The Nature of Alcohol
Proverbs 20
1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 21
17. He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
Proverbs 23
29. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30. They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Ephesians 5
18. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Christians and Alcohol
Romans 13
13. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Galatians 5
19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Peter 4
3. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
1 Corinthians 5
11. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
Habakkuk 2
15. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
Christian Testimony
Romans 14
21. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Leadership
1 Timothy 3
3. Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
8. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
Proverbs 31
4. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
5. Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
7. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
Titus 1
7. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
Thoughts
It shouldn’t be about what WE want to do, but rather how does this reflect on the Church, and more importantly, on Jesus Christ! Keeping our testimony does require discipline at time, and abstaining from negative aspects of life.
One way to frame it could be; should the question be “Can a Christian drink alcohol?” to “Should a Christian drink alcohol?”.
Reference
https://churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/298190-can-christian-drink-alcohol.html