Here is the third installment of my Wine & Strong Drink series. Hopefully you all are still interested. This begins the part of my paper where I discuss other people’s arguments. Once I broke them down I found them lacking. My paper has four common arguments for teaching abstinence as “God’s Ideal” or drinking as “sin”. Here is the first of those four.
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Others’ Arguments
Abstaining from Alcohol is God’s Ideal
Some have argued that abstinence is God’s ideal, citing Numbers 6, Matthew 11, and Jeremiah 35. Taken separately and taken as a whole these texts fail to prove their argument. A look at each text, in context, is very helpful.
In Numbers 6, God lays out his plans for the Nazarite vow. A Nazarite would take a special vow; dedicating himself to the Lord for a specific amount of time. A Nazarite was to “abstain from wine and strong drink.” (Num. 6:2) Some people consider this to be God’s ideal. In 6:2-21 God gives other ordinances for a Nazarite. These ordinances include not drinking vinegar, not drinking juice, not eating any part of the grape, not cutting their hair, not going near a dead person, etc. It would be wrong to arbitrarily choose abstaining from wine and strong drink from this list of ordinance as God’s ideal. From a standpoint of logic, if the Nazarite vow is God’s ideal they are all His ideals. In 6:13-21 God lays out his plan for what a Nazarite should do when they fulfill their vow. Verse 20 states, that they may “drink wine (yayin).” God has clearly permitted the fulfilled-Nazarites to drink wine. The logical conclusion is that it is not a requirement for anyone, outside of this vow, to abstain from wine. It is also contrary to biblical principle that God desires some to act in this “ideal” manner (i.e. Nazarites) and not all, and even further, that after a period of time He would release them from their obligation to act in the ideal way even though they were perfectly able to keep the Nazarite vow. Jesus says that Christians are to “be perfect, as [their] heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).
According to Jesus, there had not been a man born of a woman greater than John the Baptist (Matt. 11). Truthfully there is little known about John the Baptist from the Bible. Some of what can be known is that he baptized Jesus (Matt. 3:13-16), he came in the spirit of Elijah (Matt. 11:14), and he was beheaded by Herod (Matt. 14:10). There is no hard evidence to support the idea that he had taken the Nazarite vow or that his life was intended to reflect a Nazarite’s life. In Luke 1, God tells Zacharias (John the Baptist’s father) that his son will drink no wine (oinos) or strong drink (sikera), which is either a command or a prophecy, not a voluntary vow. In Luke 7, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees about them saying that John the Baptist has a demon because he does not eat bread or drink wine (oinos). Jesus continues, saying that because He had come eating and drinking they called Him a glutton and a winebibber. Jesus obviously mentions this to show their inconsistency; they called John the Baptist demon possessed for not eating bread and not drinking wine and they called Jesus a glutton and winebibber for doing the opposite. This text serves another purpose for Christians; it proves that Jesus took part in wine. First, the opposite of “not eating bread and not drinking wine” is “eating bread and drinking wine.” Second, the obvious exaggeration of the Pharisees also proves that Jesus was drinking wine – they would not have called Him a winebibber if He was not drinking wine. Since Jesus was fully God the argument that abstaining from wine as God’s ideal simply falls apart with this evidence. Furthermore, Jesus was also fully man, so if God’s ideal only applies to man the argument still falls apart.
In Jeremiah 35 the reader learns that the Rechabites have been commanded by their father to abstain from alcohol. God commands Jeremiah to give them wine to drink. Jeremiah does so and they refuse, citing their father’s command. God then commends the Rechabites for their obedience to their father. It is incorrect to think that God is commending the Rechabites for their abstinence, because God says, “they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you [Judah] again and again yet you have not listened to Me” (Jer. 35:13-14). The Rechabite’s father also commanded them not to build houses or sow seeds or plant vineyards. As with Numbers 6, it would be wrong to arbitrarily take the Rechabites abstinence of wine as God’s ideal, since building houses, sowing seeds, and planting vineyards are all within God’s permission, at the very least.
