Wine is a key part of Jesus’s first miracle in John's Gospel at the wedding in Cana. And in Luke 1:15, we read, “for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.” So, John the Baptist abstained from wine and strong drink. Does that mean you should, too? Is it wise for a Christian to drink alcohol? It's one thing to recognize you have the freedom to do something as a follower of Jesus, but whether or not it's the best thing for you or wise given your circumstances or proclivities is another question. When Paul was writing to the Corinthians, for example, they were known for emphasizing their Christian liberty. All things are lawful for me, they'd say. But Paul responded, “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Cor. 6:12).
Is Alcohol Prohibited in Scripture?
With regard to the question of alcohol, that doesn't mean that Paul prohibited it. In fact, he told Timothy to drink a little bit of wine to settle his stomach (1 Tim. 5:23). This means that Paul didn't think of wine or alcohol as inherently sinful.
This makes sense, actually, given some of what we read in the Old Testament. Among the blessings Moses told the Israelites God would reward them with for their faithfulness to him was wine. “God will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young, your flock, in all the land that he swore to your fathers to give you (Deut. 7:13) Or, just a little bit later in Deuteronomy, he said, “God will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather your grain and your wine and your oil” (Deut. 11:14). So wine is pictured as a gift, a blessing from God. Note even what the psalmist said: “You caused the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart” (Ps. 104:14–15).
The new creation promised in Isaiah chapter 25 is pictured as a worldwide wedding banquet. “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Isa. 25:6).
This actually sheds some light on the significance behind Jesus’s first miracle in John's Gospel. The wedding feast in Cana of Galilee in John chapter 2, where Jesus turned water into amazing wine, was a kind of breaking in of the new creation, a foretaste of the eternal life that only he could provide. So it makes sense why Paul and the other disciples of Jesus in the early church didn't see wine as something evil, but as a part of God's good creation. It was a gift from the Lord. The problem is that we have the tendency to take God's good gifts and use them in ways that God never intended us to use them. It's one thing to consume wine to the glory of God; it's another thing to let your life be consumed by it.
“Do not get drunk with wine”
Throughout the Bible, there are warnings against drunkenness. If you're a Christian, God doesn't want you to live your life under the influence of or be drunk with wine, but guided by the Holy Spirit. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:15–19). Here, Paul is echoing the wisdom we find in Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, and strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”
Millions of lives have been ruined because they didn't receive the Bible's wisdom here. And for some people, especially those with a history of substance abuse, the best thing may be to abstain altogether. We shouldn't look down on those who choose not to drink. Nor should we condemn those whose liberty in Christ allows them to enjoy a good bottle of wine at dinner. But the question we should always be asking ourselves is, “What controls me?” Getting drunk is never okay in the Bible, and as you can imagine, it's often associated with terrible decision-making. Those who emphasize Christian liberty when it comes to drinking need to be honest about whether their liberty to enjoy God's gifts has turned into a license to sin. The Bible has strong warnings about this:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.— 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
So the question isn't so much, “Should a Christian drink alcohol?” Christians should do all sorts of things, like pray and go to church, and love their neighbors. And if they choose to drink, that's a personal decision. But in whatever you choose to do as a follower of Jesus, be sure you do it to the glory of God. And in this case, that doesn't mean more is better. If you enjoy wine or beer, give thanks to the God who gives it, but don't let your enjoyment of it be a cause for your stumbling or the stumbling of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Love for God and love for one another are the guiding principles that should dictate how we choose to live.
And if you can't have a drink with a clear conscience or without being able to stop, then rather than sin against God, offer this area of your life up to him and say, “Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to walk in wisdom.” That's a prayer we can all pray, regardless of where we land on this issue.
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This is a transcription of Sola Media’s video: “Can Christians Drink Alcohol? Pastor Adriel Sanchez Answers” You can watch the whole episode here.
