Let Us GO ON!

(Heb 6:1) Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

The verses preceding in the end of Chapter 5 make it clear that the Bible is talking about people who are lingering too long in the first things of salvation. They are told to GO ON! They are told to LEAVE the principles of the doctrine of Christ! That is a shocking statement, if taken out of context, but it would be very profitable for many, if they would only take heed.

God wants more out of us than just sitting around praising God because our sins are forgiven. That may sound like we are minimizing forgiveness of sins, but we are not. The Bible is clear here that we are to go on to other things. When a person first gets saved, it is natural for him to rejoice and be in wonder and amazement that God has forgiven his sins. That is well and good, and none of us should ever forget that, but there are other things to learn and other things to be done in the Christian life than sit around and rejoice about that. That is some of the milk of Christianity. That is one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ - forgiveness of sins.

Another of the principles (or first things) of the doctrine of Christ is that He is the door to Heaven. Everyone rejoices when we realize our name is written in heaven, but there is more to being a Christian than rejoicing because our names are written in heaven. Let's go on to other things and keep on rejoicing along the way because we have a home in Heaven.

There are some things we are commanded to add to our faith in 2 Peter 1:5-7. ". . .add to your faith virtue; . . knowledge; . . temperance; . . patience; . . godliness; . . brotherly kindness; . . charity." We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to stay in the same place. It is not pleasing to God that we stay in the baby stage of only rejoicing about what He has done for us.

Many seem to think that nothing is better or more important than rejoicing and praising God. If you can get the people to shout and rejoice you have really gained ground. But you are only gaining ground when you see them adding virtue to their faith. You are gaining ground when they start adding knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Why has Christianity turned into a pep-rally instead of a way of life? Why do preachers rail on the people for not rejoicing and praising God, but not worry too much about spiritual growth and maturity. It is surely because there is no goal to shoot at any more. That word "maturity" isn't in the Bible as such, it is called "perfection" there, and anyone knows that "nobody's perfect," right? So since nobody is perfect, and it is an impossible goal, God made a mistake by using that word in the Bible. Since you can't be perfect, even though the Bible uses that word to mean "mature," you might as well not try. And since you can't DO anything to be saved, and you can't DO anything to stay saved, nobody is DOING anything - but rejoicing in the principles of the doctrine of Christ. God said to GO ON UNTO PERFECTION! Get rid of your bottle and grow up unto maturity.

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