Old Wineskins and New Wine

By F. Wayne Mac Leod

What was the purpose of the Law of Moses?

What did Jesus mean when He said that He had come to fulfill the Law?

If Jesus has fulfilled the Law of the Old Testament, what does He expect of us today?

What difference did Christ's death and resurrection make for the New Testament believer?

By means of a series of meditations on a variety of Bible passages, this book examines these very important questions. The reader will be challenged to see the work of Christ in a new light.

• Language: English
• Publisher: F. Wayne Mac Leod
• Release date: Mar 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311636706

F. Wayne Mac Leod

F. Wayne Mac Leod was born in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, Canada and received his education at Ontario Bible College, University of Waterloo and Ontario Theological Seminary. He was ordained at Hespeler Baptist Church, Cambridge, Ontario in 1991. He and his wife, Diane served as missionaries with the Africa Evangelical Fellowship (now merged with SIM) on the islands of Mauritius and Reunion in the Indian Ocean from 1985-1993 where he was involved in church development and leadership training. He is presently involved in a writing ministry and is a member of Action International Ministries.

Book preview

OLD WINESKINS AND NEW WINE

How Christ Fulfilled the Old Testament Law and what He Expects of Us Now

F. Wayne Mac Leod

Light To My Path Book Distribution

Smashwords Edition

www.ltmp.ca

Copyright © 2007 by F. Wayne Mac Leod

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licences for personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thanks for respecting the hard work of this author.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise specified, are taken from the New International Version of the Bible (Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used with permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 - The Goodness of the Law

Chapter 2 - A Knowledge of Right and Wrong

Chapter 3 - An Accountability to God

Chapter 4 - A Revelation of Need

Chapter 5 - A Shadow of Things to Come

Chapter 6 - A Right Standing Before God

Chapter 7 - A New Priesthood

Chapter 8 - A New Heart

Chapter 9 - Victory over Sin

Chapter 10 - Salvation by Grace

Chapter 11 - The Death of the Law

Chapter 12 - The Law as Our Guardian

Chapter 13 - A New Guide

Chapter 14 - Walking in the Spirit

Chapter 15 - The Requirements of the Spirit

Chapter 16 - Dealing with Differences

Chapter 17 - Do Unto Others

Chapter 18 - Mercy

Chapter 19 - The Attitude of the Heart

Chapter 20 - Love

Chapter 21 - A Final Word

Light To My Path Book Distribution

PREFACE

Why would anyone be interested in a series of meditations on the topic of the Law of God? Admittedly, this is not the preferred topic in Christian fellowship groups. Before casting off the idea of taking the time to read any further, however, consider the fact that when God chose to reveal himself to us it was through the law. The law has a lot to teach us about God, his purpose and his plan. It also has much to teach us about human nature. It was God’s law that instructed his people in the way they were to relate to him. The law also shows us the necessity of the work of the Lord Jesus. We cannot understand our condition before God until we understand the message of the law. We cannot fully appreciate the Saviour until we see ourselves in light of the requirements of his law.

Having said all this we need to take into account what the Lord Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 9:17:

Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

Old wineskins became hard and brittle. New wine had a tendency to expand. When new wine was put into an old brittle wineskin and expanded, the result was that the wineskin broke and the wine was spilled out. Jesus used this illustration to show his disciples that, as believers after his coming, things were going to change. They were no longer to live in the old ways nor were they to try to apply the laws of the Old Testament to the new way he was going to show them. To try to live according to the law of the Old Testament now that Christ has come would be like trying to put old wine in new wineskins, it will not work.

While it is clear that the law of the Old Testament served a very important purpose, Christ Jesus brought a radical change through his work on the cross. New Testament believers are now under a new law. In this study we will see the purpose of the Law of the Old Testament and how it pointed to the Lord Jesus and his work. We will examine how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law and what God expects of us now. It is my prayer that this brief and simple study will give you a greater understanding of the purpose of the Law of God in the Old Testament and a deeper appreciation of the work of Christ for us today.

F. Wayne Mac Leod

Chapter 1 - THE GOODNESS OF THE LAW

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)

What is your first reaction when you think of law? Has it not become, in our day, a word filled with harsh and negative connotations? For many, law is a necessary evil in a society drunk with sin. The concept of law tends to go against our sense of freedom. Is it not law that keeps us from getting to work on time when we have slept in in the morning by restricting how fast we can drive our vehicle? Is it not law that snatches away our hard earned income through taxation? Government bureaucracy and red tape, imposed by law seems to be more of a hindrance than good.

How often have I found myself standing at a red pedestrian light with no cars coming in either direction watching everybody else ignore the red light wondering why I should bother to obey the law? Human beings are looking for freedom, not restrictions. Rules and regulation seem only to weigh us down. Even in our Christian walk we prefer to be unconstrained by legalistic requirements imposed on us. We enjoy the concept of being led by the Spirit though very often we do not understand what it means.

Anyone who has read the Old Testament knows something of the laws and requirements that God placed on his people. The average Jew seemed to be overwhelmed with rules and regulations. These rules governed who he or she could marry, what they could eat, how they were to worship and the people with whom they could associate. There seemed to be a law for almost everything the Jewish person did.

Is the law simply a necessary evil? Matthew 5:17-18 is a good place to start our study. Here in these two verses we see what Jesus taught and felt about the Law of God given to the Israelites. Jesus said two important things in these verses about the law.

First, Jesus tells us that he did not come to abolish the law. This shows us something about the attitude of Christ towards the law of the Old Testament? Had the law been of no value Christ would not have hesitated to do away with it like a worn out rag? This was not the case. Jesus tells us here that it was not his purpose to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jesus summarizes his ministry in this statement. Let’s take a moment to consider the difference between the word abolish and the word fulfill.

We abolish something that is harmful or evil. Slavery was abolished in North America for example in the 19th century because people recognized it to be an evil practice that depreciated the value of human life.

We say we have