I have a friend who drnks wine. And yesterday he was quoting Jesus in Luke 7:34
The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
KJV
He was using it to justify his drining habits, saying that Jesus himself used to to drink. I dont have any other explaination, but i dont believe this is true. Somebody help with a hermeneutical commentary please.

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Lusayo Mhango

Is there anyone interested in replying to this topic??

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Lusayo Mhango

Sorry that no one has replied yet. To be honest, I'm not surprised, it's a controversial subject, and there are probably others who use this forum and do drink wine and will use scripture to justify it.

However, going by your question and your concern for your friend's drinking habit, it would appear that you do not drink yourself, and that you suppose Christians should not drink.

I suppose also that your friend is a Christian.

In the scripture you quote in Luke Jesus says 'The Son of Man has come eating and drinking...'

What of it?

What else did Jesus do? He fasted 40 days, cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead...

No doubt, if Jesus did all that, why don't we?

Also, in 1 Cor 8v13, the apostle Paul says, 'Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble'

If food can be a stumbling block, then what about alcohol?

That scripture refered to eating in an idols temple.

What if someone sees you drinking alcohol in a bar, pub or in any social gathering?

How is God glorified when we drink alcohol? I'd like someone to show me in scripture where God is glorified through the drinking of alcohol.

A favourite scripture of drinkers is that in 1 Tim 5v23, 'No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infimities'

First, it shows Timothy only drank water, and Paul's advise to him was to use the wine for him infirmities.

What the infirmites were is not recorded, but that was what the wine was to be used for.

Fact is, if a so called Christian wants to drink alcohol they will. There isn't a scripture in the Bible that will stop them from doing so.

If you have a conviction about alcohol, stay as far away from it as you can.

Sorry to be so long, but no one else has replied yet, so I took advantage!

God bless.

I would also recommend a book by David Wilkerson. "Sipping Saints". I belive it is out of print, but you could probably find it on Half.com, Amazon.com, or Ebay. It deals very straight foward with this issue.
God Bless!

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Adam Moore

Jesus said it best.
16. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17. Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

The man would have a point if one were to follow the false teaching of today’s churches denying grace and glorifying self-righteousness.

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Eddie

While scripture is full of warnings concerning the excessive comsumption of alcohol, there is no prohibition. Over the years I've heard all the arguments, all the debates. I've heard people try to explain that the wine Jesus turned the water into was really grape juice.

Fact is, it wasnt grape juice, it was wine.

Anyway, I digress. No where in scripture is the drinking of alcohol forbidden or off limits for the believer. However, drunkeness is clearly forbidden. All things in moderation.

The question the believer has to ask himself tho is... why drink alcohol anyway? Now, there are some health benefits to drinking wine/beer. I've read a lot of articles about how a glass of wine/beer daily along with a piece of dark chocolate can help reduce levels of bad cholesterol.

Muscadine wine is almost 10 time more effective at reducing cholesterol than any other natural way, including red wine. I say when there is a natural way to acheive good health, do it that way rather than lining the pockets of the pharmecuetical companies and waiting to find out that that pill will increase your risk of sudden death.

But other than the health benefits... what does a Christian gain by drinking alcohol? Thats a personal question each of us must ask ourselves.

Personally, it's no secret that I do have a glass of wine, usually privately with my wife... and probably only a couple times a year.

I do have a beer now and then, again only a few times a year, and never more than one. If I'm out mowing the lawn or something, and it's 98 degrees in the shade, I'll have a cold beer.

I do not encourage others to follow me in this, I encourage others to seek God, and ask Him what it is that He wants for them. It might be different for them for many reasons.

Whenever there is no clear directive from scripture concerning a topic, this is what the believer needs to do. Pray about it, seek God, and let the Holy Spirit teach them. The Holy Spirit may convict them differently than He does someone else. We can not comprehend the mind of God, and there may be reasons why one believer is convicted one way, and another isnt.

This is a lot like the topic of keeping the sabbath, and which day is the sabbath... Paul addressed it like this:

Romans 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. [b]Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.[/b]

Hope that helps. I'm sure some will strongly disagree with me, and say that my answer will encourage people to drink... but if thats what you think, then you dont understand what I'm saying. Truth is truth, and sometimes truth is hard to wrestle with.

Krispy

By the way, it's interesting that if you look down thru history, the total abstinance of alcohol in the church is a relatively new concept. It really has more to with the Prohibition Era in America than it does with scripture. The "Temperance Movement" of the 1800's did much to change the church's stand on alcohol.

From what I understand, attitudes among Christians in Europe concerning alcohol is quite different than it is here in the US. Perhaps some of our European brethren could address this?

Again... certainly am NOT promoting the consumption of alcohol... just dealing with facts instead of emotions. People need to study these things to show themselves approved. Not just go along with the crowd.

Krispy

I have a friend that used to be a drunkard(todays standard, an all out alchoholic).

He got saved and now we like to have a nice glass of GOOD wine every now and then. I prefere whit or blush, he likes the red.

Tells me that God can surly deliver a drunkard to life.

I must say, once again I agree with Krispy, wonders never cease! : )

My wife and I drink wine on occasion, but we are very strict in our use, we never like to drink around the unsaved if we can avoid it, and we stick to non-alchoholic beverages when friends that don't drink come over.

We like many different kinds of alchohol and drinks, and it has not been a stumbling block for us, or for any friends.


One thing that may be slightly unique to my situation is that I grew up in a house that did not smoke or drink, well outside of my grandpa's pipe. But drinking was never an issue to me or a snare in any way.

I always had a simple view of how it was in Christ's time, if you drank wine, that usually meant you were somewhat blessed, not that you were a sinner. They had water, juice, milk, and wine.

Wine was choice drink, served with special occasions, weddings, feasts, celebrations of all kind, and Jesus obviously drank, He tells the disciples that He will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the wedding feast of the lamb.

Sorry to tell ya'll this, but there's gonna be wine in heaven too, oh no!

Personally, I can't wait to try it, because if the stuff he made at the wedding in canah was good, imagine how good the stuff at His own wedding will be!

It might do some Christians some good to drink a little wine, maybe they would relax and live longer.

: ) : )

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Benjamin Williams