Leaving the Elementary Teachings

November 19th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity…

In the Old Testament (OT), there were many types—ordinances, feasts, and pictures that typified the coming Messiah, or Christ. For instance, there were the Levitical blood sacrifices in lambs and goats, blood that was to be shed for the sins of their owners. These offerings typified the coming of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)—Jesus. Also, as Hebrews explains, there was the Levitical high priest who mediated between man and God—the shadow, or type. Jesus proves to be the Substance of the shadow, the antitype, who fulfills the type. So, "a type is an event, person, or statement in the OT that prefigures or symbolizes a corresponding antitype in the NT, which fulfills or completes the type" (AI).

Hebrews 5:11-6:8, written to professed believers in Christ who were either severely back-slidden or perhaps not believers at all, is a strong admonition to abandon the shadows and types found in the OT and look upon the Substance of those shadows and types—Jesus Christ. Since Jesus fulfilled the “elementary teaching” of the OT, focusing on Him is now the task, not looking back on the types as superior to the antitype. Christians are never told to lay aside the basics of the faith, but certainly there is a time to grow beyond the basics into greater maturity. Some just need to put down their prophecies and pictures of Christ found throughout the OT and look upon the God-Man Himself, Jesus, who fulfilled all of the “elementary teaching” regarding the Messiah. He is the Antitype—the Substance of the shadows of the OT.

Since the warning articulated in Hebrews 5:11-14 obviously continues seamlessly in 6:1-12, the chapter break here is unwarranted. Note two verbs that push the actions in 6:1-3: “leaving” (Gr. aphiēmi) and “press on” (Gr. pherō). The former means to send away; forgive. The whole idea centers around separation. This aorist participle (past tense) means that the action of “leaving” must precede the action of the main verb which is “let us press on”—to move along while being sustained, supported, or propelled to action. This second verb, in the passive voice, means the subject is being acted upon by some outside agent. Perhaps, “Abandoning once for all, let us be carried along into maturity” would be apt. Idleness had caused them to drift (2:1), for they had not been paying careful attention to what they had been taught. It was time for action!

Food For Thought
Sadly, the Christian faith today is full of professed Christians that know little to nothing about the faith they profess in Jesus Christ. This is because of all the market-driven approaches to dumbing down our faith in the churches in order to take the edge off of Scripture and make Jesus look like a really cool dude rather than the holy God He is. If you’ve fallen into this trap, it’s likely you are the audience the writer of Hebrews is addressing. You claim to know Jesus, and you mean well, but in reality you’re an infant in your faith. There are certain people in the Bible that Christians today just don’t know, yet they should: Noah, Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, Ezekiel, Cyrus, Nehemiah, Ezra, John the Baptist, the Twelve, and Saul of Tarsus. Any Christian worth his/her salt should know these people. In addition, the following dates are vital: 1446 BC, 1050 BC to 970 BC, 722 BC, 586 BC, 516 BC, and AD 70. How depressing that so many professed Christians can’t say much about any of these biblical characters and at least some of those dates! If you’re being honest with yourself, and you don’t know much, perhaps it’s time to mature a bit in your faith? Start today! Read your Bible, beginning in Genesis, with three and a half chapters per day. You’ll finish in one year!