Solid food—the word of righteousness

Hebrews 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. We are learning today from the author of Hebrews about what he considered spiritual solid food. He considered solid food to be the “word of righteousness.” He said spiritual infants weren’t accustomed to such food. The term accustomed is translated from a word that means experience. The idea is that they have yet to experience the power of God’s word of righteousness spoken in Christ. We know from the verses above in chapter 4, that he means the word of God hadn’t been beneficial to them because it had not been united with faith in their hearts. That makes sense because he had been warning them about the sin of unbelief and their failure to enter into God’s Sabbath rest. What is the word of righteousness? It is that Jesus finished the work of righteousness on our behalf through His work on the cross so we could draw near to God for help in living righteously in the midst of suffering in this world. Later in chapter ten, the author stated why believers gather together on a regular basis. It’s to stimulate and encourage one another to love and good works (10:24). That’s another way of defining righteousness. Encouraging one another to live to love with Jesus is our meat, our solid food. If we are mature in Christ, we should be accustomed to such a diet of spiritual food. That’s what I’m seeking to do through the Live to Love Scripture Encouragements. I’m offering my listeners solid food so they can grow to maturity and stand before God, complete in Christ. To live to love with Jesus for the glory of God is the word of righteousness. It’s impossible without Jesus. We must believe the gospel that God has provided His Son to be our high priest to give us access to God so we can be filled with the life of God through faith in His Son. As we enter into His life and rest, we learn to obedience through the suffering God orchestrates in our lives. We receive well what He gives us, because we have believed the gospel, the good news preached to us in Christ. I hope you have found the Live to Love with Jesus Scripture podcasts to be solid food for your souls. I hope it is helping you develop a healthy appetite for the word of righteousness—the word that calls you to live out of the life of Jesus Christ, who loves righteousness and hates lawlessness, as the author wrote about Him in 1:9. If it is helping you, please share the food with others who you know are hungry to grow in love with Jesus by loving others. Please let them know about livetolovewithjesus.com and the resources available for their growth in love. I hope that today you will not only trust in the righteousness of Jesus Christ for your standing before God, but also in His righteousness, His love, as you receive well whatever He gives you today, for His glory.