Can old wineskins coexist with the new

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Can old wineskins co-exist with the new?

• Emphasis on the Law
• Past Purpose The Old Testament law code was a
  national contract with Israel which stipulated
  the conditions by which they could enjoy the land
  of Canaan. (see Deut. 28)

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• It also had a spiritual value in that it
  showed them their need for God's grace which
  would be given when Messiah came. (Gal. 322-25)
  For both of these reasons, it was entirely proper
  for Israel to have a "law emphasis."

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• Present issue The church is not a national
  entity living in Canaan, but an international
  community. Furthermore, now that Christ has come,
  we have access to new ministries of the Holy
  Spirit, making it possible for us to serve "in
  the newness of the Spirit rather than the oldness
  of the letter." (Rom. 76) The emphasis of the
  church should therefore be on the good news of
  God's grace, not on the Law and the threat of
  God's judgment.

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• Romans 71-6
• Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I
  am speaking to those who know the law),
  that the law is lord over a
  person as long as he lives? 72 For a married
  woman is bound by law to her husband as long as
  he lives, but if her husband dies, she is
  released from the law of the marriage.

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• Rom 73 So then, if she is joined to another
  man while her husband is alive, she will be
  called an adulteress. But if her husband dies,
  she is free from that law, and if she is joined
  to another man, she is not an adulteress.

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• Rom 74 So, my brothers and sisters, you also
  died to the law through the body of Christ, so
  that you could be joined to another, to the one
  who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to
  God. 75 For when we were in the flesh, the
  sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active
  in the members of our body to bear fruit for
  death.

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• 76 But now we have been released from the law,
  because we have died to what controlled us, so
  that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit
  and not under the old written code.

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• What effects would we expect from this error?
• Answers Many denominations emphasize the Ten
  Commandments more than the grace of God. The
  effect is that many people grow up with the view
  that the Christian life is a life of doing
  instead of being. That it is of the old letter
  and not the newness of the Spirit.

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• That God is primarily a God of rules rather
  than a God of love who has provided a way to
  forever escape his judgment. Some respond to this
  emphasis by running from God altogether others
  become self-righteous. In either case, the
  un-churched person does not get the impression
  that Christianity is about the grace of God.

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• Only when we are married to Christ can we produce
  fruit for God. (Rom 74)
• The law is a do relationship to God (Gal
  312) Those who continue in it are under the
  curse (Gal 310).
• Our problem is bigger then we can imagine (Rom
  724).

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• If Christ has set you free from the curse of the
  law (Gal 313) what is left to condemn you?
• You have died to everything that can condemn you
  the law, Rom 74
• the flesh Rom
• The choice is living under bondage or freedom.
  Heb 1218-24