Message Eleven

The Word of the Beginning of Christ
and the Word of Righteousness

Scripture Reading: Heb. 5:11—6:5

1. The word of God is not mainly for knowledge but for nourishment—Heb. 5:12:
   1. Although the Bible is a book of teaching, its teaching is not merely to impart mental knowledge but to minister food to us—Jer. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:2-3.
   2. The Lord Jesus took the word of God in the Scriptures as His bread and lived on it—Matt. 4:4.
   3. The words milk and solid food in Hebrews 5:12 indicate that the word of God is for nourishment:
      1. Through regeneration the believers in Christ become babes who can grow in life by being nourished with spiritual milk, the milk of the word—1 Pet. 2:2-3:
         1. The milk of the word is for the soul, the inner being.
         2. Milk is conveyed in the word of God to nourish our inner man through the understanding of our rational mind and is assimilated by our mental faculties.
      2. Whereas milk is mainly for infants, solid food is for the mature—1 Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:13.
2. Paul’s burden in the book of Hebrews was to bring the believers out of the kindergarten stage of the Christian life and to bring them on to maturity—to the word of righteousness concerning Christ’s heavenly ministry and concerning the way of God’s economy, the word which is solid food for them to reach maturity—Heb. 5:12, 14; 6:1:
   1. The Hebrew believers remained in the initial stage of salvation and were not going on to the heavenly ministry of Christ—Heb. 4:14-16; 5:11-12.
   2. The Hebrew believers had been enlightened, they had tasted of the heavenly gift, they had received and were partaking of the Holy Spirit, and they had tasted the good word of God, but they remained in the initial stage of the enjoyment of the New Testament blessings—Heb. 6:4-5.
   3. The Hebrew believers had received the gospel to a certain extent, but they did not realize that Christ has a ministry in the heavens—Heb. 8:1-2.
   4. The book of Hebrews was written to bring the believers on from the good word concerning Christ’s earthly ministry to the word of righteousness concerning Christ’s heavenly ministry and thereby bring the childish believers on to maturity—Heb. 6:1.
3. The word of the beginning of Christ is the foundation of the Christian life—Heb. 6:1:
   1. In the Son’s speaking God, or in God speaking in the Son, there are two categories of the word— the word of the beginning of Christ and the word of righteousness—Heb. 1:1-2; 5:12-14; 6:1:
      1. The word of the beginning of Christ is milk for infants.
      2. The word of righteousness is solid food for the mature.
   2. The good word of God in 6:5 refers to the word of the beginning of Christ in 6:1:
      1. The good word of God is the word of the beginning of Christ in the kindergarten stage.
      2. The word concerning Christ’s earthly ministry is a good word because it is the glad tidings, the good news; however, it is a word in the kindergarten stage.
   3. The word of the beginning of Christ refers to six items that constitute the foundation of the Christian life: repentance from dead works, faith in God, the teaching of baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment—6:1-2.
   4. The beginning of Christ includes not only the beginning of the believers’ experience of Christ but also the early ministry of Christ.
4. The word of righteousness embodies the thought of God’s justice and righteousness in His dispensational and governmental dealings with His people—Heb. 5:13:
   1. Righteousness is being right with persons, things, and matters before God according to His righteous and strict requirements—Matt. 5:20; 1 Cor. 15:34.
   2. Righteousness is a matter of God’s kingdom— Matt. 6:33:
      1. Righteousness issues from God for His administration—Psa. 89:14; 97:2; Isa. 32:1.
      2. Righteousness is related to God’s government, administration, and rule.
   3. Righteousness is a matter of being right with God in our being:
      1. To be right with God in our being is to have an inner being that is transparent and crystal clear—an inner being in the mind and will of God.
      2. To be righteous in this way is to become the righteousness of God in Christ—2 Cor. 5:21.
   4. The book of Hebrews is constructed basically with God’s righteous government—10:30-31; 12:29:
      1. Hebrews is a revelation of God’s dispensational and governmental dealings with His people.
      2. All five warnings in this book are based on the fact that God is the God of righteousness, a consuming fire in His governmental dealings with His people—10:31:
         1. The first warning: Give heed to what is spoken concerning the Son—2:1-4.
         2. The second warning: Do not come short of the promised rest—3:7—4:13.
         3. The third warning: Be brought on to maturity—5:11—6:20.
         4. The fourth warning: Come forward to the Holy of Holies and do not shrink back to Judaism—10:19-39.
         5. The fifth warning: Run the race and do not fall away from grace—12:1-29.
   5. If we would fully enter into the word of righteousness, we need experience and exercise— 5:13-14:
      1. Inexperienced (v. 13) indicates that we need to experience the word of righteousness.
      2. Exercised (v. 14) is related to exercising our faculties to discern, to discriminate, God’s word as we do food, considering whether a particular word is like milk or solid food.