alcohol

[dreadnought]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.
After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is.

However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight.
In the bible it says if we feel guilty its a sin to us.
I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

Also, maybe because the culture looks at alcohol as worldly and since things are viewed differently now, I wouldnt want someone to stumble and think im living in sin "only because alcohol is such a problem these days"



advice

I used to drink too much, and the Lord led me to stop drinking. Now I have no desire for it whatsoever. The Bible doesn't absolutely forbid drinking, and if someone feels the need to drink a little, I think that is okay. However, for everyone else, I'd suggest they stay away from alcohol. It is addictive and can cause great destruction.

 

[Kenny'sID]

I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

I'd guess that is the problem. Whatever you choose to do, at least you should know the truth, as you now do.

If you can take it or leave it, I'd probably leave it. I haven't had any alcohol for years now, just don't like it anymore but I can almost see myself tying one on as a type of medication due to great loss or whatever, but don't know if I would.

 

[RaymondG]

Really? Where?

EX: "8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;"
Do you need more?

 

[Dave-W]

EX: "8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;"
Do you need more?

Since the direction for moderation in alcohol (do not get drunk) is the same for everyone, how is this any different? It is just making sure they are following the general rules.

How is this a different amount? No one is supposed to be "given to much wine."

 

[RaymondG]

Since the direction for moderation in alcohol (do not get drunk) is the same for everyone, how is this any different? It is just making sure they are following the general rules.

How is this a different amount? No one is supposed to be "given to much wine."

This is one office....there are others that are told not to drink wine at all. I asked if you needed more. If you do, just say so.

 

[Dave-W]

This is one office....there are others that are told not to drink wine at all. I asked if you needed more. If you do, just say so.

Ok bring it on.

The only group who were not allowed to drink alcohol were the nazirites, and that is NOT an "office." It is a temporary vow.

 

[DamianWarS]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.
After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is.

However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight.
In the bible it says if we feel guilty its a sin to us.
I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

Also, maybe because the culture looks at alcohol as worldly and since things are viewed differently now, I wouldnt want someone to stumble and think im living in sin "only because alcohol is such a problem these days"

advice

the things we do either work towards or against giving glory to God. If you are unable to give glory to God by consuming alcohol then it is a "stumbling block" to you because it is getting in the way of your worship toward God. It may be best for you to abstain from such things until your "heart feelings" can catch up with your "head knowledge". If we violate our conscience too easily then our minds are not fruitful and the product can feel like rebellion. With repetition it may confuse how we approach things and we may lose a connection with our own moral compass and it also may communicate to others a different message.

We should be slaves to our mission and if you have established your mission and start to engage with it then you can understand better if having a beer will be a benefit to sharing the gospel and if abstaining could actually be a hindrance. As we grow in maturity we should shed our stumbling blocks and be able to adjust ourselves to our mission so then our choices we make are not about ourselves anymore but about how to share the gospel best to our mission. Paul tells us "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."

This is not a cause to violate your conscience it is a cause to share the gospel. If you drink beer with a bunch of buddies they may start asking questions "I thought you didn't believe in this" or "Aren't you a Christian" Well, you need to be able to answer them in a way that gives glory to God not in a way that makes it sound like your are violating your conscience.

So make sure you actually are not violating your conscience because people can tell. Don't be afraid to be honest with people too and engage with them on the topic. You are free to tell people "not yet" and explain your struggle and that your faith is important to you when make choices. You then gain respect and have an opportunity to expose people to a side of scripture they may not know like "the bible condemns drunkenness but not drinking and it's still something I'm working through". Your mission (non-believers) can actually keep you accountable on this because you let them know your boundaries and you can even ask them to help you keep them.

 

[RaymondG]

Ok bring it on.

The only group who were not allowed to drink alcohol were the nazirites, and that is NOT an "office." It is a temporary vow.

Ex2:
"For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre"

For comparison I give the following:
"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;"

I know aged women is not an office....just wanted to list it in case you felt "not given to wine" was the same as little wine, or just not getting drunk.

 

[Dave-W]

Again, both are left off before getting drunk. They are the same requirements.

BTW, in the case of the nazirite, they also could not eat grapes, or drink unfermented grape juice, or eat raisins, or (from oral tradition) even eat stuffed grape leaves.

 

[RaymondG]

Again, both are left off before getting drunk. They are the same requirements.

BTW, in the case of the nazirite, they also could not eat grapes, or drink unfermented grape juice, or eat raisins, or (from oral tradition) even eat stuffed grape leaves.

so what is the difference in not being given to wine and not being given to much wine?

 

[Dave-W]

In the mindset of the day, not much. Probably just the way he wanted to word it at the moment.

