Him or Them? Our Choice!

The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 

Jesus also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” Luke 5:33-39 ESV

This is my understanding of what this is teaching:

First of all, the question was asked as to why, if the Pharisees and John’s disciples fasted, Jesus’ disciples did not fast. I believe this fasting, in a sense, could represent the old system, which the Pharisees and their scribes thought Jesus and his disciples should follow. Yet, Jesus was bringing in the new system, i.e. he was the fulfillment of their prophecies of old concerning the promised Messiah (the Christ) of the people. He was the embodiment of the kingdom of heaven, and he had arrived. 

He was bringing in the new way of the cross, and the new way of God’s grace and redemption through Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins. I believe he was telling them that he was not an addition (like the patch of un-shrunk cloth) to the old system, but he was a new way all by itself (new wine in new wineskins). For it is not the Old Covenant law plus Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. For it is by God’s grace that we are saved, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, and it is not of our own doing.

Secondly, I believe the old garment and the old wineskins not only represent the Old Covenant Law, but I believe they also represent our old lives of living in sin and for self. Therefore, we cannot put Jesus Christ, in the person of his Spirit, into our old sinful lives. He is not an add-on to our old lives. He is a replacement for our old lives of living for self and in sin. That is why he died. He died so we would die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him (See 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). 

For when we become Christians by faith in Jesus Christ, he doesn’t just clean up our old lives a little at a time, as many people would like you to believe, but he radically transforms (via metamorphosis) our lives. He delivers us from slavery to our old lives of living for self and in sin, and he sets us free to walk according to his Spirit, living lives which are given over to God in submission to his will, and living to please him. But this doesn’t mean we will never sin again but that sin should no longer be our practice, our habit. 

So, I believe there is a caution here to make sure we have not just added Jesus on to our old lives, because if that is what we think we have done, it won’t work. For, in reality, we cannot just add Jesus on to our old lives of sin. We have to die to our old lives of living in sin and now live for our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, in living holy and godly lives, or else we don’t have genuine faith nor salvation nor eternal life with God.

I also believe there is a caution here against following religious practices which we think are going to make us more spiritual, but then for us to still end up living our lives for ourselves. For what good is it to deny yourself food for a period of time so you can pray and draw near to God if, once the fast is over, you go right back to business as usual? God doesn’t want that kind of fasting. He wants the kind of sacrifice to him that is there all the time, and that doesn’t just add him on to our old lives, but which allows him to put our sins to death so that we can now live new lives by faith in him.

Letting Go

There are many people professing faith in Jesus Christ, though, who don’t want to let go of the old system or the Old Covenant or the old traditional religious practices which are not of God. And there are many of them, too, who don’t want to let go of their old sinful lifestyles and practices, many which they may have been living according to for many years. For them, having to let go of their sinful addictions is like having to break up with someone they want to be with for forever, like a love/lust relationship.

Just the thought of having to get rid of those sinful practices out of their lives is heartbreaking for them, and so they are holding on for dear life hoping that somehow they don’t have to let go but that they can still believe in Jesus and still have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But it doesn’t work that way, even though many people are teaching it that way. But the Scriptures teach that we have to die to sin so we can live for God and for his righteousness in obedience to his commands, in his power.

The one who won’t let go of his old sinful lifestyle is kind of like the person who wants to be married to his spouse but who also wants to be able to live as though he (or she) is still single. That is a failed marriage even before it begins, but sadly many marriages are just like this. They want the best (what they perceive is the best) of both worlds. But Jesus makes us make a choice – him? Or them? We can’t have Jesus and the world and the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life all in one big happy package deal. It is him or them! We must choose!

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Hebrews 10:23-31; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

Walking in The Light  

An Original Work / November 16, 2011

Based off 1 John 1-2

When I lift up my voice, and

Sing praise unto God,

I will fellowship with my

Lord and Savior, King.

In Him there is no darkness.

He is in the light of truth.

If we walk in His light,

From sin He purifies. 

If we repent of our sins,

He’ll forgive us now,

When we humble ourselves, and

Before Jesus bow.

The man who says, “I know Him,”

But does not obey His truth,

There is no truth in him.

In darkness still he’s found.

Do not love the world of sin,

For it is hell bound.

If you follow the world, you’ll

Not in Christ be found.

The world and its desires 

Will not last; they’ll expire.

The one who does God’s will,

Receives eternal life.

See that what you have heard from

Christ remains in you.

Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and

In His Father, too.

This is what He promised us –

His eternal life with God.

So, continue in Him, and

You’ll receive a crown.

https://vimeo.com/114160122