Saturday, February 09, 2008
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2008-02-09 Alcohol does not equal sin...
This question came across my vision and thus a stream of thoughts... I agree with the person who posed the question in the midst of his blog entry.
Do you see anything in Scripture that would suggest drinking an alcoholic beverage is a sin? If so, please present the case with Scripture and or references.
Our god is the thing that consumes us. Our idol is the thing that consumes us. If we are consumed by a substance, then that is our focus, our god, our idol. If we are consumed by perfect love, then that is our focus, our God, our idol. Putting rules and laws in place in order to make something “unlawful” does not change the heart or desire or consumed-ness of a man.
Jesus declared the Father, revealed the Father, brought the Father out where the Father can be seen; He interpreted the Father; and made the Father known (John 1:18). The things that Christ did are the Father’s work (John 4:34). Jesus can do nothing of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it, he cannot; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner, for the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing (John 5:19-20). Jesus’ first public miracle was turning water into wine.
Jesus can do nothing on His own initiative. As He hears, He judges; and His judgment is just, because He does not seek His own will, but the will of God who sent Him (John 5:30). Jesus did nothing but the will of the Father who had sent Him. Jesus turned that water into wine, He partook of wine, He, at times, actually looked like a drunkard and a glutton (food).
If consuming alcohol is a sin, then Jesus was a sinner. Anyone want to accuse him of that?
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Comments (3)
Thanks for adding another scriptural aspect of the answer to this question!
God bless!
Bernie
It might also be interesting to know that weak wine of that day is probably more like our hard cider, not the mega proof alcohol that we think of when we think of wine. It is not wine in particular, but excess. We do have to be careful though, because if it is a habit, if it increases it may be something between you and God. A friend of ours who is a recovering alcoholic once told us about the first AA meeting he went to, and the speaker told the audience that he drank two bottles of vodka a day, and our friend left the meeting concluding that he wasn't an alcoholic for he only drank one bottle of vodka a day. Not all things that are addictive are sinful either, I was caught up on Sodoku puzzles, and was doing them way too often in a day, and God told me to put them aside for the time being. See they were taking me away from worship and study of God. For another person Sodoku is not a problem, but for me it was. I think we need to be really careful.
Heather
@wondering04 - I agree completely! It is not the wine, but the excess. All things are permissible, not all things are beneficial. It is the excess, the control over us that needs to be evaluated for benefit to the life being lived.
I'm coming to see that more things that are addictive are "sinful" to use your word or not beneficial (to use the idea that comes to my mind in evaluating/judging for myself) than we tend to think. Being caught up on Sodoku puzzles, caffeinated drinks, scrap booking, bowling, video games, etc. is not beneficial if the fruit of such is not glorifying God. Anything that takes us away from worship (which is done with our lives) and time with God is on the road to being less than beneficial. Everything has potential to be used by God for correcting, edification, encouragement and strengthening us in Love; what matters is where our hearts and minds are during those activities.
We do need to be really careful as the mindset in the culture that someone lives will begin to make certain things seem alright or acceptable, when really... each thing needs to be judged by each person.for benefit to his/her life.
Thanks for the comment! I appreciate where my thoughts and heart were brought because of your sharing.