Surely those of us who consider the Scriptures from a dispensational standpoint have no choice but to step back and acknowledge that something must be different about how we relate to God in contrast to how Samuel related to God. Such a voice does not randomly sound off in our home and neither does the Lord come and stand in our midst to make Himself known. Perhaps at times we wish that He might do so in order that we gain some sort of personal revelation, but even in Samuel’s case, the things he was told had nothing to do with his own life. Remember, he was a “man of God” because he was able to profit others with information the Lord had given him about their circumstance or need. Thus, our relationship must be considered in a different light. That is, in light of the dispensation of the grace of God.
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“Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” II Corinthians 5:17
One of the most distinguished messages among Christians today is the belief that we are “born again” as Christ refers in the gospels.
12 How easy it is to consider even the reference that our Lord makes to children when he says:
“Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3
By this very measure, Christians often find themselves believing that the newly saved have come “as little children.” But let us consider what Paul just said previously with regard to the “man” who is now in Christ (the saved). If a
man is “in Christ,” he is a “new creature.” And thus, all things are made new. But are they made new
born? This is a question you need to ask yourself as we continue. Keep in mind that if one is a newborn, he is therefore a babe in Christ.
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [even] unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men.” I Corinthians 3:1
At no point in this reference do we find that Paul is encouraged by Corinthians who “walk as men” but are as “babes in Christ.” He wishes to speak to them as men, but must feed them with milk. Surely we all recall from the story of Hannah and Samuel that she was unwilling to send him on into service of the Lord until he had been “weaned” from the breast. For until that time, he required sustaining milk to prepare for growth.
During the earlier portions of this study, we saw a couple of passages that really bring into focus this reality.
“Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.” Isaiah 28:9
“For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.” Hebrews 5:13
The Lord can do nothing with a baby because he is not ready to be fed with meat (that is, doctrine). Thus, he requires someone older. Could we conclude then, that instead of being new
born, the Lord would desire that we come as new
children going through elementary school?
“Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:23-25
If we are no longer under a schoolmaster, then we are no longer in a sort of “spiritual” school either. Yet the next verse demands an important question.
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26
Many could see this quickly and say, “Well, you see there! We
are children!” But ask yourself, however, if these particular children of God are no longer under a schoolmaster, would they not run rampant through the streets having no adult supervision? Is this not an image of children who have just been told that they no longer have to attend school and are therefore free to just be children? Surely not.
The word “children” in verse 26 is
huios, which indicates a great esteem as descendants of God. We are indeed the children of God in this sense, but not because we are children in our thinking. He is our Father and will always be as such. A way to consider this passage is to imagine your fully graduated son or daughter going across the stage. As they reach for their diploma, you lean to the person sitting in the next chair and whisper, “That’s my child right there.” The Lord knows those who are His and He will always see us as His children. We are his legitimate offspring by the grace of God.
“Now I say, [That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:” Galatians 4:1-3
Once again, we see that the heir apparent of great inheritance, if he is only a child in his manner, “differeth nothing from a servant” and ceases to truly take hold of all that is his. Rather, he is constantly under tutors and leaders who keep him in bondage to the “elements” of the world. It’s likely that you’ve seen this passage on several occasions, but I’d like to bring your attention to these elements. For it is in these elements that we understand
elementary education. In other words, elements such as these are the “basics” that children learn during their early development.
To the Greeks, such elementary training included learning the alphabet and the way in which letters sound when spoken. Eventually, however, those letters have to come together in the form of words. Once words are understood, sentences must begin to make sense and reading comprehension must greatly improve as the child gets older. When the child no longer needs a tutor to read because he can understand what he is reading, the elementary portion of his education has ended.
Take note, that in verse 3, Paul uses “children” again, but in this case, the word is
nepios, which refers to the age and maturity of a minor. Likewise, he does not use it as a reference to his readers, but rather of a time “when” we were children. That time is not now.
“But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians 4:4-7
Our role is not as little children or newborn babes in Christ. We are sons and heirs of God through Christ relegated to a much greater role than that of the old creature we were.
“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.” Galatians 4:9-11
Once again, we see “elements” that ultimately put full grown adults into bondage of things that would otherwise be meant for children who have not matured. Under grace, we are not reserved to house arrest. We have freedom to do what is right simply because the truth makes us free to exercise choices between good and evil.
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Where we might find difficulty is in asking why it is that Jesus would have ever desired that Israel come to Him as little children when we know that He does not expect the same for His Body. Again, in order to answer this question, let’s look at another passage of Scripture.
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord [is] gracious.” I Peter 2:2
A casual reader might otherwise never consider this passage and assume that I’ve made a valid argument up until this point. Yet now it appears that we have a contradiction of sorts if one is so willing to look at the Word with clouded glasses. We wipe away such clouds when we recognize that Peter was writing to an audience of scattered Jews who were still under the law.
14 Additionally, they were spoken to as “obedient children” who have been “born again.”
15 Peter was speaking to an Israel that was
not free from the law. Thus, they were still under a schoolmaster and tutor which required that they slowly come to a full understanding of elementary principles. In other words, they were to use the Word to grow as children, not as adults.
What, then, is this new creature that we, the Body of Christ, have become if not an infant and not a child?
“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” Colossians 3:9-10
“If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:21-24
In Christ Jesus, you are not a new born babe and you are not a child. You are a “new man.” As Adam was created fully grown, so too are you established in Christ Jesus as a new man.
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and from, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ:” Ephesians 4:13-15
Be no more children and grow up into the head knowing that you are His Body. This message, while including “truth in love” is a very direct presentation that cannot be ignored. Our growth, therefore, is not as children, but as something quite different. How are we to “grow up” if we are not going through the same journey as Samuel or those in the past whose childhood experiences are easy to identify?
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15
“…for the workman is worthy of his meat.” Matthew 10:10b
You are a workman.
Quite possibly, you’ve never considered yourself to be like this and always perceived that you should continue serving God as a child. At times, surely there is a part of us that is refreshed to see a child that has so few things to concern themselves. They have no bills, no jobs, and no external pressures outside the home such as we have. How easy it is to see their life and envy what once was. But is it really enviable?
Childhood does indeed come with its naivety and innocence, yet we must ask ourselves whether naivety ever gave us the understanding we longed to have. Each of us as we got older wanted to heap upon ourselves more responsibility not knowing what that would include. We wanted to be free from our parents earlier than we may have been ready simply because we were that anxious to move forward and become adults. Why, then, would we look at childhood and presume that if we could go back our mindset would be any different? Would we not seek after things that we were not ready to encounter just as we did on our first time around?
No, childhood is not enviable and neither is infancy. Thus, we are to consider a very practical message by the Apostle Paul:
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” I Corinthians 13:11
Put this into context for a moment and remember that Paul was once under the schoolmaster of the law.
“For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.” Galatians 1:13-14
Paul was once under the schoolmaster of the law through the Jews’ religion, but had now become set apart by the grace of God unto a different calling. When he was a child, he spoke, understood, and thought as a child. But when he became a man (that is, he was set apart by the grace of God to the “new man”), he put away those things that had been childish. In another sense, he put an end to the elementary thinking that focused on learning basics and began to let the Word of God flow through his veins… those veins of a new creature.
If you have, for the first time, recognized that you are brought into Christ as a full grown son, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, then I encourage you to begin looking at the work for which you have been called. Paul, the apostle to the Body of Christ, has given tremendous instruction on this workmanship.
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