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When does drinking alcohol become a sin-or is it?
How or when does drinking become a sin? If it is, why did Jesus turn water into wine? I know the bible says not to become addicted to wine (which I was before I was saved). This post is just a general question, I do not drink anymore. I know that if we become drunk it could lead to temptation. My fiance likes to occasionally have a couple of beers-is this o.k?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by christelle on
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This is a really tough question.
My answer would be that if there is any question in your (you in general) mind, alchohol should probably be avoided.
Also, as christians we need to take care that non-christians or new christians may misunderstand seeing us buy alchohol, even if we are "not sinning" we may still cause others to stumble.
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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The bible is clear regarding getting drunk. That is sinful. The Bible does not specifically teach that one should never drink alcohol. There are a variety of opinions on this, but lack a strong Scriputral text to support total abstanence. At the same time, it is not wrong to not drink any alcohol. One should also consider how their actions will affect others. I Do not drink and do so of freewill, not because of doctrine.
Lord Bless,
LT
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Permalink Reply by Penny Toman on
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I would like to ad the words use and abuse. God in his grace gave us 'the seed bearing plants...' to use not abuse in any form. Well said LT I agree. Yes I have a suspicion that Jesus MAY have drank wine not much else to drink back then limited choices no Pepsi no orange juice. But that is only MO
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Permalink Reply by Sarah78 on
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Thanks everyone to the great responses, I appreciate it! :-)
God Bless!
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Permalink Reply by Ron Payne on
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"Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." 1Co 8:13
Working amongst Alcoholics I found that even though Paul referred to meat and not wine, yet under the circumstances, it was important for me, to not be known or seen as being a partaker of alcohol. Rather than be a hypocrite, I stopped drinking alcohol completely.
Many social workers amongst alcoholics will say: "No! People should not allow the failings of others to rule your life" They continued to drink socially. Yet Alcoholics would point them out to me and ask: "How is it possible to speak of the dangers of even starting off with one drink, when they themselves drink?"
I found that it was indeed a denial of what some social workers believed.
It was easy to judge who had the correct approach, by the successes
we had.
Alcohol can deceive in that it can easily become a habit. There is basically no cure for alcoholism.
An Alcoholic can stop drinking for a long period of time. Swear that he is completely free and cured. One morning he wakes up to a hangover as if he had been drinking all night. The urge is so strong and the conviction that he needs to have a "Straightener" so persistent that he does not go to work that day but spends his time waiting in front of the store for them to open.
Unfortunately he CANNOT at this stage just have one drink. He returns to the exact same condition that he was in, before he stopped.
There is a drug called "Anti booze". This is given to alcoholics to assist them to not drink. It cannot cure them. What it does is create a situation, that should they have one drink on top of "Anti booze" they start to feel they are going to die, after awhile they start to fear that they are not going to die.
One can always tell if an Alcoholic who is on "Anti-Booze" has begun to feel the desperate need to have another drink. This condition is known as a "Dry Drunk".
Because he knows he cannot drink on top of "Anti Booze", he then starts to persuade himself and his family that he no longer requires the medication "Look at me!" he will argue "I have been off the alcohol for 8 months" He then stops his medication and once he is sure that his system is clear. He goes back to drinking and cannot stop until he needs help once again.
To avoid the situation described above. Alcoholics can have an implant of "Anti Booze". Normally placed in the upper leg by a surgeon.
When an Alcoholic experiences a "Dry Drunk" again, where the need for alcohol becomes so great, they have been known to cut "hack" the medication out of their legs themselves.
There is a need for the alcoholic to have regular support amongst other alcoholics who will understand and know exactly what their Buddy is going through and the symptoms he will show when leading up to a "Dry Drunk".
Alcoholics Anonymous do a great job in these circumstances. Unfortunately their claim towards being religious fails in that their belief is in "The God as You understand Him" They use this term because Alcoholics come from every religion. One Alcoholic told me that the God as he understood Him, was a bottle of Brandy that he had purposely placed on top of the wardrobe facing his bed. This was to remind him everyday as to who or what was his God.
