Hebrews 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (13) For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (14) But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Hebrews 6:1-2 “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.”
There are six foundational doctrines to the Christian faith, i.e. repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Because they are foundational, every believer should have a clear understanding of each one of these doctrines and live by them. Those who have a clear understanding of these doctrines and who also live by them will have a sure foundation, and they will not be deceived by any false teachings that they may come across in their Christian walk. The above quoted passages of scripture reveal to us that these doctrines are the milk of God’s word, which obviously implies that all new born believers should feed on these truths in God’s word. However, even mature adults drink milk as part of their natural diet and in the spirit that principle remains the same. And so it is good for mature believers to also revisit the foundational principles of Christ from time to time to ensure that their foundations remain solid. In this series we will examine the doctrine of eternal judgement, which is the last of the six foundational doctrines taught to the body of Christ. Sadly this particular doctrine is not really understood in the church, even though it is one of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. The main reason there is so little understanding about eternal judgement is because for varied reasons, ministers of the gospel stay away from teaching on this subject. As an illustration let me give you an example of what happened to me recently. I was at a men’s breakfast and I shared a small five-minute truth about the eternal judgement of believers. No sooner had I sat down when one of the pastors quickly stood up and made the following comment, “Folks let’s not get all depressed, for the gospel is good news. We know there is a judgement but its all good news because were all saved”. I think this pastor’s comment about sums it up. Ministers stay away from this doctrine because they find it depressing. And they also have a warped understanding of the doctrine, because they believe that being saved is all that matters. However if being saved is all that matters, then why does our Lord list eternal judgement as being one of the foundation doctrines that He wants every believer to have a clear understanding of? And so because ministers neglect to teach this particular doctrine to the church, many believers are not even aware that they will be judged on that day and they certainly do not prepare for it. As an analogy, we can look at how different people approach retirement at the end of their working careers. There are those who invest wisely and remain focused for the day they retire, and as a result they are able to enjoy the fruits of their investments when they retire. However, there are many who never invest for their retirement and just hope for the best when that day comes. Invariably these individuals suffer financial hardship in their retirement years. And so there is coming a day when every believer will retire from this life to enter into their eternal inheritance. Those who have invested wisely in this life will enjoy the fruits of their investments for eternity. However, those who have never invested for eternity and are just hoping for the best when that day comes may find themselves sadly disappointed on their day of judgement. As we will see in this series, the reason why the Lord made eternal judgement a foundational doctrine to be taught to the church, is because He wants all His saints to be focussed on the eternal prize, so that each one can receive their full reward on their day of judgement.
Michael E.B. Maher
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