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What Does The Bible Say About Drinking Wine

A Little Wine For Your Health

What does the Bible say about Alcohol?

As stated above, there will be some who will hang on to the idea that the original Greek and Hebrew words for wine always meant fermented. These same people will sometimes point to where Paul told Timothy to drink some wine for health purposes as justification for them to be able to drink.

Even if you choose to go down this road and way of thinking, with todays medical advancements, vitamins, and supplements, there is little reason for having to rely on an alcoholic beverage to improve your health. There is to many other healthy alternatives that wouldnât be a stumbling block to others.

As in the case with the wine at the wedding, the advice Paul gave Timothy makes plenty of sense when we understand he was telling him to drink unfermented juice. Paul would not have been telling Timothy to drink alcohol, which would also have been very inconsistent with the rest of the Bible.

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Drinking Alcohol Effects On The Spirit

Even casual use of alcohol can depress self-control, judgment, and a sense of balance. By contrast, the Holy Spirit produces self-control, good judgment, and balance.

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and here there is no conflict with Jewish laws. Galatians 5:22-23

Thats why we cant be controlled by alcohol and the Holy Spirit at the same time. We must choose.

And dont get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: Ephesians 5:18

I hope the Bible verses about drinking alcohol help you to better understand God’s Word and making the best choice for your own life.

It would be helpful for everyone to consider What does the Bible say about drinking? before making a decision about the use of alcohol. Without a doubt, the scriptures are clear that the use of alcohol can have either beneficial or harmful effects on a persons life.

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What Does The Bible Say About Drinking Alcohol

Question.I have always been taught that drinking was spoken against in the Bible and that it was wrong. Recently, I’ve been talking to a Christian friend who told me that it was actually okay to drink alcohol according to the Bible. Can you help me sort out these conflicting values? What does the Bible really say about drinking alcohol? -Beth

Answer. Theres a very simple answer to this question when it comes to teens drinking: Its against the law. Alcohol is absolutely off-limits until youre 21.

God commands us to obey laws like these when He says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” If you disobey the law, then youre also disobeying God.

But what about after you turn 21? Is it okay for a Christian to drink then? Although there are some situations in which the Bible forbids alcohol, it never says that alcohol is always wrong. Since the Bible doesnt absolutely forbid alcohol, whether or not you should drink as an adult becomes a personal decision you have to make for yourself.

Although I cannot make that decision for you, I can share with you 6 things the Bible does say about drinking alcohol:

Treatment For Alcohol Use And Addiction

What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol?

Treatment for heavy drinking or prolonged alcohol use may require tapering through detoxification. For this reason, and for the withdrawal period that comes after, inpatient rehab centers are the best options for treatment.

Inpatient rehab centers can provide the support you need to get your life back, and to get sober. Expert medical staff and encouragement in therapy and counseling will help you achieve success in healing.

If you have struggled with alcohol use for some time, and want a new, sober life, today could be the day that healing begins.

This page does not provide medical advice.

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Is Drinking Alcohol A Sin In The Bible

According to the Bible, there is nothing inherently wrong with food or drink. In fact, when it comes to drinking the Bible encourages us to do what we think is right.

Therefore, dont let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. Colossians 2:16 CSB

At the same time, the scriptures call us to be wise in assessing whether or not to drink as well as how much to drink.

The Bible Warns That Drinking Is Often Dangerous And Unwise

The Bible contains lots of warnings about how tempting and dangerous it is to get involved with alcohol. A wise mother told her son, “It is not for kings, O Lemuel – not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.” And Solomon, one of the wisest men whove ever lived, said, “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.”

These Bible passages suggest that it is often wise to totally stay away from alcohol since it can be a difficult thing to control. Alcohol can easily seduce you, and before you know it, it controls you. How many girls have had a few drinks and then ended up in bed with a strange man? How many adults have had a few drinks and then ended up in a serious car accident?

These situations are all too common. God is looking out for you when He warns you about the dangers of alcohol and drunkenness. Getting drunk causes you to lose control of yourself and do things – dangerous things – that you wouldnt do if you were sober.

I think it is possible to live a godly life and enjoy a small amount of alcohol. But the person who chooses not to drink at all also lives a godly life, as long as he does it without condemning those who do.

Bravo to those of you who take some time to seek Gods will about drinking and prepare yourselves for the future.

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Bible Verses About Drinking Beer

The world is in love with beer and many companies endorse it, such as the NFL. Watch commercials during an NFL game especially the Superbowl and I guarantee you will see a Coors Light, Heineken, or Budweiser commercial. Should Christians automatically dismiss beer because the world promotes it? Well not necessarily. Scripture has a lot to say about alcohol. First, I recommend not drinking it in the first place so you dont cause others to stumble and so you dont fall into sin, but drinking alcohol is not sinful.

Drunkenness is sinful. Drunkenness is what leads people to hell. Christians can drink beer, but only in moderation. We must be careful when we use the word moderation because many people try to deceive themselves. This is what they do. They buy a six pack of beer and drink 3 or 4 in a row and say, dude its moderation calm down. Seriously! Once again I recommend not drinking, but if you do happen to drink, always remember how will it affect you and others around you. With alcohol comes responsibility.

What does the Bible say?

1. Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

3. Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler, and whoever staggers because of them is not wise.

5. 1 Peter 5:7-8 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Is drinking beer a sin? No

Drunkenness is a sin.

Reminders

Christians And Social Drinking

What does the Bible say about alcohol?

Opinions about social drinking vary widely in the Christian community equally committed believers find themselves on opposite sides of the question. But like you, weve noticed a trend toward accepting casual use of alcohol in evangelical circles especially among young adults.

Its not our place to lay down the law here, because this is one of those gray areas of Christian life and conduct where everyone needs to be fully convinced in his own mind . Still, we have a few thoughts that might be helpful as you draw your own conclusions.

