For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. Hebrews 5:12 (AMPC)
It’s always a moment of great joy when a baby is born and for all the time of babyhood everyone enjoys the baby. But when that young one overstays his or her stage in life the alarm goes off. Something is definitely not right. Point is growth is the normal, expected flow of life. We are designed to grow. Just as there’s physical growth there’s also spiritual growth. God wants us to grow – spiritually.
Growth comes by feeding. Naturally a baby starts out on milk because at that stage that’s what they need for growth and it’s what they can handle then. But later they have to advance to solid food.
Even spiritually when we’ve just been born again like newborns we are encouraged to feed on the sincere (whole) milk of the Word by which we may grow. 1 Peter 2:2 (NKJV) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.
It’s the Word of God, the pure, unadulterated, spiritual milk that nurtures us and makes us grow into the full complete experience of salvation.
From our text scripture we are supposed to advance from the milk of the Word to the solid food of the Word.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NIV) Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
Any teaching, instruction, encouragement, correction, or warning that’s for the purpose of getting a believer to stop thinking, acting, or living like a non-believer is milk!
The believer who is still thinking, acting, or living like a non-believer is a baby no matter how long he’s been saved, how much Bible he knows and preaches or what position he holds in church or how much spiritual gifts are operating in his life! The Corinthian believers fitted all the above-mentioned characteristics but they were babies in Christ, they were thinking, acting and living like non-believers. They needed milk to grow.
Hebrews 5:13-14 (AKJV) For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Any teaching, instruction, encouragement, correction, or warning that’s for the purpose of grounding or establishing a believer in his identity in Christ is solid food. The scripture above calls it the Word of Righteousness.
The believer that knows who he is in Christ, thinks in line with who he is in Christ and acts in line with who is in Christ, is the one who’s mature.
Therefore, if we want to move from milk to solid, we need to get into the Word of Righteousness which is the finished Work of Christ or what God did for us in Christ in His crucifixion, death resurrection and sitting at God’s right hand. We find this mostly in the Epistles or letters in the bible; from Romans to Jude. Take time to get into God’s word today.