Evaluation Maxim 4
Just because something is New, that doesn't make it bad.
There are many new things that are good things!
Just because something is old doesn’t make it better. Many Christians use these verses in Ecclesiastes to prove that “If it’s new it’s not any good and if it’s good it’s not new.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9 and 10
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done;
and there is no new thing under the sun.
Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this in new?
it hath been already of old time, which was before us.”
Don't fall into the trap that only old things are good!
These pictures below are some of the new tools that I need to do my job. The I-Phone is my personal one. The University issued me a flip phone. I use it for texting and calling only.
One of the lessons learned from King Solomon’s frustration is that he used the scientific/inductive method to evaluate things. His theory was “Try it you will like it.” He spent his life trying things out. He found out the same thing that I found out as a young man: Everything bad that you try leaves you unsatisfied, frustrated, and addicted! For the Christian, who has a completed view, because he has the New as well as the Old Testament, this idea of the inductive method is a half-truth. You are encouraged to try good things. When you try them, you end up liking them! Bad things are warned against and should be avoided! Here you should use the deductive method. You don’t have to try them. You can see the results in others to learn the lesson! There are problems with using this verse as well as the whole book of Ecclesiastes. The problem is that when Solomon wrote it, he had only a partial revelation of things. He did not know about the New Testament, new birth, or new creature. He was ignorant of the new heaven and earth, as well as new Jerusalem. There are good things to learn from this verse, one being that history repeats itself and that just because something is new doesn’t make it better. More on that later. The important thing to know is that God does and uses new things. Don’t just ignore it because it is new. Evaluate it to see if it can be used to bring God glory!
Here is God’s comments on new things:
Isaiah 42:9 and 10
“Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.”
Isaiah 43:19
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 48:6 and 7
“Thou has heard, see all this; and will ye not declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, behold, I knew them.”
Don’t let your thinking be trapped into thinking that new things aren’t any good! Here are some “new” things that are better than the old things or at least, like the New Testament, make the old things understandable and complete:
The New Testament
Without the revelation of the New Testament, the Bible is incomplete. Galatians presents it this way:
Galatians 3:24, 25
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
The New Testament completes and explains the Old Testament! It gives the purpose and reason for what God did in the past so that the present and future make sense! Is God working on a third testament? No, the Bible, like a marriage is complete with just two. What God does now, like a marriage, He becomes the third part. If you allow God to lead your marriage, it will be successful. If you allow God to open your understanding of the completed Bible, you will be successful! Please see God’s Ideal Team. God’s ideal team is two!
The New Birth
Again it is important to realize that the first birth is incomplete. Everyone must be “born again” in order to be complete. Please see Jesus’ comment on it in John 3!
John 3:7
“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
The New Creature
What the new birth produces in a Christian is a New Creature. Is the new creature better than the “old man”? Of course. When the Holy Spirit moves inside of the “born again” person, His Spirit bonds with your spirit and you are changed forever. You now have the power to get victory over sin. The "new" Bibles get it wrong here. They translate it as a new creation. You aren’t re-created because you still have the “old” nature that is dragged around. Creature is the right word! You are not re-created until death and you are given a “new” body. See 2 Corinthians 5 for comment on what will happen to the Christian at death!
Bible revelation is both new and old.
Matthew 13:52
“Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”
New wine is better than old.
See John 2. Do a study on new wine and see the benefits of new wine over alcoholic “old” wine!
How about the “new’ Commandment?
John 13:34
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
When Jesus boils the Old Testament law down to its essential purpose and content, he makes these two statements about it:
Matthew 22:37-39
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Do you see the benefits of loving God and your neighbor above trying to keep commandments? The way and purpose of those commandments is to get us to love God and one another. The Bible goes on to clarify how you do this in Romans 5:6-8 and John 15:13:
Romans 5:6-8
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
John 15:13:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
The “new” commandment is to live a life of love. Put love for God first, and then. love for our neighbors!
As you can see, many new things God is interested in and using. So don’t just discard something because it is new. It must be evaluated properly. As a maintenance tech, I have to keep up with technology. Some of it is good and some of it is just junk. I try to use the new stuff that is good to be a better technician. These pictures represent new tools that I use to help me fix things. I do the same in my spiritual life. New things that can be used to bring God glory and me closer to Jesus are good. New stuff that disrupts my spiritual walk and leads me away from God have to be abandoned.