Alcohol and Christianity

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Alcohol and Christianity

Several scriptures encourage us to stay away from alcohol. It doesn’t actually forbid everyone from drinking alcoholic beverages.

Old Testament
Leviticus 10:9
Numbers 6:3
Deuteronomy 14:26; 29:6
Judges 13:4.7,14
1 Samuel 1:15
Proverbs 20:1; 31:4,6
Isaiah 5:11,22; 24:9; 28:7; 29:9; 56:12
Micah 2:11

New Testament
Luke 1:15

We are commanded to avoid drunkenness though.

Proverbs 23:28-35
Ephesians 5:18

We are also commanded to not allow our bodies to be “mastered” by anything.

1 Corinthians 8:9-13
2 Peter 2:19

Scripture also forbids us from doing anything that offends other believers or might encourage them to sin against their conscience

1 Corinthians 8:9-13

It would be hard for Christians to say they are drinking alcohol to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Jesus changed water into wine. It even seems that Jesus likely drank wine on occasion (John 2:1-11; Matt 26:29). In New Testament times, the water was not very clean. Without modern sanitation efforts, the water was filled with bacteria, viruses, and all kinds of contaminates. The same is true in most third-world countries today. As a result, people often drank wine (or grape juice) because it was far less likely to be contaminated.

1 Timothy 5:23,

Paul was instructing Timothy to stop drinking the water (which was probably causing his stomach problems) and instead drink wine.