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Effects Of Alcohol And Wine On Our Bodies

The Bible is clear that our bodies are temples of the living God via the agent of the Holy Spirit. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received of God? . . . . Therefore honor God with your body . God is concerned with how we treat our bodies, including what we eat or drink. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God . The wise Solomon said, Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler whoever is led astray by them is not wise . Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper .

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What Does The Bible Say About Drinking

Bible Verses About DRINKING ALCOHOL

From the first book of the Old Testament onward, people who got drunk are condemned as examples of behavior to avoid. In every instance, a bad consequence resulted. Noah is the earliest mention , followed by Nabal, Uriah the Hittite, Elah, Ben-hadad, Belshazzar, and people in Corinth.

Verses that denounce drunkenness say it leads to other moral lapses, such as sexual immorality and laziness. Further, drunkenness clouds the mind and makes it impossible to worship God and act in a respectable manner:

Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

At least six major denominations call for total abstinence from alcoholic beverages: the Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God, Church of the Nazarene, United Methodist Church, United Pentecostal Church, and Seventh-day Adventists.

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Wine In The Bible: A Biblical Study On The Use Of Alcoholic Beverages

Chapter 5JESUS AND WINESamuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University

Many well-meaning Christians find the fundamental justification for their moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages in the teachings and example of Jesus. For example, in his book The Christian and Alcoholic Beverages, Kenneth L. Gentry appeals first of all to Christs example to defend a moderate partaking of alcoholic beverages: “First, we must again be reminded that the Lord and his apostles partook of wine despite the fact that sinful men indulged in it to their own hurt and degradation.”1

It is alleged that Christ not only partook of fermented wine but also produced it in abundant quantity at the wedding of Cana and gave it to His disciples at the Last Supper. Norman L. Geisler, for example, explicitly states in his article “A Christian Perspective on Wine-Drinking” that “it is false to say that Jesus made unfermented wine. As a matter of fact, He made wine that tasted so good the people at the wedding feast in Cana said it was better than the wine they had just drunk. Surely they would not have said this if it had tasted flat to them. In fact in John 2:9-10 it is called wine and good wine . These are the same words used for fermented wine elsewhere in the New Testament.”2

The chapter is divided into the following five wine-related stories or sayings:

PART I: THE WEDDING AT CANA

PART II: NEW WINE IN NEW WINESKINS

PART III: IS OLD WINE IS BETTER?

PART IV

WAS JESUS A GLUTTON AND A DRUNKARD?

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Sorrows That Drunkenness Causes: What The Bible Says About Drinking

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler, and whoever errs or reels because of it is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

The Bible says much about drinking alcohol, as well as many other subjects. There is a debate in religious circles in regard to the question was the wine in the Bible referring to grape juice or fermented grape juice, which is alcoholic in nature? To answer this question we must study the original language in which the Bible was written.

Actually, there are fifteen words from the Hebrew and Greek languages, which are translated wine in the Bible. When we compare these words in the context in which they are used, we can better understanding their scriptural meanings.

The first scripture in which wine is mentioned is found in the book of Genesis. The Hebrew word used there is yayin. It always means fermented wine, primarily from grapes. Genesis 9:20-21 says, And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken and he was uncovered within his tent. Noah could not have become drunk by drinking grape juice, so we must assume he drank an alcoholic beverage made from the grapes of his vineyard.

Alcohol Use In The Bible

What Does the Bible Say About Drinking Alcohol? Is it a Sin?

Wine had many uses in the Bible:

  • Wine was a common beverage and part of the daily fare in Palestine ” rel=”nofollow”> Judges 19:19, ), including by Jesus ” rel=”nofollow”> Matthew 11:19, , )
  • Wine was a gift from God to gladden men’s hearts ” rel=”nofollow”> Genesis 27:28, ).
  • Wine was used at weddings and celebrations ” rel=”nofollow”> John 2:1-3).
  • Wine was used as a medicine ” rel=”nofollow”> 2 Samuel 16:2, , , , )

There is nothing in either the Old or New Testament that opposes the moderate use of alcoholic beverages they were a staple of everyday life.

On the other hand, there is no commandment in the Bible that we must drink, and many individuals and groups abstained from alcohol ” rel=”nofollow”> Numbers 6:2-4, , , ). The apostle Paul warned against using the freedom to drink, or any similar freedom, in a way that would be offensive to others or cause them to stumble into sin ” rel=”nofollow”> Romans 14:19-22).

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How Much Alcohol Was In Wine In Bible Times

No, the wine in Bible times contained enough alcohol to cause people to get drunk, which would have been more than a little alcohol. The answer is we dont know the alcohol percentage for a typical ancient wine, but we do know it was strong enough to make people drunk.

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Reading The Bible As Having No Positive References To Alcohol

There are some who interpret certain passages in the Bible as not referring to alcohol, arguing that all positive references to “wine” in Scripture refer to non-alcoholic beverages and all negative references speak of alcoholic beverages. Advocates of this view, called the “two-wine” position, argue that the Greek and Hebrew words rendered “wine” in most English versions are generic terms for fruit juices context determines if the beverage in view is alcoholic or not. The fact is pointed out that even in earlier stages of the English language, such as in 1611 when the King James Version was translated, “wine” could refer to non-alcoholic beverages as well as alcoholic ones. The two-wine view is widespread in conservative Evangelicalism. Dr. Robert Teachout, a fundamental Baptist seminary professor, argued for this position in his doctoral dissertation The Use of “Wine” in the Old Testament. Separatist Baptist support for a biblical total abstinence position is widespread. Other sources for this view include the Purified Translation of the Bible, where extensive footnotes are used to promote the idea, and the 19th century Temperance Bible Commentary.

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