Is Drinking Alcohol A Sin??

 "But Daniel had resolved not to defile himself with the king's wine."  Dan.1:8

      Is it a sin to drink alcohol?

      We all know it is a sin to get drunk.

    ⁹ Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9,10

   ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.  Rom. 13:13

    ¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.   Gal. 5:19-21

 ³ For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.  1 Pet. 4:3

  ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,  Eph. 5:18


   So why is drunkenness a sin? I think the last verse lends some insight. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and lets the flesh or sinful nature take over. We as Christians receive Christ and he comes to live inside in the person of the Holy Spirit. As seen in the above Galatians 5 passage, unfortunately we still have the flesh which is in a continual battle with the Spirit for dominance or leadership of our life. Alcohol numbs the part of our will that says no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit. Drunkenness is also a sin because it is taking things in excess rather than moderation or self control, sort of like gluttony which is also condemned in scripture.

    Still, this doesn't answer the question, "Is drinking alcohol a sin?" Let me approach it with a 7 letter mnemonic and then summarize at the end. (It spells out E-T-H-A-N-O-L)

   E -  Endangers

  Is alcohol dangerous? No question. It accounts for 2.5 million deaths per year. Physically it causes liver failure and neurological damage. Relationally - how many marriages do you know of and families that were destroyed by alcohol? As Andy Stanley says, " I've never heard the testimony,'My life , marriage, and family were falling apart, and then I discovered alcohol'" No it is always the other way around.
    What about the history of mankind. Look at Genesis. Noah drank and passed out. His son Ham saw his nakedness and disrespected him and Ham was cursed and became the father of the Caananites. Ever hear of them?  Then Lot after fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah drank, passed out, and his daughters had sex with him because he literally was the only man around, and bore the Moabites and Ammonites two more pagan people groups that the Israelites had to contend with. My guess is Abraham had to get tipsy to impregnate Hagaar but that isn't in scripture so the above examples show well enough the devestation it leads to.

    ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Cor. 6:19,20     Alcohol damages the body like smoking, poor eating, lack of exercise, etc. Avoid it

    Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
    whoever is led astray by them is not wise.  Prov. 20:1 
 It's interesting to watch how NFL players get in trouble. It is always at the night club. Fights, violence... investigate it. Alcohol is usually involved. Spousal abuse, child battery. Drugs/alcohol with impairment of reason is almost always involved

     Whoever loves pleasure will become poor;
    whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.  Prov. 21:17
   Alcohol leads to poverty. Ever been approached by a homeless person for money. You are leery to give it to them. Why? Because they will just go spend it on Alcohol. It leads to poverty.


T - Testimony

      Now this may be a geographic or cultural point so if you can't relate just go on to the next. For me, living in the Bible Belt, Christians aren't expected to drink at all. I would never go into a grocery store and buy a six pack( not that I ever would) because the cashiers, bag boys, shoppers would see that and say, "I thought he said he is a Christian. Why, he is no different than me. Hypocrite! That's why I don't go to church." You think that is far fetched? I've heard it given as an excuse multiple times. Paul had similar pressures as he had gentile converts unnecessarily be circumcised to avoid the same criticisms and rejections of the gospel. Paul says in 1 Cor. 9:22 "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."
    I learned this the hard way. When I first moved to Tennessee, when patients would call me at night experiencing false labor, I would often tell them to have a glass of wine. I don't know if you knew that but alcohol is a tocolytic (stops labor). In fact in the old days before other medicines were developed, patients in premature labor would get IV alcohol and be transferred into our tertiary referral center completely - well, picture Otis on Andy Griffith. Anyway, it wasn't long before I heard rumblings that the new doctor in town is a proponent of alcohol. That prescribing pattern quickly stopped.

