Hebrews 5:11-6:3
Introduction
You can only grow so far if your diet never changes. Milk is good and necessary at the beginning, but a person who never moves beyond it will remain limited. The writer of Hebrews grieves over believers who have had time enough to become teachers, yet still need someone else to feed them the elementary truths again (Hebrews 5:12). This is not a harsh scolding so much as a pastoral lament. God has more for His people than perpetual dependence on others. He calls them to take ownership of their faith, to feed on a heavier diet of truth, and to grow into maturity in Christ.
1) Fight the Urge to Give Up on Growing (5:11)
The writer says they have become “dull of hearing.” The danger is not always open rebellion. Sometimes it is quieter: remaining near the Word while no longer pressing into it. That is a form of surrender.
Refuse sluggishness. Hunger for more of Christ. Contentment in Christ is not the same as complacency. Complacency says, “I have heard this before.” Holy contentment says, “Christ is enough, and therefore I want more of Him.” Paul learned to be content in every circumstance through the One who gave him strength (Philippians 4:11-13), yet that same apostle never stopped pressing on to know Christ (Philippians 3:10-14). There is still much to learn of the goodness of God. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” is an invitation that requires the active use of spiritual senses (Psalm 34:8). The first sign of giving up is a closed heart that stops listening. That pattern damages every relationship—with God, with a spouse, with parents, and with the church.
2) Focus on Giving Over Getting (5:12-13)
A faith that only asks, “What did I get out of that?” will stay immature. Consumer language is easy to recognize: the worship did not make me feel anything; I did not get anything from the sermon; church was not good; the study did not help me. When growth depends entirely on what others provide, both the individual and the body are stunted.
Pastors and teachers are gifts from Christ. They exist to equip the saints for the work of ministry, so that the body is built up until we all reach maturity in the knowledge of the Son of God (Ephesians 4:11-16). The problem is not that teachers exist. The problem is that too few of the taught become teachers themselves. Infants live on milk. The mature begin to feed others. A church that only consumes will always feel underfed, because it was never designed to live by intake alone.
3) Train Yourself for What Is Godly and Good (5:14)
Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their powers of discernment to distinguish good from evil. Growth in any area takes effort. Spiritual maturity includes the ability to recognize what is right and what is wrong when the culture blurs the line and then praises the blur as compassion. Scripture warns against calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20) and calls believers to be transformed by the renewal of the mind so they can discern the will of God (Romans 12:2).
Training has a pattern:
Quality: Stay with the Word itself until you can state what it says, not only how it made you feel. The law of the Lord is perfect, more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey, and in keeping it there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-11). All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Consistency: Meditate on the Word day and night so that you may be careful to do what is written in it (Joshua 1:8). Discernment comes by “constant use” (Hebrews 5:14).
Community: Dull hearing is often corrected in a body that exhorts one another daily, while it is still called today, so that no one is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13).
Obedience: Insight that is never practiced remains milk. Be doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22-25).
4) Depend on God for Growth (6:1-3)
The call is to leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity—not abandoning the foundation, but building on it. Then comes the necessary humility: “And this we will do if God permits” (Hebrews 6:3). Holy ambition cannot mature a soul if God withholds the increase. He is the One who plants oaks of righteousness for the display of His splendor (Isaiah 61:3).
One of the quiet griefs of pastoral work is watching people receive rich care for a season and then fade when the structure around them changes. Growth that depends only on a program or a personality will stall. Growth that depends on God continues. Focus on what He cares about—not novelty, but the fullness of Christ. Do it in faith.
Application
It is time to grow up and reach for the maturity that Jesus provides through His life. That happens as we make ourselves listen, feed on quality spiritual food, train constantly, and depend desperately on God.
The challenge for those who have walked with Jesus is not to invent their own meal, but to partake fully in the meal He is already serving. He is the bread of life (John 6:35). He gives pastors and teachers, His Word, His Spirit, and His people. The question is whether we will stay on milk or move toward solid food—whether we will only hear, or whether we will listen, obey, and begin to feed others.
Do not give up on growing. Christ is enough, and because He is enough, there is always more of Him to know.
For Further Study
Read Hebrews 5:11–6:3 alongside Ephesians 4:11-16 to see how Christ gives teachers so the whole body can grow into maturity.
Study 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and Psalm 19:7-11 on the sufficiency and sweetness of Scripture for training in righteousness.
Meditate on Hebrews 3:12-14 and James 1:22-25 on the danger of dull hearing and the blessing of being a doer of the Word.
