In Isaiah 28:9,10,13a the prophet speaks for God, asking: “Whom can He teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand His message?” His answer: “Those who are weaned from milk, those who are drawn from the breast.” These are they who study His Word: “… precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” As verses 11-13b tell us, though He spoke to Israel in several ways, “Yet they would not hear … they fell backward and were broken, snared and caught.” In His infinite omniscience God designed His Word to apply to both the Israel of old–His Church in the Wilderness (Acts 7:38) and the Israel of today–His New Covenant Church (Gal. 6:16). He makes this clear by stating that the New Covenant Church is founded on the teachings of both the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles (Eph. 2:20). The New is simply an extension of the Old, with a spiritual dimension added. For example, to the sin of adultery (O.T.-physical act) was added the sin of lust (N.T.-spiritual act).

When a God-seeker comes to realize his spiritual condition relative to God’s requirements for salvation, he is immediately led through a man-designed ritual called the “salvation experience.” Upon completion of the ritual the organization he has joined places him on a diet of milk (church doctrine).

A newborn child immediately begins to consume its mother’s physical milk which contains everything he needs to sustain life. He stays on this milk until his digestive system matures enough to handle stronger fare. After being weaned from the mother’s breast the child begins to eat more complete food. Later he graduates to the strong meat that will sustain him for the rest of his life as he grows into maturity and remains there.

A newborn spiritual child, however, is never allowed to change his spiritual “food” (Scriptures). His church never tells him about “… all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) because it believes only various parts (the milk) of the Word. As a result he remains on the church “breast,” making him a perpetual babe. Not having ministers, family and friends who are mature in the Lord, he is never brought to  “… the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” so that he will not be like “… children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of (denomina-tional) doctrine,” … unable to … “grow up in all things unto (to be like) Him who is the Head–Christ” (Eph. 4:11-15). The church never allows him to become a spiritual adult. Just as a physical child dies physically if he consumes only breast milk, the spiritual child dies spiritually if he is fed only religious milk. God has more to say about this through the apostle Paul.

In Hebrews 5:9-14 Paul is telling the church that, being born a human, Jesus had to learn right and wrong (vss 7-9). See Jesus Christ–God, Man or God-man. Likewise, these believers needed to be taught right from wrong. The problem was that the people, having been fed only milk by their ministers, were very immature–“… dull of hearing.” We pick up the narrative with verse 12: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you AGAIN the first principles of the oracles (Words) of God; … you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (meat), for he is a (spiritual) babe. But strong meat (the Word of righteousness) belongs to those who are of full age, those who by reason of use (obedience to God’s Word) have their senses exercised to discerned both good and evil.” Then Paul points out the kind of messages they have been subjected to by their ministers–milk.

“Therefore, LEAVING THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF CHRIST (milk), let us go on to PERFEC- TION, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God … baptism … judgment, etc.,” which is what one hears three times a week in most churches. I was recently invited to attend a service in the church in which I grew up. I declined. I’ve heard the church’s message, which is the same message heard repeatedly in all churches–milk. If one should tell the people what God said about meat, one would be put out the door post haste. Peter makes it abundantly clear that strong meat (the Word of righteousness) must be preached, taught, learned, believed and obeyed in order to inherit eternal life. Only the righteous, he declared under the power of the Holy Spirit, can be saved (1 Pet. 4:18).

THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH (CATHOLICISM/PROTESTANTISM) IS STILL ON THE BREAST. Any offer of meat is summarily rejected because it requires WORKS–obedience to God’s Word. Just as a physical child does not want to leave his mother’s breast where no effort is necessary to sustain life, the spiritual child rejects any offer of solid meat, having been told by his false prophets, family and friends that milk is all that is needed. And if someone should show him what God says about THE WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, without which he will spiritually die, he rejects it, preferring the soothing milk of denominational doctrine to God’s strong meat of the Word. As did Adam and Eve when given the choice of masters, the spiritual babe chooses Satan over God.

Why? Because the options are so drastically different. Satan promises instant salvation followed by a smooth, effortless ride into heaven–“Thou shalt not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). God promises salvation upon the return of Christ IF one “… endures (the bumpy ride–hatred, rejection, trials by fire) to the end” (Mat. 10:22). See Persecution. Satan tells the God-seeker that he can have it all now BECAUSE HE BELIEVES AND OBEYS CHURCH DOCTRINE. God tells him that he can have it all later IF HE BELIEVES AND OBEYS HIS WORD. Like water, the spiritual babe takes the path of least resistance.

As a result of consuming only milk (church doctrine), church people have no power to resist Satan who has convinced them that resistance to him is futile, that due to a miraculous sin-transferal from Adam to them, they must sin. See Human Nature. But not to worry because the fix is in. Jesus has allowed them to remain on the breast perpetually. These are they of whom Jesus spoke in Matthew 7:20-27 when He said that they would be judged by their fruits, that going through the motions of religion (“filthy rags”) would gain them nothing, and that only those who hear and “DO THESE SAYINGS OF MINE” will stand when the storm comes. L.J.