The worst thing you can do to help an alcoholic is to scold him and pour his booze down the drain.
He needs expert helpfrom those who specialise in the problem
Ofcourse there are many today who are totally free from alcohol and have passed the need for assistance. But they are the ones who are and have been totally aware of the sutuation for quite some time and refuse to have "just one drink"
You Brother and friend - Ron.
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Sorry,
Just a short note of warning. Those who have remained free of Alcohol addiction for some time, always refuse that one drink, because they know that through continued social drinking their system had slowly failed to the point where one simple drink, was the one that "pushed them over the cliff"..... That "just one drink" had now placed them where they NOW HAD TO DRINK TO MEET THE NEEDS THEIR SYSTEM NOW REQUIRED.
Likewise as I said Alcohol is deceptive and can easily lead to alcoholism. Alcoholics appear to be aware of this, as they continually refer to "that one drink'". If you have been a social drinker for a long time, Beware.....
Finally, Alcoholics run a tremendous risk should their normal day to day medication contain alcohol. When Dr's who are aware of their patients problem, they will not prescribe medication containing alcohol. Cough mixtures in particular.
Ron.
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Hi Ron,
Yes for me "just one drink" could be the end of it all, yet again for myself.
I reached the bottom of my addiction and the Good Lord delivered me from it. My heart breaks for anyone who struggles with alcoholism because it is a very deceptive addiction or slow death. It takes a long time before you realize you are an alcoholic and by then it is too late. It also keeps you from seeking med help because of the shame or fear attached to it.
Years ago before I started college, I was 22 and had developed a bad weekend drinking habit, I sought med help for it and my doctors only concern was where my daughter was while I was drinking. She had every right to be concerned (and my daughter was at her dads) but the fact is, she didnt offer any help and it scared me to not seek anymore. I was blessed that God gave me another child early in the school year, as I believe because of the college lifestyle things may have gotten worse.
I quit for a couple of years until four years ago, when my wine habit returned. It started off as just a glass here and there and became worse as my tolerance went up. I always kept it controlled and only while the children were in bed, but I knew deep down it was starting to take control of me again.Years went by and I would occasionally seek God but return to my wine by the weekend and now during the week as well. It was to say the least the worst thing I have ever gone through. The life I longed to give my children seemed impossible to achieve, I only wanted to be a good Christian mother who wasn't controlled by negativity and pain, like so many other women in my family I wanted to be free from this family curse, but I couldn't attain it on my own.
This winter I started to truly seek my Father in heaven, I was done with all the lies, the self hatred, everything. I had come to the very end of myself. God is faithful and he responded to my cries, he revealed my sin to me and delivered me from the desire to drink. The desire was replaced with him and I will be eternally thankful and humbled that while I chose to live for years apart from him, he loved me enough to save me. To me the only cure to alcoholism is Jesus, perserverance, hope and accepting that we are alcoholics and one drink is like standing on the edge of a cliff.
Thank you for your input, it is appreciated.
God bless.
Sarah
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Permalink Reply by Orangetree on
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Sarah,
I thank Jesus for healing your addiction! Before
I was saved, I drank socially with friends? I really enjoyed being around them at happy hours.
When I totally surrendered to God, I asked him to
take everything from me that offended him. The first thing he did was remind me of things I did wrong or sins that I justified, I was so amazed, that I never thought of these things as being sins!
