Do Christians Commit A Sin If They Drink Alcohol? (1)

By James Quansah, Pastor

MANY ASK whether Christians commit a sin if they drink alcohol. We will attempt to answer this question in Part One and Part Two. To answer this question, there is the need for us to go directly into the Bible to study God’s dealings with people who walked with Him both in the Old and New Testaments in relation to alcoholic drinking.

The Bible provides copious information on alcoholism or drunkenness for our instruction, learning and successful living. In Genesis 9: 20, we read about Noah planting a vineyard, drinking its wine and becoming drunk.

But is Noah’s desire to get drunk God’s perfect will and a model for all believers throughout generations to follow? Certainly not! When God appointed Aaron and his sons to the priestly office to serve in the temple, He forbade them from drinking wine or strong drink (Leviticus 10: 9- 11).

You can see that God did not only warn His servants concerning alcohol drinking when going into the tent of meeting, but also spelt out its consequences – death. Yes, death! That was the Word of God to Aaron. But you may ask, why would Aaron die in the tent of meeting for merely drinking wine? Well, he could get drunk and commit abominable deeds against the commandments of God.

Moreover, in Proverbs 20:1, it is written, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Two alcoholic drinks mentioned here are: “wine” and “strong drink.” Some versions of the Bible refer to them as “wine” and “beer”.

Here, also, we see that “wine” as the New Living Translation (NLT) of the Bible puts it, “produces mockers and alcohol leads to brawls.” In other words, scoffing and fighting are the consequences of alcohol consumption.

But does that mean it is sinful or that God forbids His children from drinking alcohol or even tasting it? In other words, does a Christian commit a sin by drinking alcoholic beverage? Now, we have already considered God’s instruction to Aaron and his sons who were priests to Him under the Law.

And two books of the New Testament also teach that Christians are priests to God through Christ Jesus under the dispensation of grace (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6).

A careful study of how the 1st century Christians taught and lived their lives gives us a clear understanding. Paul, the apostle, wrote plentifully about alcohol consumption to disciples of Christ, who lived in different communities.

First, in his pastoral letter to Timothy, Paul wrote that an overseer must “…not be a drunkard…” (1Timothy 3:3, ESV) And to the deacons, he wrote, “…not addicted to much wine…” (1Timothy 3:8).

Other translations of the Bible reconstruct the expression, “not a drunkard” as “not given to drunkenness” (NIV), “He must not be a heavy drinker” (NLT) and “Not given to wine” (NKJV).

In another pastoral letter, Paul wrote that, “For an overseer, as God’s steward…must not be…a drunkard…” (Titus 1:7). To the overseers, the apostle implores them not to give themselves to wine or be addicted to it, and to the deacons, he warns them not to give themselves to much wine.

Now, several theological commentaries on the verses of Scripture given above agree that Paul, by his teaching, does not necessarily urge Christians to practise ascetic abstinence of alcohol drinking, but that they should do so in moderation when need be.

And Paul does not specifically state that drinking or tasting alcoholic drink per se is sinful for a born again Christian. Clearly, if drinking alcoholic drinks like wine or beer is sinful, then, Paul influenced young Timothy to commit a sin by asking him to drink a little wine for a medicinal purpose.

He wrote to Timothy: “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1Timothy 5: 23). The expression “no longer drink only water” means “stop drinking only water.”

This means Timothy was not a drinker of wine; he abstained from wine ascetically. But he needed to take in a little wine not for pleasure, but for health. Timothy was asked to drink a little wine for a specific reason, for the medicinal purpose of improving his health.

This might be the appropriate use of alcohol. But the truth remains that Timothy did drink alcohol.

To be continued…