Is it true that drinking alcohol is a sin?
- Vicent Nemeyimana
- March 23, 2015
- Motivation and Inspiration
Oh yeah, this has been an amazing question over years. The fact is that the bible has a lot of verses condemning the use of alcohol. For example Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deut 29:6, Judges 13:4, Prov 20:1 and Isaiah 5:11. The challenge is that there is a need to analyze the meaning of these verses, when they were said and to who. Also, the same bible has verses that embrace alcohol. For example, Psalms 104:14-15, Ecclesiastes 9:7, Amos 9:14 and Isaiah 55:1. These verses talk about alcohol as a blessing and source of gladness to the heart. Don`t forget that Timothy was advised to take alcohol by apostle Paul so he could be okay from health problems.
The question is already flashing out: Is the bible contradicting itself? No, the answer is there in the verses. Alcohol is prohibited to certain people and during certain procedures. For example priests were not allowed to indulge in alcohol during their duties. Also the sick, the old and certain special groups were not or are not allowed to take alcohol. The references for these deductions are just in the above verses that condemn alcohol. Read them carefully. Every time a caution about alcohol was issued, it was to some special people or those doing some kind of activities.
So what is the answer to our question? Alcohol is not a sin. It is only a sin if over-used {drunkenness}. Also, if you are a born again who swore never to take alcohol, then taking it is a sin. It is the same as a priest who swore never to marry passing behind and getting a woman. Alcohol itself is not a sin and there is no verse that straightly condemns it. Actually, there is no straight condemnation on any man`s food. It is a matter of faith to either make a sin with what you eat and drink or turn it into your source of satisfaction and joy.
God forbids drunkenness so much and it is a sin to get drunk. I hope we are clear here. The bible is clear that Christians should not allow anything to control their bodies, whether sex or alcohol or money {1 Cor 6:12, 2Peter 2:19}. Also Christians should not do anything that cause their neighbors to sin or that is contradicting with their own conscience {1Cor 8:9-13}. Proverbs 23:29-35 clearly condemns over-drinking and its effects and any person who indulges in alcohol is truly sinning. So it is not taking alcohol that is a sin, it is what happens after that makes you a sinner. Over-drinking makes you lose control of yourself and thus can make others sin or get caught up in a sin yourself. Also, you can cause accidents and injuries to yourself or someone else or abuse people or get relationship problems or fail to support your people financially or get sick from it. This is clear even to a blind person that you are doing wrong and thus sinning.
But alcohol well-taken and controlled is a glorious time.
So why do we encourage people not to drink if they wanna stay Christians? The answer is simple. In about one hundred people who drink alcohol, about one or two can actually control its intake and side effects. This simply means that almost all people who take alcohol are as well drunkards. No matter how you feel you can control yourself, you will lose that potential once you start drinking and eventually become a drunco. So the advise of the gospel is to stop drinking alcohol not because it is a sin itself but because it will make you sin. Yeah, that is in line with the reason i don`t drink alcohol. Also, any person interested in advancement in both spiritual and physical health avoids alcohol too. Remember the bible asks us to grow day after day and advance in spiritual life and this is usually not easy when alcohol is your hobby.
We are done. Alcohol or taking it is not a sin at all but how much you take and what it makes you do, think, feel or say turns you into a sinner. For better results, avoid it at all.
