By Gabriel Swaggart

Question: “Is it scriptural for a Believer to drink?”

 

As a Youth Pastor, there are several questions that constantly come up, and one of them has to do with the Believer and alcohol. Many will say that it’s OK to drink alcohol, just as long as you do it in moderation. They will use the Lord’s Supper and the First Miracle of Christ to support their claim.

I would like to take the same passages of Scripture to explain why it’s not OK for a Believer to drink alcohol.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER

 

Let’s take a look at the Lord’s Supper. In the description of the Lord’s Supper, the word “wine” is never found in the text. We are told in every passage that relates to this topic, “He took the cup, and gave thanks” (Mat. 26:27; Mk. 14:23; Lk. 22:17; I Cor. 11:25). Jesus did use the phrase, “The fruit of the vine,” in Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25, and Luke 22:18.

 

By this, I believe that it becomes clear that God intended for us to use grape juice, as I believe the Holy Spirit went to great lengths not to use any words that referred to any intoxicating references. For the very meaning of fermented wine makes it unacceptable and imperfect to represent the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fermented wine is grape juice in which decay or rot has taken place.  In other words, the process of fermentation is the breakdown of large molecules caused by the influence of bacteria or fungi. Wine results from the degenerative action of germs on pure substances.

 

POISON AND DETERIORATION

 

Fermented wine, would in actuality, symbolize tainted, sinful blood and not the Pure and Perfect Blood of Christ that had to be made apparent to be a perfect cleansing of our sins. Pure, fresh grape juice gravitates toward life, while fermented wine gravitates towards death. Alcohol used for drinking is both a narcotic and a poison. A narcotic in that it changes the behavior of the person drinking the alcohol, and makes them do things that they would never do otherwise, and it’s a poison in that it can cause death, due to the deterioration of our liver.

 

Also, something that should be taken into consideration is that the Lord used unleavened bread with the taking of the Lord’s Supper. This takes us back to the Passover Feast, where the Jews were required by God that “there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters” (Ex. 13:7). Bread that was tainted with bacteria or yeast, which is what leavened means, was considered inappropriate for the use at the feast. So, if Jesus did not use “leavened bread” with the Lord’s Supper, because of the bacteria that is in the leaven, then why would the Lord use fermented grape juice, i.e., wine, to drink? It had bacteria in the fermented grape juice as well, and is, therefore, unsuitable for use.

 

DID JESUS REALLY TURN THE WATER INTO WINE?

 

The second scenario is of the Lord’s First Miracle that He performed in Canaan, which was the turning of water into wine. The question has been asked, “Did Jesus really turn the water into fermented wine that will make you drunk?” I personally do not believe that this was the case, and here’s why.

First of all, if this “wine” was to be that of an intoxicating beverage, the men, according to Scripture, were “well drunk” (Jn. 2:10), and would have placed Christ in a position of providing them with more wine. And if it was wine that would make one intoxicated, Christ would have been breaking His Own Law against temperance. As well, it would have served as an open invitation to drink and would have placed the Lord in the position of providing a flood of intoxicants for the men who had already ingested plenty of drink.

 

GOOD WINE

 

Secondly, I would like to look at the word “good,” found in Verse 10, of John, Chapter 2. The word “good” means in the Greek “that which is intrinsically good.” If we were to take that as literal, which it is, the pure, sweet juice of the grape could rightly be marked as “intrinsically good”; but the rotted, fermented, decayed, intoxicating kind of wine could hardly be looked at as good.

I personally do not believe that our Lord would make something that is corrupt and call it “good.” Once again, fermentation is a kind of decomposition and decay, and I believe that it would have been blasphemous to call it “good.” I also believe that it is blasphemous to attribute the First Miracle of Christ, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, to creating an intoxicating drink for people to get drunk. The men who were a part of this wedding and had drunk a considerable amount, praised the bridegroom for saving the best for last. It is a known fact that alcohol, drank in any excess, will deaden the taste buds of the drinker. How could these men detect the taste of this “good wine” if they had already been drinking an alcoholic beverage throughout the feast? They could not have been able to tell what was good or bad.

 

PROHIBITION

 

Lastly, before Prohibition, “wine” was considered to be exactly as it was in Bible Times. However, when Prohibition was authorized in 1929, the word had to be looked at and defined more closely. As a result, “wine” was designated to mean something that will make you drunk. That which would not make you drunk would be properly labeled as grape juice. Because of this little word, many mistakenly confuse the word “wine” as it was used in the Bible with our common knowledge of that word, but that wasn’t the case.

So, I personally do not believe that the First Miracle of Christ was the type of wine that would have made a person drunk, but rather it was the pure, fresh, sweet grape juice, and I believe what we have just given will prove that.

 

In Him,

 

 

 

Pastor Gabe

 

           

Here is a testimony that I would like to share with you:

 

Dear Pastor Gabe,

I have been trapped in sin for awhile and could never seem to just walk straight with the Lord. Like trying to climb a mountain to get to God and when I get to the top (close to God), wind would blow me down the mountain (wind = sin), and I could never understand why the wind kept blowing me down. I could never get victory over myself and my sinful desires. Last Sunday, I felt God telling me to start climbing again, so I did. After asking for forgiveness and to give me a new heart and start, I felt led to visit your Website (www.crossfireyouthministry.org) and WOW, your message on freedom through JESUS was one of the most liberating messages I have ever heard in all my life. I want to thank you for your message and tell you the anointing of the HOLY SPIRIT is on you. Be bold as a lion and push your sheep towards the TRUTH OF THE CROSS. I ask that you pray for me. God will reveal to you what for and I thank you for that.

            D.S., 27 year old from Minneapolis, MN