 

[RaymondG]

In the mindset of the day, not much. Probably just the way he wanted to word it at the moment.

My fault.....if you know the mindset of the day 2000 years ago.....I should have never questioned you. Please carry on.

 

[Christie insb]

.
LEVITICUS.10: = 8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: 9 “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. ..."
.

The passage you quote is addressed to the Levites, the priests of Israel, not all people.

.
Unless new Christians are already alcoholics or addicts, they should stay away from alcohol or other intoxicating/psychotropic drugs, eg sleeping pills, marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, etc.

On the other hand I do not think people who are addicts or alcoholics should in any way test God by "trying" alcohol. It is certainly easier not to try alcohol to begin with than to quit once it becomes a problem. I hate to say what circumstances are okay to drink under, but if you drink to manage your feelings, take it to the Lord in prayer, not to alcohol.

 

[aiki]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.
After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is.

However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight.

While it might not qualify as sin, drinking alcohol is, I think, what is called a "weight" in Hebrews 12:1. It is not precisely morally wrong to drink alcohol, but given its evil associations in the culture, it's fundamentally toxic nature, it's capacity to powerfully diminish proper inhibitions and reason, and its record of destruction of individual lives and families, drinking alcohol is an unnecessarily risky and morally-dubious behaviour for a follower of Christ. Typically, when a person engages in activities that entail unnecessary risk we call them foolish. As far as I'm concerned, that is a well-earned description of those Christians who partake of alcoholic beverages.

 

[Brian Mcnamee]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.
After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is.

However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight.
In the bible it says if we feel guilty its a sin to us.
I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

Also, maybe because the culture looks at alcohol as worldly and since things are viewed differently now, I wouldnt want someone to stumble and think im living in sin "only because alcohol is such a problem these days"



advice

Hi its funny a sister church of ours in Scotland the beer is so enriched in the culture they have a keg in the fellowship hall and worry about us drinking coffee all day long over here. I think alcohol to some degree is like an exclamation point that if used at the right times can be a good accent. Like a wedding, 4th of July, super bowl but if you put one on every sentence it is not good. Being wasted is not ever condoned but there is something about a little making the heart merry and it seems to be appropriate for certain celebrations.

 

[GingerBeer]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.

After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is. However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight. In the bible it says if we feel guilty its a sin to us. I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

Also, maybe because the culture looks at alcohol as worldly and since things are viewed differently now, I wouldnt want someone to stumble and think im living in sin "only because alcohol is such a problem these days"

advice

The wine used in communion is alcoholic so drinking wine is intended to be partking in something that was alcoholic. It may be that your church used juice rather than wine but Jesus and the desciples used wine and the generations that followed them also used wine and that continued until recent times. It was the temperance movement that made people think of wine and alcohol as quintessentially worldly and wicked. That is not how Christians ought to view it. You are right that alcohol is no sin but drunkeness is.

 

[Cat Loaf You]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.
After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is.

However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight.
In the bible it says if we feel guilty its a sin to us.
I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

Also, maybe because the culture looks at alcohol as worldly and since things are viewed differently now, I wouldnt want someone to stumble and think im living in sin "only because alcohol is such a problem these days"



advice

If you crave it then you are addicted , just test yourself if you can live for example 60 days without it .

 

[discipler7]

LEVITICUS.10: = 8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: 9 “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. ..."

.

That was a specific group when they were doing a specific function. It is the equivalent of telling the pastor and ministry heads to not get drunk before church services.

It is not and was not a blanket prohibition for all believbers at all times.

1CORINTHIANS.3: = 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

1PETER.2: = 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

REVELATION.1: = To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

[thesunisout]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.
After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is.

However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight.
In the bible it says if we feel guilty its a sin to us.
I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

Also, maybe because the culture looks at alcohol as worldly and since things are viewed differently now, I wouldnt want someone to stumble and think im living in sin "only because alcohol is such a problem these days"



advice

Romans 14:23

And he that doubts is damned if he eat, because he eats not of faith: for whatever is not of faith is sin.

 

[Tom 1]

I have asked this before but I wanted to ask in a different forum.
After research I have noticed alcohol is not a sin, drunkeness is.

However I still feel guilty If I were to have a beer or two?

Would like some insight.
In the bible it says if we feel guilty its a sin to us.
I have been brought up my whole life alcohol is bad so maybe thats why i feel this way?

Also, maybe because the culture looks at alcohol as worldly and since things are viewed differently now, I wouldnt want someone to stumble and think im living in sin "only because alcohol is such a problem these days"



advice

I think you need to figure out first why this bothers you so much