Transition Between Old & New Testament Church

• In Luke 5:27-39 Pharisees question Jesus regarding His untraditional practices.
• Jesus responds with the parables of the patched garment & the wine skins.

• A new patch on an old garment will tear both the old & the new.
• A new patch will not match (agree or be in harmony) with the old garment.
• Christianity would not renovate Judaism but be a new faith.

• Mixing new wine with old wineskins will:

disperse & waste the new wine
break the old wine skins.
 

• New wine should be contained in fresh wineskins.
• Christianity would not reside in the old Jewish institution but begin a new one.
• Most drinking old wine will want to continue & not desire the new wine.
• Four central elements of Judaism were revolutionized by Christianity.

• Old Testament revelation consisted of The Law, Prophets & Writings (Lk 24:44).
• New Testament revelation centers on God who came to His world (Jn 1:1, 14).
• Revelation made a major shift from writings about God to God Himself.

• There were seven Old Testament sacrifices (Lev 1-6).
• Christ is the perfect sacrifice replacing the old sacrifices (Heb 7:26-28).
• Believers are to present their bodies a living & holy sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2).
• Baptism & communion are simple ceremonies symbolizing spiritual realities.
• Initially, baptisms were performed in rivers & communion taken with meals.

• The Old Testament had a priesthood (Ex 28-29).
• Jesus is our new high priest (Heb 4:14, 7:11-8:13).
• Believers are the new holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:9, Rev 1:6).
• The NT emphasizes leadership, not ceremonial heads (Eph 4:11-16).

• A portable tabernacle & later permanent temple were used (Ex 25-27, 1 Ki 6-8).
• Jesus referred to His own body as the temple (Jn 2:18-22).
• Believers are referred to as:

The temple of the Holy Spirit  (1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19)
God's House  (Heb 3:6, 1 Tim 3:15)
A holy temple  (Eph 2:21, 2 Cor 16:19)
 

• The New Testament makes little mention of building facilities.
• The church met in homes for 2 centuries (Acts 2:37-47, Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:19).

• The New Testament church began as a Christ-centered relational institution.
• Jesus is now the culmination of revelation, ceremony, hierarchy & facility.
• Human additions to God's standard are rebuked by Jesus (Mk 7:1-13).
• Extraneous ceremony, hierarchy & facility must not encumber the Christian.
• Criteria for one's choice of church must center on the New Testament standard.
• The New Testament church made a monumental shift from the Old Testament.
• To make this shift, a change of wine skin was required at Pentecost (Acts 2).
• The Reformation sets a precedence for changing wine skins after Pentecost.
• Figure: "Historical Overview of Western Culture."
• Individuals & churches today must continually realign to the Biblical base.