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Controversy very often surrounds the issue of
the Christian and alcohol. Part of the reason for this
is that the Bible does not pronounce clearly on the
matter of abstinence. It is often alleged that a stand
against Christians drinking alcoholic beverage is
unscriptural and is an improper binding of the
conscience of others. While it is a fundamental
principle of Biblical Protestantism that each
individual has a right to act in agreement with his
own conscience before God and in the light of written
revelation, it should always be remembered that
conscience is not an infallible guide. Our conscience
about a given issue is not to act independently of
Scripture but is to be shaped by the teaching of the
Word of God, whether that teaching is clearly stated
or implied. While there is no express command in
Scripture prohibiting the consumption of alcohol there
are other Scriptural principles which can be applied
to the case of the Christian's use of alcohol. The
Biblical principles of personal separation from the
world: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the
Father is this...to keep himself unspotted from the
world (James 1:27); and the maintenance of a good
testimony before men: Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:16 ) go a
long way in making a firm case for a Christian
abstaining from all non-medicinal use of alcohol.
There may be some aspects of this issue that are
not clear at first but there is no doubt whatever that
the Scripture condemns drunkenness in the plainest
possible terms. There are numerous clear
statements in Scripture!
1. Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not
in rioting and drunkenness . Drunkenness is the mark
of those who are in the darkness of spiritual night,
it is the mark v14 of those who have not put on the
Lord Jesus and who fulfil the lusts of the flesh.
2. I Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written unto you
not to keep company, if any man that is called a
brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator,
or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with
such an one no not to eat . Again Paul is writing to
believers and is urging separation from one who
commits, among other sins, the sin of drunkenness. He
terms such a one a wicked person v13.
3. I Corinthians 6:9-10 Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves
with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the kingdom of God . Here the seriousness of
the sin of drunkenness is obvious for it is the mark
of those who are on their way to Hell. No drunkard
will be in Heaven!
4. Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you
before, as I have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God . Drunkenness is a mark of carnality.
Paul is arguing in the context that the flesh and the
Spirit are contrary. Those who live practicing
indulgence of the lusts of the flesh - one of which is
drunkenness - will never see Heaven.
5. Ephesians 5:18 be not drunk with wine . An
unmistakable command!
In Scripture drunkenness is presented as an evil that
leads to yet more sin--Genesis 9:21. Here is the first
reference in Scripture to the consumption of wine. It
leads to drunkenness. The offender here is Noah the
man of God! His sin leads on to other sin of a most
serious nature for his son engages sodomite practice
against him. As a further consequence the curse of God
comes upon Canaan, Ham's son. Noah's drunkenness has a
large part to play in the curse of God coming on his
offspring!
It is one of the marks of apostasy in the nation and
of moral and spiritual decline when drunkenness
increases. Isaiah 28:7 records But they also have
erred through wine, and through strong drink are out
of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred
through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine,
they are out of the way through strong drink; they err
in vision, they stumble in judgment .
Drunkenness is seen as the cause of much misery:
Proverbs 23:29-35 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who
hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds
without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that
tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed
wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when
it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself
aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold
strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse
things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in
the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top
of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and
I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it
not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again .
Drunkenness is a sin upon which God has pronounced His
woe! Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,
that they may follow strong drink; that continue until
night, till wine inflame them! (Isaiah 5:11).
In the light of the serious nature of this sin,
and the solemn things God has said about those who
engage in it, no Christian should have any desire to
even come close to committing it. Yet it is a sad
feature of many Christians that they want to be the
Lord's and yet walk as close to the world as possible.
It is precisely this kind of mentality that motivates
many to drink alcohol so long as they can avoid
drunkenness.
All that has been said so far relates to the abuse of
alcohol and the question still remains, Should
Christians drink alcohol at all? or does the Scripture
merely forbid its abuse? The words of Paul to Timothy,
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy
stomach's sake and thine often infirmities (I Timothy
5:23) are often wrongly used as an argument in defence
of the Christian's right to drink alcohol in
moderation.
