COMMON SENSE

To drink or not to drink?
I will never drink alcohol, not even NyQuil [which is 40 proof.]
Jesus turned water to wine-Let's Party.
What’s wrong with a six pack?
Why get hung up on a little wine at a wedding?

Distilled alcohol as we know it today is not the wine that is spoke of in the Bible. Today's liquor and wine has a higher alcohol content.

Yes, Jesus did drink wine. Sorry to break it to you. John the Baptist did not, but Jesus did. He also promised that He would drink wine with us again upon His return. Jesus never sinned, so drinking wine is not a sin. Now that is wine, it is not Jack Daniels, nor any other whiskey or rum or gin, nor is it Boone's Farm.

So is it a sin or not? Well I came across a interesting saying in my research and it is this: Some totally abstain; some should totally abstain; and some drink moderately.

Wine is mentioned over 250 times in the Bible. Just to get a overview I will mention a few things. Noah got drunk and naked; Lot was so drunk he didn't know what he was doing; Nabel died after a drunken spree; David got Uriah drunk to cover his sin; Amnon was drunk when he was killed; Esther's husband the king was drunk when he commanded her to come to him. Now let's look at another view. The Bible tells us that wine is a mocker; a poison; violence; causes poverty, woe, sorrow, fighting, babbling, wounds without cause, red eyes, strange and adulterous thoughts, produces willfulness, and prevents reformation.

A few tidbits that I also picked up that are interesting: woe to him that makes drinks for others [bartenders], and to him who gives drinks to his neighbor.
The one thing that is clear without any doubts is drunkenness is a sin. So that settles that part of it getting drunk is a sin. Now I could list dozens of scriptures here, but the question is: Is it a sin to drink?

We know that yes Jesus did drink, and Paul told Timothy to stop drinking the water and drink wine. Some doctors advocate drinking small amounts of red wine for its health benefits. The water was probably causing his stomach problems. We have all been told when we travel to not drink the water.

The Bible does not forbid Christians from drinking any kind of drink. Drunkenness and addiction are the sin. God does not teach us to practice evil in moderation. God does not lead us into evil, we led ourselves. Alcohol goes directly to the brain, the communication center of the body. Think about that one.

It is not a sin to drink, the sin is when the consumption corrupts righteous thoughts or behavior. When drinking harms health or violates civil law. Your freedom in Christ ends when your behavior begins to harm your relationship with God and with other people.

Question: At what point does a person become "intoxicated"?
"Intoxicate ... to affect temporarily with diminished control over the physical and mental powers, by means of alcoholic liquor, a drug..." - Random House College Dictionary.

"A person is under the influence of alcohol when, due to the imbibing of alcohol, he has lost to any extent some of that clearness of intellect and self-control that he would otherwise possess" - Amer. Med Assoc via AlcoNarFax, p32
This effect is caused by 1 or 2 modern drinks.

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