebrews 5:12 KJV).

If you are not growing in Christ, what is the reason? Are you attending church regularly to study God’s Word? Are you studying your Bible at home?

The Bible is not an option; it is a necessity. You cannot grow spiritually strong without it.
~Billy Graham~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!