H - Higher Calling

         Would you not agree that in our Christian life that good is the enemy of better and better is the enemy of best? We see this with Mary and Martha where Martha is doing a good thing but Mary is commended for doing the better. (Luke 10:38-42) Paul's prayer for the Philippians stated "so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ" Phil. 1:10. Do you strive for best or the highest possible calling of Christ in your life? Lets look at those people in those positions in the Bible.
     The priests - ⁸ Then the Lord said to Aaron, ⁹ “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. Lev 10:8,9   Considering going into the tent was a daily occurrence, God's command to the priests was, "No drinking." In fact, in context it appears that the deaths of Nadab and Abihu for offering unauthorized fire may have revolved around lapses of judgement or unclear thinking due to alcohol. Personally speaking (unrelated to priests), I could potentially deliver a baby or do surgery any day of my life. How would you like to know that your surgeon had alcohol before he operated?
     The Nazarites - The highest vow a Jew cold make was taking the Nazarite vow. As seen in Numbers 6, it says , no drinking.
     John the Baptist - In Luke 1 we see that he didn't drink
     Kings - Now we know that kings didn't practice this but we see in Proverbs 31:4 "It is not for kings, Lemuel—
    it is not for kings to drink wine,
    not for rulers to crave beer."
     How would you like to know that our president was drinking prior to making decisions to deploy troops and declare war?
    Elders, Deacons, Pastors - We see in Timothy and Titus Paul's warning against alcohol for leaders of the church.
  You can see that people in highest calling spiritually and authoritatively were warned against alcohol. Do you want to be average?


   A - Addictive

    Paul says in 1 Cor. 6:12  “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
   Does alcohol master people? Have you ever heard of Alcoholism? That is addiction to alcohol.  Delerium Tremons or D.T.s are what happens when a person withdraws and can be fatal. There may be a genetic predisposition to becoming dependent on it so why even start? I'm sure you know of people that are attending alcoholics anonymous meetings several times a week and will the rest of their lives. Why play with fire? Be addicted to Jesus.


   N - Necessary

     Is alcohol necessary to life? Back in Biblical days, alcohol was used for health reasons. The Good Samaritan used it to clean the injured man's wounds. Paul told Timothy to take some wine for his stomach sake. (The fact that he had to be told to do it tells you that this young pastor was adhering to the rule of the higher calling). The Tartaric Acid in wine has been found to kill Salmonella, E.Coli, Staph, Klebsiella, and other harmful bacteria which became very useful in the pre antibiotic and pre germ era. (they hadn't discovered germs yet). Now, with refrigeration, sterilization, preservation, antibiotics, etc. wine/alcohol is no longer necessary


   O - Offensive

      Is alcohol offensive to other believers? Absolutely. It is the quintessential Romans 14 or 1Corinthians 8 stumbling block. It is the food offered to idols of our day. Believers who have come from that background and gotten saved equate alcohol with their past debauchery and are offended when they see other believers drink. Worse, you could cause them to sin by encouraging them to go back into that lifestyle or causing them to judge you. Paul says that life isn't about food or drink, i.e. alcohol isn't necessary so why do it if it could offend someone?
     You might say, "Well then, I will do it in the confines of my home and no one will know." There are three problems with that.
   1) all the above points tell you that it is not wise to drink at all
   2) your kids know. Everyone I knew from a church that "allowed" drinking had kids who drank and got drunk in their high school/college years. You can't fool your kids. You can't tell your kids don't do as I do. They are too smart for that
   3) what if people asked you if you drink? Would you tell them the truth? If not, then you deep down know it's wrong.  http://www.thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-diagnostic-question-for-hidden-sins.html


     L - Lawful

     Maybe the Bible doesn't come right out and say "He who drinketh alcohol committeth a sin." Does that make it non-sinful? Paul says in Romans 14:23 "But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. "  We can see that acts that aren't prohibited in the Bible can actually be sinful if our consciences are being "set - off". Now if you were raised in a legalistic background where you were taught everything was a sin (card playing, dancing, drinking, smoking, chewing, going to movies, fishing on Sundays, watching TV, 2 piece swimming suits, etc.) you might have to work through some of that. Just keep in mind Rom. 14:14 where Paul says  "But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean" and then his warning in vs. 22 "Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves."


   So is drinking alcohol a sin? If you aren't doing it with a clear conscience, if you are emboldening others to do it (who are doing it with an unclear conscience), if you are by example encouraging children to do it, if it easily moves forward to drunkenness, if you lie when asked... yes it is a sin.

    If your answer to all the above is no then ask, "Is this the wise thing to do?"

    Lastly ask, "Is this going to help or hinder me becoming all God wants me to become?"

    Like me maybe you will decide -  I think that my wife's rum cake is about as far as I am willing to go.