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This is one of the most controversial questions of faith. A lot of people even religious leaders have different views
pertaining to this. This argument gains its facts from various scriptures and
religious traditions. These facts are as follows; the feast of the holy
communion which is mostly alcohol, the reference of Paul to Timothy in where he
told him to take little alcohol for his stomach. Other facts include Jesus
turning water into wine.
On the other hand, in the book of Proverbs, King
Solomon said a lot about wine and it ranges from the advice to Lemuel that
kings don’t drink wine and we as children of God are seen with dual
nomenclature which is priests and kings.
Therefore once you become a believer, you are
already a king and this implies that the advice given to Lemuel applies to you.
If we look into that advice, there was a reason for
that advice which is so that the king will have a sound mind to give Judgments.
This means that alcohol or wine denies one sound mind.
And as Christian, we ought to have a sound mind at
all times. Other references include where the scriptures suggested that we
should give alcohol or wine to fools so they can drink and forget their
sorrows.
If we carefully examine this passage, we will
understand that as Christians, we cannot be fools and this automatically
exempts us from wine. We were equally encouraged to be filled with the Holy
Spirit and not in the wine
Haven saw the two different views from the
scriptures which is our standard, we could draw our conclusions like this,
nothing created by God is impure. We could see that in what God told Peter. On
the other hand, the book of Ecc. Chapter 3 talked about time and seasons
for things and the scripture went further to talk on moderation.
addictive. With these futures, it is very difficult to be moderate in alcohol intake.
Alcohol on its own is not bad but it is often
abused. There is a saying that when the purpose of something is not known,
abuse is inevitable.
For medical purposes, it plays a lot of positive
roles and if it is used for that purpose, there is nothing wrong with it
and that was what St. Paul meant when he was advising Timothy as regards the
intake of alcohol. He knows how risky it is, That is why he laid emphasis on
him taking just a little. Therefore, nothing created by God is bad or impure and
this includes alcohol or wine.
But whatever will make us sin against God and behave
foolishly, we should cut it off. Finally, drinking is not a sin in the bible,
but we are required to be modest in all that we do and alcohol doesn’t
encourage that.
Paul also warns the believers of Christ to stay away
from drinking alcohol in circumstances that could make their brothers or
sisters stumble (Rom. 14:21). We should always seek to bring honor to the Lord
in all our activities: So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all
to the glory of God. (1 Cor. 10:31)
Even though the Bible quotes the positive aspects of
wine, it gives strong warnings to overdrinking and drunkenness. Thus a believer
of Christ who opts to consume alcohol should only do it in moderation (1Timothy
3:8; Titus 2:2, 3) The Bible gives several reasons to avoid
overdrinking.
·
It
weakens the ability of thinking and also judgment. (Proverbs 23:29-35) A fully
drunken person is against the commandment of scripture that he or she cannot
present his body as a living sacrifice as holy and acceptable to God. —Romans 12:1.
·
Excessive
drunkenness eliminates inhibitions and “the motivation to do what is
right.”—Hosea 4:11; Ephesians 5:18.
·
Also
it can turn one into poverty and result in serious health issues. —Proverbs
23:21, 31, 32.
·
Drunkenness
displeases God.—Proverbs 23:20; Galatians 5:19-21.
Despite the many Biblical warnings regarding the
abuse of alcohol, Christians have the freedom to enjoy the gift given by God
with the boundaries of God’s moral law. It is important to remember that those
who drink alcohol have the responsibility, doing no sort of harm to others or
to themselves.
Bible
also shows the times when believers of Christ need to extol from having
alcohol:
·
If
people around us would be stumbled by it.—Romans 14:21
·
If
drinking alcohol violates the law of the land.—Romans 13:1.
·
If a person cannot control his drinking.
Matthew 5:29, 30.