Word Of Faith Movement
Word Of Faith Movement
Alcohol
Alcohol
Is alcohol forbidden in the Bible?
Galations 5:19-21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
God forbids drunkenness. The Bible says you won’t go to heaven (inherit the kingdom of God) if you are a drunkard. If this is your lifestyle, the first step is to admit that you are not in God's will. This kind of behavior can’t be harmonized with the Christian lifestyle. This verse must be taken in context with the whole bible and what it teaches about grace. It is not what you do that saves you, but rather saving faith will lead to repentance. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you are not alone. He will never let you go. Nothing you did saved you and nothing you do will keep you from His saving grace, You will be pursued. Alice Cooper gives his testimony… “God just removed the craving for alcohol from my life. I wasn’t cured, I was healed by God. If God can part the Red Sea and create the universe, He can certainly take the alcoholism away from somebody. That’s a minor one. That’s a tiny one.”
Video: Hank Hanegraaff - Is drinking alcohol a sin ?
Genesis 9:20-21
Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
Being human, Noah had a sin nature. The bible is all true but it is not all truth; another words this scripture can't be used to support drunkeness. This wasn't Noah's lifestyle.
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
You lose self control when you get drunk and can put yourself in danger.
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Proverbs 31:4-5
It is not for kings, Lemuel— it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer,
Ephesians 5:18
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
1 Timothy 5:23
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Some enjoy the taste of alcohol and drink in moderation, others stay away from it completely to avoid any gray areas that could lead to drunkeness. . Wine is recommended for medicinal purposes. Doctors confirm that drinking wine in moderation is beneficial to your health. The Apostle Paul agrees.
Cardiovascular Disease
Moderate drinkers are less likely to suffer heart attacks than abstainers or heavy drinkers. The first scientific study of the relationship between alcohol consumption and atherosclerosis was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1904.
Coronary Heart Disease
When men increased their alcohol intake from very low to moderate, they significantly reduced their risk of coronary heart disease. The study monitored the health of 18,455 males for a period of seven years.
Coronary Vascular Disease
Moderate drinking has been found to reduce the risk of angina pectoris (chest pain). In heart attack patients, treated with alcohol, the tissues affected by low blood flow are healthier and stronger, than those who receive no alcohol, because of alcohol’s positive effects on artery walls.
Peripheral Arterial Disease: Moderate alcohol consumption appears to decrease the risk of PAD in apparently healthy men.
Intermittent Claudication
In a study of 18,339 observation, researchers found that drinking alcohol in moderation significantly reduces the risk of intermittent claudication. IC is associated with a 200% to 400% increased risk of death from cardiac disease.
Heart Attack & Stroke
Drinking in moderation has been found to help those who have suffered a heart attack survive it. To determine if moderate drinkers have fewer heart attacks because they might lead more healthful lifestyles than do abstainers or heavy drinkers, Harvard scientists recently reported their study of only healthy men who led healthful lifestyles. For up to 16 years the doctors monitored the health of 8,867 men who did not smoke, were of normal weight, exercised at least 30-60 minutes per day, and ate a balanced healthful diet. Among these healthy men with healthy lifestyles, those who consumed anywhere from 1/2 to two alcoholic drinks of beer, wine or liquor per day had significantly decreased risk of heart attacks. Compared to abstaining, drinking in moderation is associated with a reduced risk of stroke, whereas abusing alcohol is associated with an increased risk of stroke. A study of over 22,000 male physicians aged 40-84 years old over an average of 12 years, concluded, “Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption reduces the overall risk of stroke and the risk of ischemic stroke in men. The benefit is apparent with as little as one drink per week.
Romans 14:21
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
There are some social situations where you use better judgment by abstaining from what is lawful
Acts: 2:13
Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Some argue that the wine of that day was non- alcoholic. However, the Apostles were accused of being babbling drunkards at Pentecost when they were actually speaking in tongues.
Luke 7:33-34
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
Jesus participated in a Passover Seder, which involves drinking wine while reciting many things, including the story of the passover. He was also accused of being a glutton and a drunkard because he hung out with the wrong crowd. Jesus lived a sinless life and hung out with sinners.
1 Corinithians 5:11
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner – not even to eat with such a person.
John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now! ” This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
Alcohol was used in Jesus’ first miracle even after some guests were already drunk. . The wine Jesus produced was apparently more full-bodied than what would ordinarily be served at that point in the feast. Typically, after drinking the good stuff, the cheaper stuff would be brought out for the guests. Wine and well drunk in John 2:10 (Greek: oinos and methuo), are the same words used in Ephesians 5:18, “be not drunk with wine.” The meaning of "Methuo " means drunk in both cases.
Hosea 4:11
“Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart.
Isaiah 28:1-3
Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Emphraim, Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valleys, To those who are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Emphraim, Will be trampled underfoot;
Leviticus 10:8-11
Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying: “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”
Habakkak 2:15-16
“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his nakedness! You are filled with shame instead of glory. You also drink!
Luke 1:15
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
Archaeologists believe beer was a staple in the Israelite diet, just as it was throughout the ancient Near East, but English translations of the bible never translate the Hebrew word shekhar as “beer.” When used as a noun, shekhar appears 20 times in the Hebrew Bible.
In all but one of these (Num 28:7) it stands in parallel to “wine”. Num 28:7 And its drink offering shall be one-fourth of a hin for each lamb; in a holy place you shall pour out the drink to the LORD as an offering. It is similar to wine in that it is fermented and is capable of causing drunkenness, but it is also distinct from wine. In time, the word “beer” came to designate the state of drunkenness, In the bible, the word shekhar is often used as a verb which means “to get drunk”, a parallel linguistic usage that furthers the case for shekhar as “beer.”
Isaiah 29:9
Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
Deuteronomy 8:8
A land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; Unlike grapes that are harder to produce and can only be grown in certain regions, barley can be easily grown throughout Egypt and Mesopotamia, where the soil and weather conditions are different. Wine was often imported from Palestine, Phoenicia and Greece, where grapes more readily grew. Because the authors of Numbers and Judges elaborate on grapes and their products, some have contended that shekhar must be grape-based. Yet nowhere does the text state that shekhar is produced by grapes.
Alcohol was effective at killing bacteria found in tainted water supplies and it was used medicinally for stomach ailments and coughs. Barley, one of the more popular grains for making beer was (and is) the main ingredient. The bible records barley as one of the most abundant and important crops of ancient Israel. It is one of the seven species of plants with which the Promised Land is blessed.
Judges 13:1-5
Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” The issue here is that the Nazirite and a woman pregnant with a child destined to be a Nazirite must not come in contact with alcoholic beverages. The Biblical text mention grapes (a single grape contains the ingredients necessary to ferment and produce alcohol: sugar, liquid and yeast) and some other drink (Barley, however cannot ferment on its own).
Cited Resources: The World Health Organization Technical Committee of Cardiovascular Disease, Biblical Archaeology Review: Sep/Oct 2010
Peter builds on this understanding (1 Pet 2:24).