Heb. 5:12-6:6, The First Principles

Our understanding, as we have explained in recent posts, is that the “first principles of the oracles of God” are the beginning principles of coming to Christ.  It is the “milk” of Heb. 5:12. The “solid food” is “meatier,” as we often say.  One is for infants, the other for those who are growing into spiritual adults (5:14).

Further, Hebrews differentiates between “the elementary principles of Christ” and the truths that will take us to perfection.  These “elementary principles” are the foundational truths in 6:1-2.  To some this might seem an odd idea, something not developed in Scripture.  But upon closer examination, I believe there are quite a few passages where we see this concept.  Here are a few.

·       Luke 24:27: Jesus, after his death and resurrection, was able to explain to His disciples how He was seen throughout the OT.  That is elementary.  Paul, in Eph. 3:5, Paul spoke of his ministry as the revealing of what was a mystery, “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men.”  This was the truth of the New Covenant.  What Christ gave Paul to give to the Church built on the foundational truth Jesus was teaching His disciples here, and it also went beyond, or perhaps we should say “deeper.”

·       Acts 24:14: In Paul’s defense before Felix he spoke of the foundational truths, things of Christ that are found in the Law and the Prophets.

·       Acts 26:22-23: Again, what Paul shared before Agrippa were the “elementary principles,” the beginning truths of coming to Christ. 

·       Acts 28:23: The same is true of his meeting with the Jewish leaders in Rome.  He was able to draw from the OT, the Law of Moses and the Prophets, in explaining the elementary principles of Christ.

·       Rom. 3:21: The means by which God’s righteousness was maintained in providing justification for sinners was “witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.”  The OT is rich in the foundation it lays of righteousness in the coming Savior.  The OT promised that under the New Covenant the Holy Spirit would play the key role in its implementation.  Jesus spoke of the Spirit’s ministry in a symbolic way in John 7:37-39 (“living water”).  Even in the Upper Room the disciples would have struggled to appreciate all that Jesus was promising regarding the Spirit.  It was required of Paul to reveal the many facets of the Spirit’s work in the believer. 

·       2 Peter 3:1-2,15-16: Peter spoke of the need to pay attention to what the OT prophets and NT Apostles said.  But then he acknowledged that Paul had wisdom from God by which he said “some things hard to understand.” 

Paul often uses the word “mystery” to describe his message, received from the Lord Jesus to give to the Church.  But this “mystery” is essential truth for all believers, not just some “elites.”  The point in Hebrews is simply that it comes with age and experience, those of “full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).