RPG Adults
THE WAY TO MATURITY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10
Hebrews 6:1-8
1 Peter 1:5-9
“Receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls.”
THE WAY TO MATURITY
There are people who profess faith in Christ out of various motives. Some may see such association as fashionable. These will see Christianity and judge by her external worth. They learn and practise those basics and do not go beyond that. They will not be able to give concrete explanations of their profession.
The writer mentioned doctrines of baptisms, laying of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment as some of the things that immature people were concerned with. There is nothing wrong with the teaching of these doctrines, but the believer’s heart condition is equally important. The practices of these doctrines may be considered as outward manifestations of Christianity and the writer saw the danger of these becoming mechanical observations that do not have any element of faith. When it comes to this, the profession of faith will be meaningless. When religion becomes mechanical, it fails to be a true religion. External observations are within human power to fulfil, but it is only God who bestows blessing for every religious practice. These must be exercised in faith. This is the mind of the writer when he said these things.
External practices must be done according to God’s instruction, for the whole plan of salvation is the gift of the grace of God. The light that comes with it bestows the taste of this heavenly gift. This is an awareness of the forgiveness of sins, an assurance of justification and adoption into God’s family. More than these the believer is made partaker of the Holy Spirit. In the early church this was also accompanied by external manifestations of the power of God in the lives of those believers. This was part of God’s self-revelation before the completion of the canon of the Scriptures.
THOUGHT: Every religious activity must have the approval of the Holy Scriptures.
PRAYER: Father, may I serve Thee with meaning as revealed in Thy Holy Word.