Is Drinking Alcohol A Sin?

Q

Question–Eph.5:18, says “Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery” and there are at least 10 or 12 more references on this topic. I was taught that consuming alcohol was a sin. I don’t think there is a reference to directly support this but the Bible does discourage this practice. As a medical practitioner I have witnessed the terrible consequences of drinking to excess, and therefore do not participate in this practice.

I am troubled by the condoning of drinking by many pastors almost to the point of encouraging this practice! They will point to the fact that Jesus must have supported this because he made water into wine! However, there are even some Bible teaching pastors that are alcoholics.

A

The problem lies in that what you’ve been taught goes beyond what the Bible says. If consuming alcohol is a sin, why did God allow the Israelites to buy alcoholic beverages with their tithe money to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 14:22-26), and why did Jesus turn water into wine at the wedding and give it to the guests to drink (John 2:1-10)? It’s not consuming alcoholic beverages that the Bible condemns, but doing so to the point of drunkenness as Ephesians 5:18 says.

If a person can’t take a drink without continuing to a state of drunkenness then he or she shouldn’t drink at all. But for the millions who can voluntarily limit their intake, there’s no biblical prohibition against consuming alcohol.