Before we go looking for the deeper things of God that are going to set us free from the issues of life that bind us, we must first be sure that we are doing the elementary things. I played a lot of sports growing up. It wasn't the 'fancy shots' and the 'fancy plays' that won the games for us. Getting the basics down, offence, defense, hard work and team play were the things that caused us to win the games. It is the same thing playing music, learning basic rhythms and chord progressions are necessary for basic play, 'fancy playing' means nothing if you can't piece it together into a song that is usable. It is the same thing in life. No matter how DEEP you go into spiritual revelation of God's Word, if you don't have the basics of spirituality down, you will suffer loss in more ways then one. What does the Bible clarify as the basic, elementary teachings of Christ? This is found in Hebrews 6:1.
6 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will[a] do if God permits.
The thing that we must see today is that if we do not do the basics, we will not win the game. And Paul said to play as if you were trying to win the victor's crown.
First there is repentance from dead works. How much trouble do we get ourselves into because we are focusing so much time on things that we really should be laying down? How much money do we waste on things that we really should be laying down. How much of our prayer time is us asking God to get us out of a mess we wouldn't be in if we had REPENTED from dead works. We are losing in life, because we didn't understand, and apply the basics.
Second there is faith towards God. How many times have we walked away from an opportunity because we didn't have the faith to think that we could step into that position? How many times have we refused to obey the Word of God because we didn't have the faith to trust God? When we fail to have faith in God we end up losing in life along the way. We must do the basics of the faith, or we will find ourselves sitting on the side of the road in life, going no where fast.
Third there is the doctrine of baptisms. Notice that this is plural. Not baptism. But baptisms. That is because there is more written in the bible beside just the baptism in water. When God has something available to us, he does so because he wants to equip and empower us. When we only adhere to water baptism and do not submit ourselves to the full of gospel we rob ourselves of the advantage and the power that we need to overcome the evil one.
Fourth is the laying on of hands. This is a doctrine for the transfer of God's anointing, and the transfer of spiritual authority to promote and to bless. How many times do we remain sick because we do not lay hands on the sick and pray? How many times do we fail to receive power from God to overcome a situation because we do not think it necessary to have someone lay their hands on us and pray? I have heard plenty of people say, "I don't need to have anyone lay hands on me." That is like someone underneath the basket saying, "I don't need to block out, I can get the rebound with out it." That is just ignorance. If God said that laying on of hands is a elementary and fundamental teaching of Christianity, who are we to say we don't need it? We suffer because we do not do the basics.
Fifth is the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Why are these so important? The Bible says that Jesus was able to endure the things he suffered because he LOOKED forward to his resurrection from the dead and his reward from God. How can we keep our mind on things above if we do not have a heaven mind-set? And the eternal judgment. If we keep in mind that we will stand before God and give an account we will be more likely to do the things that please God. When I do not believe in the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment than the only thing left is THIS WORLD. And if this world is all there is than I will live more for the flesh and the things that will gratify in this life. Paul said that without the hope of the resurrection of the dead we are of all men the most miserable. If you will let go of a worldly mindset and set your mind on the things above you will find that you will live more closely to God. But, if we don't get the basics down, how can we 'fix' our issues with the deeper things of God?
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