An arguement can be made as well that alcohol is NOT permissible in Christianity......see below.
For years Christian's have been forced to take a stand, in the church of all places, regarding whether it is a sin to drink alcohol in moderation. Next the argument will shift to cursing and then sex moderation. I won't go into that in this article but both are wrong and Scripture (Ephesians 4:29, I Corinthians 6:9) plainly documents that. But for some reason the consumption of alcohol is not as plain to many Christians. Although common sense dictates that God clearly does not approve of alcohol in the Christian life, many continue to fight for its inclusion in today's modern religious society. But there are a few holdouts left including myself.
I could never condone alcohol or dancing/clubs in the life of a Christian. I still believe that our Lord left us in this world to be witnesses and that can't happen at the end of a beer. There is no scriptural support for alcohol in a Christian's life. Contrary to what many believe, Jesus didn't turn the water into alcoholic wine (John 2:3-10) because He would be contradicting tons of scripture in the Old and New Testament regarding this subject. Let's analyze this passage of scripture:
"And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew
the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now."
First of all, a few things must be pointed out. Verse 10 declares that the men of the wedding had already "well drunk". I'm no genius but that tells me they had already drunk a lot of wine up to that point. When the wine ran out Jesus was asked by His mother to provide more wine. Jesus then commands that they fill six water pots to the brim. It is estimated that those six water pots totaled between 100-150 gallons of water. One thing that you need to remember, they had already "well drunk" up to this point. Jesus had to make a decision; either contribute to the drunkenness that would surely follow with that much wine or just say no. After all, the Bible does say that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:10). That would be a contradiction in why Jesus came to the earth in the first place…to save all of mankind.
Another violation of Scripture Jesus would have been guilty of breaking is found in Habakkuk 2:15a which states, "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also". Jesus creating and serving 100-150 gallons of alcoholic wine clearly goes against this scripture.
So why did Jesus serve alcohol to those He came to save? The answer is simple…He didn't! Any logical person who has been to a wedding in which the wine has flowed freely (they have well drunk) would have to confess that it usually ends in a drunken brawl. I can't even imagine Jesus agreeing to create another 100-150 gallons of wine under the supposed condition of the recipients. The only rational conclusion is that this was not alcoholic wine.
Bible scholar Carlton Rector writes "Jesus could not have drunk alcoholic wine at the wedding feast, or He would have been disobeying the Bible commands concerning kings and princes."
http://www.libertygospeltracts.com/biblecrs/alcohol/alcohol1.htm
The Bible passage Carlton is citing is found in Proverbs 31:4-7.
"It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more."
One of the standards of the Bible is found in Proverbs 23:31. It states, "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright." This speaks of an alcoholic wine that is intoxicating. We as believer's are commanded to not even look upon it.
The second example that many use to argue that alcohol in the Christians life is okay is found in I Timothy 5:23. It states, "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." Paul never said take a little wine for the sake of the party or as a dinner drink. Alcohol was and still is used today in many medicines as it was in his day. Paul was a sickly man and had many physical problems of which his stomach ailment was one. This was nothing more than timely medical advice from a man that knew. Besides, if you're going to take his statement to mean that you should drink wine in moderation you should also follow his first statement that you should "drink no longer water". That isn't even good commonsense. What Paul is saying is don't drink water for your stomach problems but drink grape juice. Wine was a common remedy for stomach problems in Paul's day. But with modern medicine this remedy is no longer necessary, and thus, does not give Christians a right to partake in alcoholic beverages. It should also be noted that the water of that day was not pure and many times contributed to stomach problems.
Truthfully, God would never condone social drinking because it can lead to drunkenness, which the Bible says, no drunkard will enter into the kingdom of heaven (I Corinthians 6:9-10). Why would God condone alcohol in anyone's life when it could lead to separation from Him?
He told us in Matthew 18:8, 9 that it would be better for us to pluck out our eye or cut off our arm if it kept us from achieving eternal life. Why in the world would He condone alcohol in anyone's life (let alone a Christian) if it could ultimately lead him to eternal hell. The stronghold of alcohol is very powerful in which no man or woman is immune. It always (every time) starts with social drinking...no exceptions.
Most people today don't understand that wine (grape juice) in Biblical times was greatly watered down and served to preserve the purity of water. As it aged even then the alcoholic content was microscopic at best. At that rate, you had to drink a tremendous amount of wine to get drunk. But I won't go into that since John F. MacArthur, Jr. has written a wonderful article that addresses this. You can find it at
http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/wine.htm.
The last great revival America had started in the late 1800s and lasted into the early 1900s. It was so powerful and changed so many lives for Christ that it lead Congress to pass a national law known as "Prohibition" that prohibited the sale of alcohol. It's not even debated why "Prohibition" came about. It was because the power of God changed the lives of so many American's they demanded that alcohol be banned. It wasn't a social issue it was a spiritual issue. That's even documented in non-Christian history books.
So as you can see I'm pretty grounded on this belief that alcohol and Christianity don't mix. The bottom line, it promotes a poor Christian testimony and can be very destructive to those who dabble in it. Why take the chance? After all, you're only drinking it because you're thirsty...right! Drink a Coke instead, it'll quench your thirst (just like the beer/wine), but it won't give you a bad testimony in the eyes of the world whom you are trying to lead to Christ.
It's a shame that we have to convince Christians in this day and age (but not surprising) that consuming alcohol is a sin. For centuries it wasn't even a consideration, but as the world gets a better grip on the church, look for other sins to be labeled as mere stumbling blocks...meaning it's not wrong unless you or someone else thinks it is.
Many reading this article (both liberals and conservatives) have already made up their minds regarding this issue. My advice to those who are still undecided, when researching this topic, look for those who give glory to the Lord openly. When researching this topic I came upon Carlton Rector's Bible study. His opening statement was "This Bible Course Booklet is lovingly dedicated to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us, and died for us that we might be saved from all of our sins". Wow! What a testimony! Upon reading this I knew he was Spirit led and warranted further review.
Your spiritual investigation on any topic should always start with the spiritual investigation of the person. Do they line up with the Word, not just on the topic at hand, but with other important spiritual topics as well.
Don't let liberal preachers and teachers manipulate you into changing your convictions regarding what you know the scriptures really say. Search out the truth diligently asking the Lord to reveal it to you and He will.
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