Abstaining from Alcohol is Consistent with Biblical Principles
There are a number of texts and biblical ideas cited to prove that abstaining from alcohol is the best policy for a Christian. These texts and ideas include the principle of edification (1 Cor. 6:12; 10:23; 14:26), the principle of refusing that which enslaves (1 Cor. 6:12), and the ethic of love for believers and unbelievers (1 Cor. 8:13; 9:19-22; 10:32-33).
Edification is doing something that builds up another person, whether it is emotional, spiritual, or physical. The Bible teaches that edification is something believers should consistently be doing to one another. If partaking of wine is inconsistent with edification then it is clearly wrong. A few verses in the Old and New Testaments shed some light on this issue. In Deuteronomy 14, God commands those who are too far from the temple to sell their tithe and purchase whatever their heart desires, including wine (yayin) and strong drink (shekar), and that they should “eat there before the LORD your God and [they] shall rejoice.” The writer of the wisdom literature in Proverbs 31 states that one should give strong drink (shekar) to the perishing – obviously for medical/pain-relief reasons. In the same chapter and verse the writer states that one should give wine (yayin) to “him whose life is bitter” reasoning, “let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more.” Since the same writer tells Lemuel in verse 4 that wine (yayin) is not for Kings and strong drink (shekar) is not for princes one can conclude that he is offering up truly wise and balanced advice, advice that can help in lifting up those who are perishing and those who have fallen on hard times. Jesus also partook from the “cup of the fruit of the vine” during the last supper, sharing wine with His apostles, something that will be shared again in the Father’s Kingdom (Matt. 26); obviously a promise not inconsistent with edification. In 1 Timothy 5 Paul tells Timothy to drink wine for his stomach ailments, in an attempt to help build up his brother in Christ during a sickness.
The principle of refusing that which enslaves is a hard principle to work out from Scripture. Mainly because the verse used above reads, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.” Looking closely at the context reveals that “not being mastered by anything” does not come by refusing things that enslave but by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of each believer. Furthermore Romans 6:22 assures the believer that they are free from sin and enslaved to God. The greek word for enslave (douloō) occurs 8 times in the New Testament. In most cases it refers to the Christian no longer being enslaved to sin and non-Christians being enslaved to sin. Titus 2:3 is the only time “douloō” is used in a negative Christian context, telling women that they should not be enslaved to “much wine (oinos).” Note it is “much wine” that enslaves, not “wine” or “little wine.”
The ethic of love for believers and unbelievers is obviously something that is taught in Scripture by command, by Jesus’ example, and by His numerous witnesses’ examples. A problem arises when appealing to the ethic of love. The problem is whether or not drinking wine hurts the believer’s witness among the lost and whether or not drinking wine offends our brothers and sisters in Christ. Unfortunately these questions cannot be directly answered from the Bible because they are cultural and personal.
In some parts of the United States if someone is drinking alcohol people will probably assume that they get drunk and that drunkenness is acceptable. Drunkenness is clearly condemned in the Bible by God and by His witnesses. Therefore drinking in America could hurt your witness which would go against the ethic of love. Although, Jesus drank wine in front of unbelievers, some of them assumed that He was winebibber, but this did not stop Jesus from drinking in front of them, instead He corrected them by revealing their inconsistency (Luke 7).
The same cultural stigma of drinking being assumed as getting drunk can be found in the Christian Church. Christians have a duty not to offend their weaker brothers and sisters, so they should abstain from drinking if it offends them. There is also another principle that needs to be applied here; the principle of discipleship. If it is not wrong to drink wine than it is up to the stronger Christian to show his weaker brothers and sisters the truth about the differences in enjoying a glass of wine and getting drunk. This should always be done by using God’s word to teach, to refute, to correct, and to train in righteous (2 Tim 3:16). Discipleship, education, and discipline will help mature weaker brothers and sisters, as well as help reduce misdirected social standards.
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Wine & Strong Drink – Part 1
Wine & Strong Drink – Part 2
