Maturity (5047) (teleiotes related to teleios from telos = an end, a purpose, an aim, a goal) describes one as being in a state of completion or perfection in the sense of maturity (and in contrast to the stage of elementary, ABC, knowledge). The related word teleios means complete, mature, fully developed, full grown, brought to its end, finished, wanting nothing necessary to completeness, in good working order. Teleios signifies consummate soundness, includes the idea of being whole. Interestingly the Gnostics used teleios of the one fully initiated into their mysteries and that may have been why Paul used teleios in this epistle. The only other NT use of teleiotes is in Colossians where Paul writes... And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (see note Colossians 3:14) Teleiotes (5047) is related to the similar word in Hebrews 12:2 with Strong's number (5051) this latter word referring to Jesus as our Model or Goal to press onward toward writing that we need to run... fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (see note Hebrews 12:2) Christlikeness is our goal. Conformity to the image of the Son is the Father's will for every one of His children. Wuest explains that... Our Lord in His life of faith on earth, became the perfect or complete example of the life of faith. Thayer speaks of our Lord as “one who has in his own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith.” (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans) (Bolding added) Larry Richards writes that As we run we can look back and see how Jesus ran His race ("Author"). When we look ahead we can see His exaltation ("Finisher"). He is our example as starter and finisher. (Richards, L: The Bible reader's companion. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books) What does Perfecter mean pragmatically? It means that if you want to look for a perfect example of faith, you look to our Lord Jesus Christ. If you look at Abraham, you see failure. If you look to Abel, you see failure. If you look to Moses, you will see failure. And in Gideon, Samson, Jeptha, and all the rest of the runners in the race of faith in Hebrews 11, you will see failure. There is one person, and only One, Who never failed and that Person is our Lord Jesus Christ. And He will never fail you beloved. S Lewis Johnson writes: I am sure, if you feel as I do at times, to look at our Lord as an example which we are to follow, is a very frustrating thing. Joseph Parker, a great London preacher, had gone to hear the great pianist Paderiski play. He was so filled with the consummate beauty of the playing that he went home and asked his wife for an ax to chop his piano into pieces. That was the power of a great example. When I look at the example of our Lord Jesus, that is the way I feel. But in the Word of God, we are told that not only is Jesus our example, but He also offers us the utmost of enablement. A German woman in World War II had been rationing for years and finally got to the place where she did not have enough food to feed her family. One day she made a trip to the ocean which she had never seen before. When she saw the water, she exclaimed, "Well there is after all something that they cannot ration." Likewise, the power of God through Jesus Christ is something we cannot ration. It is available to us, and as we run the race, keeping the weight down, keeping our limbs free, and keeping our eyes upon Him, the power of our Lord Jesus Christ flows through us and we are enabled to do what we could not do otherwise! The writer repeatedly alludes to the idea of perfecting (in sense of accomplishing or reaching the intended goal) See notes Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 5:9; 6:1; 7:11, 7:19, 7:28; 9:9; 10:1, 10:14; 11:40. The Bible says that Jesus is before us. He is behind us. He is by our side. He is below us. He is above us. He is around about us and He is in us. There was a man who looked to Jesus once, and he did an impossible thing. Do you remember? Jesus came walking on the water and when Peter first saw Him he said "It is a ghost." Then he said, "If it be Thee Lord, bid me come unto Thee. And Peter climbed out of that boat in the midst of the raging storm with the lightening and thunder, and he walked on the water. Impossible! But as long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, the power of Jesus Christ was in Peter! S Lewis Johnson writes about a certain king in western Europe who... was about to visit a small town. A mother took her little boy and found her way to the front of the crowd. Finally the king arrived she held him up and said, "Now look at him and never forget it all the days of your life." That is the kind of look that we should have as we look unto Jesus. As you run the race, look to Jesus and never forget Who He is and what He has done, and what He can do for you. May you reach the crown at the end of the race." THOU ART ENOUGH FOR ME Thou art enough for me, Thou art enough for me, Thou living, loving, mighty God Thou art enough for me! To God our father above, We glory in Thy love, Thou living, loving, mighty God, Thou art enough for me. Lord Jesus, Savior king, All glory now we sing, Thou living, loving, mighty God, Thou art enough for me! The Holy Spirit's power Shall keep me every hour, Thou living, loving, mighty God. Let us go on to the stage of adults, not babes, able to chew solid spiritual food. The writer will assume that the readers are adults in his discussion of the topic. F B Hole (Biographical Note) comments... "LET US GO ON," is the opening exhortation of our chapter. Movement in the right direction is to mark us. We are to leave "the word of the beginning of Christ," as the marginal reading is, and go on unto "perfection." If we glance