It made me weep with sorrow, that I could do things that hurt God. I repented and I am obeying everything He asks me to do. I do not
attend happy hours anymore, I do not even miss them. I asked Him if there was anything wrong with drinking alcohol and if so take the desire away from me. The first time I tried a beer and it tasted so bad, I dumped it out. I do enjoy having a glass of wine with a steak or spaghetti dinner so I tried that, but had 2 glasses and woke
up with a terrible headache, so I knew he didn't want me to do that again. I wanted to have a cocktail one evening so I did and that night as I
went to bed my heart started pounding so hard that I could not go to sleep, so I knew he didn't want me to do that again. Being in the flesh, I wanted to be able to have a glass of wine, so I tried it again with my steak dinner, I had a 1 glass, I felt fine and I thanked God for teaching me. Now once in a while I have a glass of wine with my steak dinner. I know he is in agreement at this time, maybe some day he will take that desire from me. One thing I will not do is drink any alcohol around other people who might get off on the wrong track. I believe Paul teaches us that we are not to hinder anyone with what we eat or drink. (I love studying God's word, but I am not good at remembering exactly where the verse is yet!) I don't say that a person who is addicted to alcohol should ever take a drink, it is a known fact that they could fall right back into being an alcoholic and ruining their life by backsliding.
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Permalink Reply by REV. DENIS S. PAMBA on
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Galatians 5 mentions drunkardness as is but does not menssion the degree so even if the degree is negligible , it is still sin
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It goes without saying my Brother, that if one can become a slave to alcohol for the rest of your life - It is a sin to drink.
Social drinking may appear harmless but it depends entirely on your own physical make-up as to how long you can continue, especially if your social life is made up of partying socially to the point that it is over done.
Many business men at the top of their career have become terribly embarrassed. Some have a small bar in their office in order to offer their equals a drink when being paid a visit. Drinking through the day becomes a habit and he will drink just enough to keep him mellow and yet retain all his business acumen. None of his staff would consider him to be an alcoholic or even under it's influence.
One day he falls sick and requires an operation. The surgeon may be unaware of his drinking habit as are his staff at work.
When he comes around from the anaesthetic he goes into what is known as the D.T.'s
The staff who may have a high respect for him, are shocked to see his behaviour (Chasing cockroaches, spiders or frogs off his bed) when they visit him in hospital.
An Anaesthetic can do this to regular drinkers who drink regularly yet are able to "hold" their alcohol, not realising that they are already alcoholics.
Ron.
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Ron..I think it is great that you work with alchoholics. I used ot be married to one and I know what a challenge can be.
And you are right in that there are people who even one drink can be too many.
But there are "normal" people out there too. Sometimes in the world of alchoholism it can be easy to forget that. I even know of preachers who have family night once a week and part of their family night is pizza and wine....although I do not think those would taste good together..I guess many people feel that they do...point to ponder someday when I'm really bored, lol.
I personally really don't have any desire to drink...so I'm not being defensive or anything. I'm just saying that not everyone is prone to having an alchohol problem.
That said I still stand on the "not being a stumbling block for others" because I know many many non-christians who would love to see a christian pick up a beer...just so they can prove to themselves that we are all hypocrits.
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You know....I just re-looked at how you worded your question...and let me start again.
Alchohol of itself is not a sin. When does it become a sin?
When alchohol controls you and you have to drink...it's a sin.
When one consumes too much and gets drunk....it's a sin.
When our consumption of alchohol causes another christian to sin or keeps an unsaved person from The Lord...it's a sin.
As christians this is a gray area because the Bbile directs us not only to avoid drunkeness but also to be a good example for others. We can not say don't drink but we can caution highly against it. In you fiance's case...you admit you had an alchohol problem before you were saved, your fiance has the responsibility of protecting you from temptation. A couple of beers occassionally on his part could lead to a stumble on your part. I know it seems like a lot to ask of him, but look at it this way...if he loves you it is a small price to pay. My ex was an alchoholic. My son can not stand beer because of his father. My husband is not saved....but he loves Lane, he has raised Lane since Lane was two, my husband likes a beer now and then...but because of his love for this little boy he chooses not to drink.
As far as when it is a sin....we have some very clear cut definitions..but many christians choose not to parttake at all because of the gray area. You just never know who is going to see you and how it is going to affect them.
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