Law Replaced by Love

UV 4130/10000 Law Replaced by Love Nor is new wine put into old wineskins ( that have lost their elasticity); otherwise the wineskins burst, and the (fermenting) wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved. Matthew 9 v 17 In this uni-verse, Jesus is telling the disciples of John the Baptist that under the new covenant of love instituted by Him, everything is to be new. They were intrigued that the disciples of Jesus were not fasting but feasting. For they were often fasting like the Pharisees, the teachers of the law. Jesus indicated that with Him there is to be a break in traditions. Both the container and the contents- the wineskin and the wine are to be new. Both our inner attitudes, our aspirations, our habits, our lifestyle, our actions and reactions are to be renewed in the spirit. It is not a mix and match of old covenant and new covenant values. It is not a patchwork but wholesome change or transformation from within. The way we think, speak, relate, communicate is to conform to the pattern of the word and not the pattern of the world. There is stress when a bit of the old man co-exists with the new Christ-created new man in us. The old man has to die. The new creation has to live and thrive. We are to consciously put to death the old habits that are not pleasing to the Lord, the old ways of thinking and communicating are to cease. A radical change from the root of our faith in Christ should begin and encompass our lives and not just a superficial show of change in terms of clothing or name change and so on. We are to willingly yield to the Holy Spirit as He grooms and shapes us from within and not resist His promptings. The word is the chisel with which the Spirit sculpts us and changes us from within to free us from pride, from lust of the eye and of the flesh. We need to yield our weaknesses to the Lord so that He enables us by grace to overcome these. These weaknesses do not become cracks in the old wineskin from which the fermented wine leak. Vestiges of tradition, the old covenant practices are to be replaced with the love and wisdom of Jesus. Law is replaced by love. Hence, we are not to be judgemental, legalistic or rigid. As the Spirit leads, we need to follow.