What’s the Diff Between “Milk” and “Solid Food” (“Meat”)?

Both the Old Testament and New Testament say that “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3 & Matthew 4:4). This suggests that God’s word is spiritual food for people. The way you partake of this spiritual food is by exposing yourself to it, “chewing” on it – that is, meditating on it – and then “swallowing” it by living it (if it’s a practical truth) or living in light of it (if it’s a revelational or positional truth).*

* You can learn more about the differences of these kinds of truth here.

Interestingly, the New Testament differentiates spiritual food into two forms – milk and solid food – as observed here:

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Just like infants in the natural, immature or young believers need to be fed the “milk” of God’s word before they can handle the “solid food” or “meat.” Let me give an example from my own life: When I was a young believer in my early 20s I was growing in the Lord on a daily basis, but I was mostly drinking the “milk” of God’s word while trying out some “solid food” here and there. On one occasion I had a book by an anointed minister that addressed the topic of demons & exorcism and it was just too heavy for me at the time. So I put it on back burner, so to speak, until I could handle such things.

Does the Bible specifically delineate what the difference between “milk” and “solid food” is? Yes, it does:

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. ¹²In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

¹Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, a and of faith in God, ²instruction about cleansing rites, b the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Hebrews 5:11-14 & 6:1-2

The six basic doctrines of Christianity detailed in verses 1-2 are called “elementary” and are said to be the “foundation” of the believer, which suggests that these six doctrines are “milk.” The “solid food” or “meat” would be any doctrine that can be built on this basic foundation and would take the believer deeper into knowing the LORD and being effective in God’s service, like discerning the difference between flesh & spirit and walking free of sin by living according to the spirit, functioning in the forms of prayer on a regular basis, legalism vs. libertinism, spiritual warfare, demonology / angelology and so on. For a detailed examination of the six basic doctrines go here.

Notice how verse 14 shows that mature believers are able to distinguish good and evil, which means that they understand the differences between the fruit of the spirit and the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-23). Furthermore, it’s implied that they are able to live free of the flesh by daily walking in the spirit.

Immature believers, by contrast, are still struggling with flesh issues, which can be observed in the first passage showcased above, 1 Corinthians 3:1-4, wherein Paul calls the believers in Corinth “infants” who could only handle “milk,” not “solid food.” What evidence does he offer of this? He says that the Corinthian believers were still “worldly” – that is, walking according to the flesh – because their assemblies were characterized by constant jealousies and quarrels, not to mention juvenile sectarianism (verses 3-4). While every assembly in the worldwide Church will experience jealousies, quarrels and sectarianism due to the influx of immature believers, it’s clear that the elders in Corinth were functioning like this, which is why Paul corrected them.

Of course even mature believers miss it now and then, which is explained in 1 John 1:8-9, but there’s a difference between a believer living out of his/her flesh on a regular basis – like the Corinthians were doing – and a believer who has learned to walk in the spirit on a 24/7 basis. The former are stuck in Stage Two of spiritual growth whereas the latter are in Stage Four or, at least, Stage Three. You can learn more about the stages of spiritual growth here.

To close, the six basic doctrines in their simplest form would be “milk” for the believer whereas everything else lain on top of this foundation would be “solid food” or “meat.”

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