Mark 2:18-22
“Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.””
Mark 2:18-22 NIV
Today, it’s still easy to try to pour the new wine of the gospel into the old wineskins of the Law. Grace doesn’t come easily to us. We like to have a way of measuring where we stand with God. The gospel tells us simply to trust God that He loves us and has forgiven all our sins for the sake of Christ. But we often want something more tangible than that. We want something we can sink our teeth into. The Christian faith is exclusive in character; it will not accept any other faith as its equal or its superior. There is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. Salvation is not a partial patching up of one’s life, it is a whole new robe of righteousness. The Christian life is not a mixing of the old and the new, rather, it is a fulfillment of the old in the new. There are two ways to destroy a thing, you can smash it or you can permit it to fulfill itself. An acorn, for example, can be smashed with a hammer, or it can be planted and allowed to grow into an oak. In both instances, the destruction of the acorn is accomplished, but in the second instance, the acorn is destroyed by being fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, types, and demands of the law of Moses. The law was ended at Calvary when the perfect sacrifice was once offered for the sins of the world. When Jesus gave this teaching He knew that one day every member of the coming Church would be imputed with the righteous life of Christ Himself. But He also knew that sinners first had to turn from their sin, repent of their sin, be cleansed of their sin and believe on Him as Savior, before being imputed with Christ own righteousness. The old self life must give way for the new Christ life, for a new righteousness must replace the old. The new life of Christ which is given to all who believe, was to replace the old sin nature which was imputed to us from Adam. I believe Jesus point in using the image of new wine in old wineskins and sewing a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment is for us to see that we can’t cling to what is old and what will fall apart but we need to think about what is new. These people would have understood the concept of new wine in old wineskins but whether or not they understood the true meaning of what Jesus was saying was left up to them. I also believe that this could be the idea of concealing and revealing that Jesus also uses in His parables. To those who wanted to hear and obey they would listen and the message would be revealed, but to those who didn’t it would be concealed. Overall this section of scripture is a very important one for us to think about and consider. Jesus demonstrated His authority through a variety of amazing examples and teachings and we would do well to listen to Him today and follow Him. We need to put our faith and trust in Him knowing that He has all authority in Heaven and on earth. Christians can choose to either be controlled by the former self life which can only produce the unacceptable works of self-righteousness or they can choose to walk in spirit and truth and be controlled by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which will only produce acceptable works of Christ's own righteousness. May we reckon ourselves dead to the old sinful nature and alive in the new life in Christ. May we keep the self life nailed to the cross so that the imputed life of Christ may be manifest in all we do and say!!!
Father thank You for this day and the breath of life we have Your Word. Lord let Your abundant blessings fall from the windows of heaven upon my friend and family today. Lord we want to be emptied of all that is of the old life so that we may be filled day by day with Your Spirit of truth. Lord we pray that we may daily die to our old self-effort and prideful self-righteousness, and submit to the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that Your life may live in us to Your praise and glory. Lord use my friend to be the light and touch of Your love today. Daddy we love You amen. Be a blessing. Love ya !
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