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Drinking Alcoholic Beverages to the Glory of God
Drinking alcohol (without getting drunk/losing control/sinning) is not merely implied by Biblical principles, and it is not merely allowed, but is designed by God to increase the pleasure one has in a social context of eating food and talking together. The ultimate meal for Christians, Communion, is for this and other reasons, with wine, not grape juice (which is unglorified/unexulted) or watered-down wine (which is a curse according to Isaiah). I think Communion at a church should be with wine and tasty bread, both of which have been transformed by yeast. And I think it should be weekly on the Lord's Day. I moved to Oregon to attend such a church.
The Bible nowhere says alcohol is evil. It is the heart that is evil and deceitfully wicked. Being under the influence of alcohol is not sin. Getting drunk and losing control of ourselves is sin. To abstain from alcohol for the reason that so many people abuse alcohol is absurd and an affront to the Christian liberty given to us by our gracious Father. Such reasoning, if consistently applied to one's life, would require one not to do anything that other people abuse: have sex, drive a car, eat food, sleep, etc.
If the word translated "wine" in I Timothy 3 refers to a "new wine" that contained no alcohol (i.e. was not fermented), then why is it stated as an important qualification for elders and pastors? Did the Apostle Paul forbid elders and pastors to drink too much grape juice?
Those who argue that they do not want to be a bad example or put something bad or impure in their body because it is the "temple of the Holy Spirit" wrongly presuppose or conclude that God thinks alcohol is bad and fail to read the verse prior to the Bible's teaching that the "body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" in I Corinthians 6:19, which reads: "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."
The Bible nowhere teaches that it is a "higher calling" to abstain. To the contrary, it teaches that drinking alcohol or wine is not only permissible, but a joyful blessing.
1 Corinthians 10:31: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
1 Timothy 4:3-6: "They [hypocritical liars] forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed."
Deuteronomy 14:24-26: "But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice."
Judges 9:13: "But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?'"
Psalm 104:14-15: "He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate--bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart."
Proverbs 9:1-9: "Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. 'Let all who are simple come in here!' she says to those who lack judgment. 'Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding. Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will leave you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning."
Proverbs 23:20-21: "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags."
Ecclesiastes 9:7: "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do."
Isaiah 25:6: "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine--the best of meats and the finest of wines."
And take a special note of the curse of Isaiah 1:22, for those who think the wine back then was near grape juice in strength: "Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water."
So don't whine and pine when you can wine and dine : )
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