The following seven statements appear in the article “Wine” in the fourth edition of David Cloud’s Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity. The statements are seven answers to the question, “Is it alright for a Christian to drink moderately?”
The implications are important to recognize and are the reason I am posting my replies to the statements: (1) If moderate drink is wrong, one cannot partake of the wine of the Lord’s supper, and (2) if moderate drink is wrong, Jesus Christ is a sinner, for He drank and was accused of being a drunkard for it. Regarding point 2, I like that Jesus pointed out that even if He had abstained from wine — as did John the Baptist — objection would have been found with that as well!
Is it alright for a Christian to drink moderately?
No, even slight drinking impairs one’s thinking and lowers alertness to spiritual danger (1 Pe. 5:8,9).
Here is 1 Peter 5:8, 9 for those who do not have a Bible handy:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. New American Standard Bible
The verse says to be sober. It does not say, “Don’t drink alcohol, in moderation or otherwise.” Be careful not to add to the biblical text: sobriety precludes drunkenness, but it is very possible to drink wine while remaining sober.
When I was in my early teens, I was shown that a very tasty milk shake can be made by mixing together vanilla ice cream, milk, vanilla extract, and a wee bit of orange juice. Now, according to federal guidelines, “pure vanilla extract” must be at least 35% alcohol. I can’t say for sure what we used at the time was the pure stuff and not imitation, but assuming it was pure and that I did ingest just that tiny bit of alcohol, was I in violation of the “Be sober” command? Does a few milliliters of alcohol make one a drunkard?
If you say no, you are forced into the very muddy, very traditional (not scriptural) grounds of “how much is too much,” rather than letting the Scriptures stand by making the division “sober/drunk” rather than “sober/any alcohol at all.”
No, Christians are not to be controlled by liquor (Ep. 5:18).
Here is Ephesians 5:18 for you:
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. New American Standard Bible
I have no dispute the Scriptures forbid drunkenness. When one is speaking of “drinking in moderation,” however, one hopes to avoid the sin of drunkenness. The same situation is paralleled in food: we eat in moderation to avoid the sin of gluttony. Note that evasion of gluttony is not achieved by perma-fasting; why then is it taught that the only way to avoid drunkenness is by being a teatotaler?
No, Christians are priests, and the Bible forbids priests to drink (1 Pe. 2:9; Le. 10:8,11).
Here are the verses:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9, New American Standard Bible
The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die–it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations–and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.” Leviticus 10:8–11, New American Standard Bible
I’m amazed that anyone would try to impose Levitical guidelines upon the church, but alas, here we are. Read the quote from Leviticus a few times and take care to note that the priests are not told to always abstain from alcohol. Rather, they were told that when they come into the tent of meeting, they were to be sober. This would be equivalent, then, to instructing Christians to, when they come to the place of assembly (church), not to drink strong drink or wine.
It should also be noted that Christ, our High Priest, is a priest after the order of Melchizedek and not of Levi. Christ’s priesthood is ancient and easily predates the Levitical Law, so it cannot be made to show that Christ did not drink wine either.
No, Christians are not to touch the unclean thing (2 Co. 6:17–7:1).
The verses:
“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleans ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. New American Standard Bible
Wine is not the subject in question here. Upon what basis is it “unclean”?
No, Christians are to abstain from every form of evil (1 Th. 5:22).
Abstain from every form of evil. New American Standard Bible
For this verse to apply to wine and not simply to sin, one must imagine it to mean such. Wine is nowhere termed to be evil. Indeed, even our Lord Jesus Christ enjoyed it, for He came eating & drinking and found Himself accused of being both a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19)! One does not get accused of being a drunkard by not drinking wine! By not drinking wine, you may get yourself accused of having a devil, but certainly not of being a drunkard (Matthew 11:18)!
If drinking wine is “a form of evil,” Jesus of Nazareth was not the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
No, Christians who drink cause others to stumble (Ro. 14:21).
It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. New American Standard Bible
Please take a look at the preceding verse, which gives the context of verse 21. Verse 20 says, “Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.”
Did you catch that? All things indeed are clean. That means the objection raised above about Christians touching no unclean thing is invalid — wine is clean, and the Bible says so. So why does verse 21 say that it is good not to drink wine? Again, verse 20 provides the answer, that being if something we ingest offends someone else, that thing is evil for us.
The whole of Romans 14 is an enlightening chapter in this matter. In it we find that nothing is unclean in and of itself, unless one personally believes it to be (v. 14). We also find that we should not judge others by what they eat, yet we ourselves should not eat anything which causes a brother to stumble (v. 13).
If you are with a brother who would be offended by wine, it is your Christian duty not to drink wine around them. If you are with a brother who would be offended by the eating of meat, it is your Christian duty not to eat meat around them.
However, simply because there are some who are offended does not dictate how we may live when they are not around.
Perhaps most important is that regarding eating & drinking, we are unable to judge our brethren, being reminded that we shall all give account of ourselves before God on our own (vv. 10–12).
No, wine is a mocker and a deceiver (Pr. 20:1).
Ah, this one seems to be a “case closed” thing, doesn’t it? Let’s see the verse:
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise. New American Standard Bible
We have already seen in the New Testament that not only is wine considered “clean” for believers, but it was also a drink enjoyed by our Lord Jesus Christ.
So it comes as no surprise that even Proverbs 20:1 fails to make wine out to be evil. Rather, intoxication — the sin of drunkenness — is pointed out again. For the moderate drinker, wine is not a mocker nor is strong drink raging. Only those who are deceived by wine, enraptured by it, led astray by it find out that rather than bringing happiness, they find sorrow. Wine mocks the drunkard.
That’s it, all seven reasons why a Christian shouldn’t even drink wine in moderation. If you take anything away from this short response, I hope it is that care should always be taken in using the Scriptures. Far too often to support traditions, Scriptures are used as proof texts wholly disconnected from their own context or with little regard to what the verse actually says.
Such wresting of the Scriptures to support all manner of man’s traditions is destructive, and it is about as spiritually fruitful as an atheist attempting to use Psalm 14:1 to support his case that “there is no God.”
Join the Discussion