Drinking alcohol

An appropriate starting place is to allow Scripture to determine whether drinking alcoholic beverages is a sin or if it is something neither commanded nor forbidden, that is, a matter of Christian freedom.

This particular point is not difficult to determine. There is no prohibition in the Bible that declares drinking a sin in and of itself. It would be spiritual arrogance and rank legalism to declare something sinful when the Bible has not done so. And there are quite a few passages that speak of a proper and pleasing use of alcoholic beverages. Whether it be general passages like Proverbs 9:1-5, or Isaiah 55:1, or examples like Christ’s miracle in Cana (John 2:1-11), or Christ’s use of wine in the Last Supper and while instituting the Lord’s Supper, or Paul’s fatherly advice to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:23), the legitimate and proper use of alcoholic drinks is clearly established. It is a matter of Christian freedom, and we have no right to bind another’s conscience on this point.

It is precisely because it is a matter of Christian freedom, neither right nor wrong in itself, that Paul’s words in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 come into the picture here. The freedom to drink wine, for example, implies the freedom to refrain from doing so when it best serves our Christian purposes. In all matters of Christian freedom we need to ask if our doing something (or not doing something) is wise and beneficial, or potentially a cause for a weaker brother or sister to stumble spiritually (that is, to spiritually “offend” another believer). It may also become a point of Christian confession, something that needs to be done or not done to establish or testify to the truth of Scripture.