Meat of the Word

Ken Rank

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Hi Family,

How and when are we as Christians ready to go from the milk of the Word to the meat?

How do we know?

Natsumi Lam
When something inside you causes you to want more than you have been getting. There isn't a timetable, everyone is different. It's when you have devoured everything on the level you were on, making you ready to take the next step.
 
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Jonaitis

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I like what John MacArthur once said,

Some times the Scripture can be milk and sometimes it can be meat. Now that doesn’t mean that some parts of the Bible are milk and some parts are meat. Really all of it is either milk or meat it depends on how deep you go. For example I can say to you “God so loved the world” and if you are a brand new Christian you say yea, I understand that, that’s kind of milk. But then if I took off and began to develop the character of God, the character of His love, how His love works, what His love is defined at in the Scripture, the depths of all that that concept means, then that gets deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and gets into the meat aspect of that same simple truth. We say for example, God knows everything and that’s a milk statement, but we could develop that to the place where it becomes very complex and that would be the meat end of it.

The more we study God's word, the deeper we go. I don't necessarily see the Scriptures as a book where there is milk here in one spot and meat in another. There is dimensions and depth, nuances and levels in a single passage that must be continually and prayerfully studied to get more out of it.

I've viewed the milk of the word as the simple message of the gospel, and the basic concepts that come with it (Hebrews 6:1-2), while the meat is progressing a deeper understanding and application of it. All of theology should be the various depths and facets and aspects of the same gospel. It is simple enough for a child to grasp, and it is profound enough for theologians to still wrestle with.
 
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HTacianas

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Hi Family,

How and when are we as Christians ready to go from the milk of the Word to the meat?

How do we know?

Natsumi Lam

The "meat of the word" is introduced at Hebrews 5:12 leading to "leaving the elementary principles" of the word of Hebrews 6. Yet the lesson of the plain reading of Hebrews 6 is one of the most often denied teachings of the new testament.

So is a person prepared to receive the "meat of the word" before, during, or after denying what it says?
 
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Natsumi Lam

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The "meat of the word" is introduced at Hebrews 5:12 leading to "leaving the elementary principles" of the word of Hebrews 6. Yet the lesson of the plain reading of Hebrews 6 is one of the most often denied teachings of the new testament.

So is a person prepared to receive the "meat of the word" before, during, or after denying what it says?
Why would they have to deny?
 
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HTacianas

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Why would they have to deny?

Hebrews 6 describes the fate of a Christian who falls away from the faith. It teaches that should a person fall away they cannot return.

Hebrews 12 is similar in comparing such a person to Esau, who sold his birthright and could not get it back.

But there are those whose tradition teaches that a person cannot fall away, and in discussions of Hebrews 6 resort to verbal gymnastics to change the meaning to fit their traditions.
 
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St_Worm2

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Hebrews 6 describes the fate of a Christian who falls away from the faith. It teaches that should a person fall away they cannot return.

Hebrews 12 is similar in comparing such a person to Esau, who sold his birthright and could not get it back.

But there are those churches whose traditions teach that a person cannot fall away, and in discussions of Hebrews 6 resort to verbal gymnastics to change the meaning to fit their traditions.
And then there are those whose traditions teach that a person who has lost their salvation CAN return to the faith, if certain conditions, set by the church, are met. This, in fact, is what most churches, who hold the position that salvation can be lost, actually teach :preach: (which is why Hebrews 6:4-6 says way more than many churches, who believe/teach this, wish it did ;))

The descriptive language used in Hebrews 6:4-5 is unusual, to say the very least. One thing is made perfectly clear however in Hebrews 6:6 (that you just pointed out above), if Hebrews 6:4-5 is actually talking about the loss of one's salvation, then v6 makes it abundantly clear that someone who loses it will never get it back.

--David
 
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Jonaitis

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And then there are those whose traditions teach that a person who has lost their salvation CAN return to the faith, if certain conditions, set by the church, are met. This, in fact, is what most churches, who hold the position that salvation can be lost, actually teach :preach: (which is why Hebrews 6:4-6 says way more than many churches, who believe/teach that salvation can be lost, wish it did ;))

The descriptive language used in Hebrews 6:4-5 is unusual, to say the very least. One thing is made perfectly clear however in Hebrews 6:6 (that you just pointed out above), if Hebrews 6:5-6 is actually talking about the loss of one's salvation, then v6 makes it abundantly clear that someone who loses it will never get it back.

--David

We shouldn't turn this into a debate thread about this subject, brother...
 
