Some, not all, of the Christians who originally received the book of Hebrews were in a state of spiritual infancy (Hebrews 5:11-14). The writer of Hebrews had a real difficulty in writing about Christ (“Whom” Hebrews 5:11) or of the priesthood of Christ (“which” \u05be marginal reading of Hebrews 5:11). The problem was not a lack of information; God inspired the writer. The problem was in the spiritual infants to whom he wrote; they had become “dull of hearing<\/em>.” Sufficient time had passed for them to be teachers, but they were, despite their years as Christians, spiritual babies. Maturity came not from time only, but from the passage of time plus use (“by reason of the time<\/em>” + “by reason of use<\/em>” – Hebrews 5:12,14). These two (time + use) can produce “full-grown<\/em>” (“perfect” – marginal reading) men who can “discern good and evil<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:14).<\/p>\n Some subjects and doctrines are more challenging to understand than others. We are given examples of “first principles<\/em>” (Hebrews 6:1-3). The problem (Hebrews 5:11-14) was not one of advanced and complex doctrines, but with the attitude and lack of experience of the hearers. We have, in the Lord’s church today, the same kind of problem; sufficient time has passed, but many are still without experience. We will try to illustrate the growth (“by reason of use<\/em>“) with four examples, subjects, or doctrines.<\/p>\n The “teaching of baptisms” (Hebrews 6:2) is one of the first principles. This would not be limited to, but would certainly include, water baptism unto or for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). Baptism is a pre-requisite (i.e., comes before) salvation (Mark 16:16), remission of sins (Acts 2:38), washing away of sins (Acts 22:16) and entry into Christ (Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3-4). The first step of growth in this elementary (first principle) subject would be general acceptance. Almost all religious people would say, “I believe in baptism.” Of course, this belief may be 1,000 miles removed from what the Bible teaches about it. Personal acceptance follows general acceptance. The first “by reason of use” would be obedience, being baptized unto remission of sins and into Christ. The general acceptance has been personalized and has brought about a change in conduct. The next step in growth would be universal application, or to teach others by making the application of Mark 16:16. A refusal to be baptized is disbelief, and this applies not only to me but also to all others, even my loved ones. A young man in Florida accepted his need to be baptized (lost without it), but rebelled at the thought that his fianc\u00e9e was lost. The truth finally won out. We must come to the point of making the application to our parents, children (who are of age), friends, neighbors, etc. (Matthew 10:37).<\/p>\n These same three steps (General Acceptance, Personal Acceptance, Universal Application) can be noted in the subject or doctrine of evangelism (Mark 16:15; II Timothy 2:2). Most church members pay lip service to the idea that all Christians ought to be teaching the lost (Hebrews 5:12; Acts 8:4). Often, sadly, there is a long time between general acceptance and personal application. Personal application might begin by inviting others to services or by arranging a Bible class in your home, with someone else doing the teaching, for your friends and neighbors. Eventually, one must get down to (up to) sitting down with a prospect and opening the Book. Some Christians try to make a universal application before making a personal one: They should, but I am not. If one is not actively seeking to share the good news of Jesus Christ, is that one truly faithful?<\/p>\n Concerning giving (I Corinthians 16:1-2; II Corinthians 9:6-7), there is general acceptance: “Oh yes, people ought to give liberally.” Personal application, general acceptance that is put into action, is more difficult. Giving is to be a sacrifice… based on the percentage of income. Are you giving liberally? Would you be embarrassed to divide your contribution by your net income (taken from your income tax form) to get the percentage…and have that printed in the bulletin? I am not advocating such (Did I hear a collective sigh of relief?), but would you be embarrassed? Universal application: By reason of use (personal) plus teaching others the full extent of their duty.<\/p>\n What about the doctrine of corrective discipline (II Thessalonians 3:6)? General acceptance: Sadly, some in the church boldly declare, “I don’t believe in withdrawing or marking.” Others, thankfully, answer, “Oh yes, when handled right, corrective discipline is good.” Personal application: We need to practice instructive self-discipline (II Timothy 2:15), and cease to be “dull of hearing<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:11). We also need to uphold corrective discipline when exercised (I Corinthians 5:9-13; II Thessalonians 3:14-15). In fact, we need to exhort, encourage, and push those who are unfaithful to be disciplined. Universal application: Teach others about the duty to exercise corrective discipline. Exhort, push that discipline be exercised reasonably, faithfully, and regularly (as needed). A mother in Montana pushed (without overstepping the bounds of feminine modesty and propriety) the men of the congregation until they withdrew from her son. Why? Because she loved the Lord, her son, and her own soul. We need to acknowledge in word and practice that scriptural discipline ought to be practiced, even if the one disciplined is your mother, or father, son or daughter, brother or sister.<\/p>\n Beloved, can we truly “discern good and evil<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:14)?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by William V. Beasley via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 2, June 1993 Some, not all, of the Christians who originally received the book of Hebrews were in a state of spiritual infancy (Hebrews 5:11-14). The writer of Hebrews had a real difficulty in writing about Christ (“Whom” Hebrews 5:11) or of the priesthood of Christ…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[383,761,964],"class_list":["post-92833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-growth","tag-understanding","tag-understanding-the-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34964,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/disobedience-and-unbelief\/","url_meta":{"origin":92833,"position":0},"title":"Disobedience and Unbelief","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The epistle to the Hebrews might be the most tightly reasoned book in the whole Bible. Sentence by sentence, clause by clause, the Hebrews writer constructs intricate arguments that establish the superiority of Christ over Moses and the folly of Christians returning to Judaism. The more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63215,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/outside-the-camp\/","url_meta":{"origin":92833,"position":1},"title":"Outside the Camp","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Hebrews 13:9-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Understanding the place of the Old Testament is difficult for man \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is clear that \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Old Law would come to an end - Jeremiah 31:31-34 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Old Law did come to an end - Colossians 2:14; Ephesians 2:15-16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-problem-with-an-attendance-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":92833,"position":2},"title":"The Problem with an \u201cAttendance Problem\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joey Sparks Worship attendance can be a sensitive issue for Christians. Some are satisfied with coming only on Sunday mornings. Or Sunday evenings. Or for long enough to take the Lord's Supper. Some are content with worshiping only on holidays. Some are only at the local assembly when facing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67781,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-time-of-reformation\/","url_meta":{"origin":92833,"position":3},"title":"The Time of Reformation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Book of Hebrews makes the argument that we had, in the past, been using carnal, earthly things in service to God (Hebrews 9:1-11) but would, from the Old Testament perspective, see a \"time of reformation\" (Hebrews 9:10) in which we would put down the carnal,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90615,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-melchizedek-be-without-father-and-mother\/","url_meta":{"origin":92833,"position":4},"title":"How could Melchizedek be \u201cwithout father and mother\u201d?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Prichard Melchizedek is one of the more mysterious figures in all of scripture. He is mentioned only in Genesis 14, Psalms 110:4, and in the book of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews demonstrated that Melchizedek foreshadowed the ministry of Christ, serving as both priest and king. After the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66267,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/spiritual-versus-earthly\/","url_meta":{"origin":92833,"position":5},"title":"Spiritual versus Earthly","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Have you noticed that everything in Christ is spiritual or heavenly as opposed to earthly? The old system had an earthly place for Israel (land of Canaan), now we have \"the heavenly places in Christ\" (Ephesians 1:3; 2:6). Moses was at an earthly mountain (Sinai) receiving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Teaching of Baptisms<\/h2>\n
Evangelism<\/h2>\n
Giving<\/h2>\n
Corrective Discipline<\/h2>\n