Out With The Old, In With The New

“And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.” (Lu 5:37 AV)

The new life in Christ is not compatible with the old life of sin.  Some see the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in this verse.  It might very well be so.  The application is the same.  Jesus tags this parable at the end of a sermon that is similar to Matthew’s record of the Sermon on the Mount.  The last few words of this sermon recorded in Luke stresses the above application.  If the disciples are to be true and faithful disciples, then the old and new life cannot dwell together.  In fact, the picture is new wine but into old bottles.  The result would be that the pressure of the wine would burst the bottles.  If that happened, then the bottle would be destroyed, but the wine would also go to waste.  This application is also a warning.  Those who would walk a tightrope between the old and new life will accomplish neither.  The old man will be destroyed.  But the new man will be of no use.  It reminds me of Paul’s desire not to be a castaway.  He brings his body under subjection to the holiness of God lest his life come to of no use to God.  What is old must become new because they cannot dwell together

I know a bit of how old and new bottles work.  When I was young, my father insisted we recycle glass.  This was before the law mandated it.  We would recycle it for money.  Around we would go and pick through the garbage of our neighbors.  We would silicate bars.  The YMCA and VFW hall were regulars.  We asked them to save their glass, and we would pick it up.  Bringing it home, we had this glass smasher.  It was rather ingenious.  This machine had a motor that spun an arm around.  It was made of two-inch angle iron.  We put a metal garbage can top on the top to keep glass from flying everywhere.  This machine was placed over pressed paper 40gal vats.  The glass was sorted by color.  When we collected a truck full, off we would go to the glass plant.  They bought our glass, and Dad saved up that money for family vacations.  Old glass and new glass are very different.  Old glass has settled.  The old windowpanes of the 1800s and earlier settled.  The bott0m became thicker than the top.  Old bottles were very brittle, and we didn’t need to run the machine.  We just threw them into the vat, and they broke on their own.  These bottles were good for nothing but museum pieces.

Jesus gave us a great gift.  He gave us the gift of eternal life.  Because we have been born again into the family of God, our lives must, by definition, change.  The work of the Holy Spirit will not be abated.  He will do what He can to encourage us to that end.  He will convict of sin.  He will encourage with promises.  He will teach.  He will guide.  But the choice is ours.  The Holy Spirit cannot force us to change.  He can motivate us in absolute terms.  Sometimes, that motivation can be rather severe.  It will make us or break us.  That old bottle will become new, or it will be useless.  The choice is ours.  What is old must become new again.  Or neither is of any use.