Thread: Luke 12: 46
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Old 05-02-2009, 03:35 PM
Winman Winman is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
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And here is a passage that is often used to teach that a Christian cannot drink, but I think it is misapplied.

Luke 5:36 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. 37 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. 38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. 39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

First, look at verse 36. Have you ever tried to sew a new piece of cloth onto an old garment to patch it? What happens when you wash it? The new piece shrinks and tears the old garment. The old garment does not shrink because it has been washed many times before.

And why would you not put new wine into an old bottle? Because the new wine will ferment and create gas, causing the old bottle which has already been stretched to it's limit to burst. So, you put new wine in a new bottle that can expand as the wine ferments.

So, I believe Jesus was saying here that you expect the wine to ferment and expand.

And then in verse 39, Jesus himself says "old wine" is better than "new wine".

What this is saying is that a person who receives Christ should put on the new man and not walk in the old sinful nature. These verses really are not talking about drinking whatsoever.