back over the last four verses of Hebrews 5 we shall see that the point here is that we ought to grow in our understanding of the faith of Christ. We ought not to be like children staying year after year in the kindergarten, but advance until we assimilate the instruction provided for the scholars in the sixth form. John the Baptist had brought "the word of the beginning of Christ." He laid the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God." He put baptism in the forefront of His preaching, and spoke plainly as to eternal judgement. But things had moved on since his day. Great light shone when Jesus came forth in His ministry; and then, just as His earthly service closed, in His discourse in the upper chamber He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. He told His disciples that He had "yet many things to say" unto them, but that they could not bear them then. He added, "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13). By the time the Epistle to the Hebrews was written ALL truth had been revealed, for it was given to Paul by his ministry to "fulfil the Word of God." (Colossians 1:25 see note). To "fulfil" in that verse means to "fill out full," or to "complete." The whole circle of revealed truth then had been completed. Yet here were these Hebrews still inclined to dwell in their minds amongst these preliminary things, quite ignoring the fuller light which was now shining. Are we at all like them in this? In their case it is not difficult to see where the trouble lay. The special place of privilege, which belonged to the Jew nationally under the Old Covenant, had disappeared under the New. True, it only disappeared because a higher order of blessing had been introduced, so that, when converted, both Jew and Gentile are brought into privileges quite unknown before. Yet their hearts clung to the old and exclusive national position, and consequently they became dull of hearing as regards the fuller truth of Christianity. In our case we have no national position to maintain, but there is many a thing which we naturally love and cling to, which is dispossessed by the light of full and proper Christianity; and there is very real danger that we may close our eyes against that light in order to retain the things we love. Oh, then may we heed this exhortation! May we allow it to repeat itself over and over again in our hearts — Let us go on! Let us go on! LET US GO ON! And then let us join the writer of the Epistle in saying, "This will we do, if God permit." (Hebrews Commentary Notes) Marvin Vincent writes that... The completeness is viewed as pertaining to both the writer and the readers. He proposes to fully develop his theme: they are exhorted to strive for that full Christian manhood which will fit them to receive the fully-developed discussion. A B Simpson (biography) writes... Having entered in, become established and found the source of all-sufficient grace, let us now advance, let us make progress, let us grow in grace, let us not be easily satisfied with present attainments, for, unless we go on we shall surely go back. It is not safe to lose an inch of ground. "We are not of them who draw back unto perdition." The faintest drawing back may land us in perdition. There is no portion of the Holy Scriptures so filled with impressive warnings against backsliding as this. In two of its leading chapters, the sixth and tenth, we are told of the peril of the soul that falls away, and the only remedy against falling away is to go forward. Are we going on? And are we going unto perfection? Is our goal the very highest? Are we aiming at nothing less than the highest possibilities of a life of faith and service for God? Nothing less is safe, and nothing less is worthy of our high calling and our exceeding great and precious promises. (A. B. Simpson. Christ in the Bible - Hebrews) (Bolding added) J. D. Branon writes that... When autumn comes and the leaves drop from my neighbor's trees, I can look out of my back window and see a forlorn sight—a weather-beaten building surrounded by weeds. In the mind of the designer, this structure was to have been a health club complete with swimming pool, handball courts, and sauna. But somewhere along the way the planners and builders encountered difficulty—perhaps lack of funds—and they abandoned the project. So instead of being a center of activity, the structure is an unfinished and useless eyesore. In a sense this is what the writer to the Hebrew Christians was warning them about in Hebrews 5—a warning we must heed. We are not to stop when we have laid the foundations of repentance and salvation; we are to go on to the maturity that God, the architect of our faith, has planned for us. He knows what the result of the building of our faith should be: a center of activity that glorifies Him. So when obstacles arise, when the needed resources of time, study, and energy run out, when we encounter opposition, we are not to let the project come to a screeching halt. We must continue construction. God chose us to "be holy and without blame before Him" (see note Ephesians 1:4) , and He provides us with the resources—the indwelling Holy Spirit and His Word—for the process of sanctification to be completed.—J. D. Branon (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) So often we try to alter circumstances to suit ourselves, instead of letting them alter us. John Angell James in his book Christian Progress (see table of contents) has a chapter entitled Motives to Christian Progress and the following are his major "bullet points" with brief explanatory excerpts. The interested reader (and we should all be interested in spiritual progress) is referred to the full article for expansion on each point... 