Paul advocates the use of wine/alcohol on medical
grounds. Wine was used as a medicine in Biblical
times. Luke 10:34 records that the Good Samaritan in
the parable used oil and wine as medications for the
wounded victim of the thieves; Proverbs 31:6 states
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish ;
Mark 15:23 records wine being offered to Christ as He
is about to be crucified. Even in this medical context
Paul speaks only of a little wine . It is clear from
these words that what Paul is speaking of is the
addition of a little wine to the water Timothy is
drinking in order to make it safe to drink. The water
supply in the Middle East and especially in Bible
times was far from healthy. Infirmities ! sicknesses !
were the regular consequence of drinking water
unsterilised by a little wine . This point will also
nullify the objection that is often raised that the
Lord Jesus, His disciples and all the people of God
since the beginning of time drank wine. The grounds
Paul uses here as a reason for Timothy using wine can
hardly be said to prevail today! We are blessed with
the provision of water that is not a threat to health.
Paul's direction to Timothy does not give any believer
license to drink wine as a beverage. He does not
advocate drinking wine instead of water. It is of note
that he speaks of "drinking" water but of
"using" the wine. At most his words permit
the medicinal use of alcohol.
It is of the utmost importance to see in this verse
that Timothy had been in the practice of abstaining
from even from a little wine despite the fact that his
stance on this issue caused him personal hurt. He had
often suffered infirmities rather than drink wine in
even its most dilute form! His self-denial in this
matter is remarkable. It is to one who is in the habit
of denying the appetites of the body that Paul gives
this counsel.
Timothy's example of abstinence from alcohol is
complemented by others in Scripture ! John the Baptist
Luke 1:15, the Rechabites Jer 35:5-6, 13-14, 18-19.
The idea of abstinence from wine as an aspect of
service for God is seen in the command to the Priests
in Lev 10:9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou,
nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle
of the congregation, lest ye die ; and in the service
of the Nazarite " He shall separate himself from
wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of
wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he
drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or
dried (Numbers 6:3). Any abstinence from wine must be
done out of love for the Lord an as service for Him if
it is to be spiritually profitable. Any other motive
will tend only to the bondage of Phariseeism!
Let us always remember that at the heart of this
question lies the issue of the appetites of the flesh
and how far they should be indulged. Often there is a
thin dividing line between necessary use of something
and carnal indulgence in it. It is easy to progress
from one to the other! One important question to be
asked in this context is, Is it more important to be
able to indulge a taste for wine than it is to be a
good witness for Christ and to avoid being a stumbling
block to others?
We should always be ready to deny ourselves, even
something that may be perfectly legitimate and
justifiable, if it will stand in the way of witness
for Christ or will be a hindrance to ourselves or
others. Scripture teaches this very clearly " Let
us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge
this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an
occasion to fall in his brother's way....it is good
neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing
whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is
made weak (Romans 14:13, 21). In Scripture brother
refers not only to our own flesh and blood but also to
our fellow human beings, the members of Adam's family.
We should never act in such a way as to cause
ourselves or another believer to fall or be hindered
in their walk with Christ, nor should we be a
stumbling block in the sinner's path to the Saviour.
It should also be remembered that any carnal appetite
that is indulged can grow to exercise destructive
effects. An appetite that is restrained and controlled
today but is fed and indulged can be uncontrollable
tomorrow. None should ever forget that the harvest of
indulging the flesh is very often reaped in our
children. David reaped the consequence of his sin with
Bathsheba in their son and in Absalom. A father may
well be able to control his appetite for wine, but his
indulgence may well be laying a snare for his child
that will keep them out of Heaven. In this context we
do well to bear the words of I Corinthians 8:9 in
mind, But take heed lest by any means this liberty of
yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak.
There are many things not specifically forbidden in
Scripture that we may properly engage in but which are
neither profitable nor convenient " I Corinthians
10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are
not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all
things edify not . In an age when alcohol is one of
the Devil's foremost means of ensnaring souls and
bringing them to temporal and eternal ruin surely the
drinking of alcohol by the Christian is one such
matter that is not expedient.
Rev Andrew Foster, Penticton FPC
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