Musick-al note # 164
The question has risen, “Is it a sin for a Christian to drink any alcoholic beverage”? Didn’t Jesus miraculously make wine at a wedding feast? Wasn’t Timothy told to take a little wine? How could it be wrong? In the Old Testament, the only persons commanded to totally abstain from all alcoholic consumption were the ‘Nazarites. There is no commandment in the New Testament indicating that a Christian is condemned for consuming an alcoholic beverage. However drunkenness is always condemned and drunkenness is the result of drinking too much alcoholic beverage. No one, either Christian or non-Christian, whatever his color, age, race, or circumstance has any right to do ANYTHING that destroys the lives and happiness of himself and others, and brings disgrace and reproach upon people. This includes drunkenness. The fact that many people drink does not alter the truth: “it is drunkenness that is condemned”.
Should any who claim to be Christians commit any act from adultery to murder does not make that sin acceptable. When we know of people doing anything not authorized of God, or explicitly condemned by the Word of God, we should strive to help them to live correctly or “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness’ (Ephesians 5:11). Notice that the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) include drunkenness, and verse 21 says, “Those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God”. When a person continues to become drunken and refuses to change, their sin will condemn them before the Lord. When Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23, “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities”, he revealed three things. First, it was not the custom of Timothy to drink wine, or Paul would not have needed to instruct him to do so. Second, he was only told to use a little wine. Third, it was for medical purposes–for his stomach’s sake and often infirmities. No one should use this verse as an excuse to drink for it was not given as a rule for all people. We should live our lives in a manner that brings glory to Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:17), even if it means that we drink no alcoholic beverage.
Gordon Musick
Musick-al Notes 