1. The first motive to Christian progress is the DANGER OF DECLENSION. ...It is not only possible—but probable, that some who shall read this work, will be found by it in various stages of declension already. Some who have consciousness enough of their situation, and even occasional regret enough to borrow the poet's lament– "Where is the blessedness I knew When first I saw the Lord; Where is the soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and his Word? "What peaceful hours I once enjoyed, How sweet their memory still; But they have left an aching void The world can never fill."... 2. It should be most impressively felt that spiritual progress is COMMANDED and EXPECTED by God. ...The verb, "be perfect," and the noun, "perfection," are of such frequent occurrence in the New Testament, that the subject to which they refer ought to engage the close and serious attention of every professing Christian. There can be no doubt that these terms are sometimes employed by the sacred writers in a comparative sense, as signifying high degrees, eminence, or completeness of parts. In Hebrews 6:1, perfection signifies the more sublime, enlarged, spiritual, and complete views of Christian doctrine, as opposed to first principles... ...Young converts see no perfection in others; they hear it said by Christians there is no perfection; they feel none in themselves; and therefore never dream that it is their duty to seek after it; and thus conciliating themselves to all kinds and degrees of imperfections, begin and continue with a very low state of piety... 3. Christian Progress is a bright evidence of sincerity. Growth, as we have already remarked, is the proof of life. Dead things do not grow... ...Grace never finds in nature a subject for which there is need of little to be done... 4. Christian Progress is its own reward. ...Viewed in its true nature, it unites the highest dignity with the purest pleasure. The ways of godliness are ways, not only of pleasure and paths of peace—but of honor and renown. Can anything be loftier, nobler, sublimer, than a growing conformity to the image of God? To see a stronger and a stronger resemblance to God in our soul?... ...And is not growth in HOLINESS equally delightful? Holiness is our spiritual health, as sin is our disease.... 5. Christian progress adds to the credit and redounds to the honor of true religion generally. 6. And is it not a powerful motive to grow in grace—to consider that our present attainments in true religion, have a connection with, and will have an influence upon, our heavenly and eternal state. After reading these pages, are you at all excited to desire to advance? Say, does the fire kindle, does the glow diffuse throughout your soul at the idea of what is here presented? If not, let me try again, not by new motives—but by recalling those which are here enumerated. Does not the dread of declension, backsliding, apostasy, terrify you? Shall not the command of God impel you? Will not the hope of gaining a sweet and blessed evidence of salvation, lead you to seek after progress? Does not the experience you have already had, though it may be in a small degree, of the reward which advancement yields—induce you to go forward? And then what shall be said of the fact that our degrees of grace will regulate our degrees of glory? Has this no motive power for your soul? What! are you so dull, so earthly, so insensible to the felicities, honors, and distinctions of heaven—as to feel little holy ambition to have some high place there? NOT LAYING AGAIN A FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS AND OF FAITH TOWARD GOD: me palin themelion kataballomenoi (PMPMPN) metanoias apo nekron ergon kai pisteos epi theon: (5" class="scriptRef">Matthew 7:25; Luke 6:48; 1Corinthians 3:10-12; 1Timothy 6:19; 2Timothy 2:19) (Isaiah 55:6,7; 32" class="scriptRef">Ezekiel 18:30-32; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 21:29,32; Mark 6:12; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20; 2Corinthians 7:10; 2Timothy 2:25,26) (Hebrews 9:14; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 2:1,5) (Heb 11:6; John 5:24; 12:44; 14:1; 1Peter 1:21; 1John 5:10-13) The writer desired to proceed to the exposition of the doctrine of Christ's priesthood, but he takes a "short detour" explaining to them that Christian maturity is not to be attained by going back to subjects which belong to the ABC's, and which in context seem to favor primarily teachings of the Old covenant. Laying (2598) (kataballo from katá = down + bállo = throw cast) means to cast down, to throw to the ground, and here figuratively of a spiritual foundation to be put or laid down. The idea was to lay something down with the implication of permanence. The present tense speaks of this as what should characterize one's lifestyle. Again (3825) (palin) means to return to a position or state, and as here denoting a falling back into a previous state or a return to a previous activity. Foundation (2310) (themelios form théma = that which is laid down) refers to that on which a structure is built. Repentance and faith are foundational in beginning the Christian life but they are only the beginning. Compare Paul's exhortation to the Ephesian elders in which he explained that he was... solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21) Foundation of repentance - what does this elementary foundation refer to? Stedman explains that... This rudimentary foundation is easily recognizable as the same one which Jesus and the apostles preached, namely, “repent and believe.” Repentance is a permanent change of mind which results in right behavior (“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance”—Mt 3:8). (Ibid) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/hebrews_61-3.htm#maturity