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is it a sin to drink alcohol?

Kirsten

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In acts they got saved and were added to the church. They counted the number added. They were not members of the church until they were added to the church.
Matthew 16
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
 
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Tishri1

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Thanks! I wish she had never said those words because I wasted all those years being resentful and fearful of God instead of loving my Heavenly Father fully and completely.

And today I am the mother of two natural children and one adopted child (all adult children).

I also apologize for posting here as I just realized this is your folks private forum as I am not Baptist.

But I was saved in the Baptist Church in 2nd grade!!!
 
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RDKirk

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I see. Having no rational position yourself, you must depend on ridicule. But I'll speak to you as though you would respond with honest discussion in stead of diatribe.

The early Christians practiced what they called an agape feast as well as a communion. The difference between the agape feast and just an ordinary meal is that it seems to have been relatively formal in practice--probably because of Paul's injunction to the Corinthians--to emphasize equanimity despite their differences in secular social station. Their practice seems to have been somewhat varied--sometimes they took part at the same time, sometimes they were separated. When separated, sometimes the agape feast was in the morning and communion was in the evening, sometimes that was reversed.

Both the agape feasts and communion had been falsely communicated during the 2nd century to Caesar as horrendous events so immoral that even the pagan Romans would abhore them. Christians were known to be rescuing the imperfect babies the Romans abandoned in the forests. Communion was falsely characterized to Caesar as a blood orgy in which those babies were sacrified and their blood and flesh eaten. The early Christian apologist Athenagoras defended Christians before Ceasar on that charge in 140 AD, pointing out that Christians had been preaching against Roman abortion and child abandonment.

Likewise, Justin Martyr pointed out in 160 AD that their agape feasts were not drunken orgies, but that what wine they drunk was watered down--which was the common case, because the water supplied to the Jewish quarter of Rome was not potable.

A Roman governor, Pliny the Younger, around 100 AD investigated Christianity (which included, as he frankly stated, torturing a couple of deaconesses) and discovered that their agape feasts were just "ordinary meals."
 
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contango

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Frankly I find it quite comical to see people arguing about alcohol on the basis of maybe being "1% drunk" or "10% drunk", and throwing around ideas like "the only way to be sure of not getting drunk is not to drink alcohol at all". The way to avoid getting drunk is not to drink enough to get drunk.

What happens if we apply these same arguments to other areas of our lives? The only way to avoid gluttony is to never eat anything that isn't necessary for our survival. So best put away that very modest slice of cake, don't you know it's the first step on the slippery slope into gluttony? If you're eating anything other than boiled cabbage maybe you're taking the first steps towards sinfulness.

Maybe we should avoid driving at all. You know, we wouldn't want to sin by breaking the speed limit and the only way to be sure of never breaking the speed limit is not to drive at all. Or maybe we should take such drastic steps to make sure we're not involved in an accident that wounds or kills another person that we'd better just not get behind the wheel at all, ever.

What about going to work? That looks really bad, it shows the world that we don't trust God to provide for us, and if we're earning anything more than the absolute minimum we need to survive maybe we need to downsize because we're taking those first steps towards coveting money. And we know what the Bible says about the love of money, right?

Christians using the internet? We can't be having that. Everybody knows the internet is riddled with pornography, so we'd best avoid the appearance of evil by not using the internet at all. We wouldn't want to look like a people who downloaded pornography, so perhaps it's best to stay off the internet completely.

Or we could just maintain a sense of perspective, and make our own decisions whether to drink in moderation or not, rather than getting caught up in ever-sillier legalistic arguments that ultimately go nowhere.
 
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Kirsten

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Amen.
 
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contango

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Personally I would say yes. Romans 15 talks about how your personal preferences and to go against them is something you shouldn't do, even if it is allowable.

It may be a sin for one individual person to drink alcohol if they have been personally convicted not to do it.

To say that it is universally sinful for any Christian to drink alcohol is a very different statement, that the Bible just doesn't seem to support.
 
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RDKirk

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Personally I would say yes. Romans 15 talks about how your personal preferences and to go against them is something you shouldn't do, even if it is allowable.

No, that's not what it says. Before you get to Romans 14 or 15, you have to get through Romans 12:

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

It's not your personal preferences, it's always the will of God. Romans 14 and 15 is for Christians who have the mind of Christ.
 
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