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HTacianas

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And then there are those whose traditions teach that a person who has fallen away CAN return to the faith, if certain conditions, set by the church, are met. This, in fact, is what most churches, who hold the position that salvation can be lost, actually teach :preach: (which is why Hebrews 6:4-6 says way more than many churches, who believe/teach that salvation can be lost, wish it did ;))

The descriptive language used in Hebrews 6:4-5 is unusual, to say the very least. One thing is made perfectly clear however in Hebrews 6:6 (that you just pointed out above), if Hebrews 6:5-6 is actually talking about the loss of one's salvation, then v6 makes it abundantly clear that someone who loses it will never get it back.

--David

One of the points here is whether one holds to the idea of sola scriptura, meaning scripture alone. I do not hold to that idea. I believe in the authority of the Church.

In understanding the history, the Church effectively set aside Hebrews 6 and now allows those who apostacize to return. But that directly contradicts scripture. So it depends on your beliefs as to which side you come down on.
 
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Carl Emerson

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Back to milk and meat...

The Shepherd knows what His sheep have eaten and knows which pasture is needed next.

Always ask Him for the scriptures to study and trust Him for revelation was we prayerfully meditate on the word.

Remember that one of the most basic temptations is the desire to know. Give our questions to him and He will reveal what we need to understand. By missing this step some are experts in the word and yet know nothing.

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.
 
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Not me

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Hi Family,

How and when are we as Christians ready to go from the milk of the Word to the meat?

How do we know?

Natsumi Lam

Hebrews 6:1 (NASB)
Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Scripture draws the line at those
that have left the “elementary things” not they are not needed anymore, but that they have become ingrained in them and have become part of their life’s. Where repentance from dead works is seen as repentance from all the works of self and not just the sins that self would do. But all the workings of self.

A spiritual Christian is one that is no longer controlled by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes or the pride of life, or in other words no longer controlled by self. They are controlled by the Spirit of Christ in them, which causes them to walk in newness of life in their daily lives. (This growing to maturity is never finished, there is always a greater maturity one can grow into.) But the line is drawn where and when self is no longer looked to for anything, but only Christ.

Blessings as we strive for this maturity.

Much love in Christ, Not me
 
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Alithis

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JESUS said i have meat to eat that you dont know.
.. To do the will of the father..
The meat of the word is not percieved untill one begins to grow up and Do the word.

Such was the problem with those at Corinth
.too much word study no action. Still babes in milk
 
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SkyWriting

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And then there are those whose traditions teach that a person who has lost their salvation CAN return to the faith, if certain conditions, set by the church, are met. This, in fact, is what most churches, who hold the position that salvation can be lost, actually teach :preach: (which is why Hebrews 6:4-6 says way more than many churches, who believe/teach this, wish it did ;))

The descriptive language used in Hebrews 6:4-5 is unusual, to say the very least. One thing is made perfectly clear however in Hebrews 6:6 (that you just pointed out above), if Hebrews 6:5-6 is actually talking about the loss of one's salvation, then v6 makes it abundantly clear that someone who loses it will never get it back.

--David
Legalists can be brought back to Grace having never lost faith.
The Holy Spirit can never leave then return.
 
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ewq1938

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Hi Family,

How and when are we as Christians ready to go from the milk of the Word to the meat?

How do we know?


When we realize we have been chewing on the cup the milk was in.
 
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ewq1938

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I mean the logistics of converting milk to meat.

You just learn how to study on a deeper level, past the milk and surface information. Use as much tools as various experts and scholars have created, even better if you take courses in the various languages but there are English language tools for people to use. But without the HS opening your eyes, it ultimately doesn't matter how much education or tools or experience you have.
 
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When we realize we have been chewing on the cup the milk was in.
An interesting analogy. Sometimes the cup is called the cup of suffering and other times the cup of blessing.

In the latter the cup of the Passover was replaced with Himself, the real Passover. They first ate the passover together Luke 22:14-18 then the Lord established His Table Luke 22:19-20 in the presence of His enemies Luke 22:21-22 relating to Psalms 23 when the Lord has become to them and us The Great Shepherd of His sheep. Hebrews 13:20-21

The former cup of suffering Acts of the Apostles 14:22 “There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” served to establish the human soul in mind, 1 Corinthians 2:16, Philippians 3:10 emotion, Mark 12:30, Romans 16:4 and will Colossians 1:10, 1 Thess 4:10 bringing the disciple to know and understand the Lord and things concerning Him, and to love Him and have a heart for His interests, in so determining to remain strong with Him to perform the things that please the Lord.

Otoh is the cup full of abominations to the Lord Revelation 17:4 full of idolatry and evil practises.
 
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