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The Fruit of Alcohol

In our last message, we noticed the Bible’s bold denunciation of the works of the flesh: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). Time restrictions kept us from addressing the last two works of the flesh mentioned: drunkenness and revelries. As much as I would have liked to have completed that study in one message, I believe it is beneficial in our world to devote an entire study to the issue of alcohol inherent in the last two items.

Interestingly, these two words appear together again in Romans 13:12-14, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Christians must root out of their lives the works of the flesh, but what does that mean in light of drunkenness and revelry making the list. In a brief video sharing with the public what his home looks like, one pastor seems to emphasize the walk to the kitchen and the opening of a refrigerator door revealing a bunch of unopened beer cans. Some people say that crosses the line while others say not so fast. What does the Bible really teach? The fruit of alcohol, after our song…

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” What tree bears more bad fruit than social and recreational drinking? Multitudes of lives are sacrificed on the altar of alcohol. The worship of Dionysus, the god of wine, if not as overt, is as prevalent today as it was in ancient Greece. And what is the fruit of this devotion to strong drink? Jobs are lost. Marriages are shattered. Parents and children are alienated. Bodies are broken down and diseased.

While studying about the works of the flesh recently, I came across a fascinating article by Fiza Pirani in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The August 24, 2018, article titled, “No amount of alcohol is safe, massive global study warns,” reads in part:

“Past research has attributed alcohol consumption to protective health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart disease. But according to a new massive global study, authored by a cohort of 512 researchers from 243 institutions, the best thing you can do for your health is leave alcohol behind altogether.” As I reflected on the significance of this research, I pondered how the public would respond to this kind of a broadly-supported health recommendation.

The article continues: “‘The widely held view of the health benefits of alcohol needs revising,’ according to the report published this week in journal, The Lancet. ‘Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none.:’

The Global Burden of Disease Study features data from 694 sources, plus 592 prospective and retrospective studies on alcohol consumption and its risks. Researchers at Seattle’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation examined alcohol use and its health effects on individuals aged 15-95 in 195 countries between 1990 and 2016.

According to their findings, alcohol use was the leading risk factor for global deaths and disability-adjusted life-years in 2016 — that’s 10 percent of all deaths and 2.8 million lives lost — indicating a larger attributable burden of alcohol than previously thought. accessed 2/14/19

The wise man, Solomon, wrote in Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” The Spirit adds in Ephesians 5:17-18, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit…” When we think of judges, we think of wisdom, don’t we? The news coverage a few months ago of the tumultuous Senate confirmation hearings for now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh troubled me. Listening to him defend himself against allegations of misconduct while under the influence of alcohol, I thought, “What if he never drank and could bring forward witnesses that could testify to that fact?” Under those circumstances, the opposition to his confirmation would have dissipated immediately.

So, from a biblical standpoint: Is there anything wrong with drinking socially or recreationally? Those who approve of social drinking suggest that those who disapprove must have forgotten about Jesus turning water into wine in John 2:1-11. Not so; the issue is whether or not this wine was fermented. We cannot assume it was. Hear Isaiah 65:8, “Thus says the LORD: ‘As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it…'” (See also Isaiah16:10; Jeremiah 48:33). Isaiah is saying that new wine is found IN the grapes. So when we read the word “wine,” it can refer to fermented OR unfermented wine - alcoholic wine or simple grape juice. Abundant testimony exists from non-Jews and non-Christians that people cherished unfermented wine or grape juice in Jesus’ day.

 

Pliny wrote in the first century, "For all sick, wine is most useful when its forces have been broken by strainer” -- unfermented wine. Horace died ten years before Jesus was born. He speaks of wine of which: “you can drink one hundred glasses without fear of intoxication.” Aristotle (384-322 BC) refers to a sweet grape beverage that “though called wine…does not taste like wine and does not intoxicate like ordinary wine.” Athenaeus the Grammarian (200 AD) recommended non-alcoholic wine for stomach trouble: “Let him take sweet wine, mixed with water or warmed, especially that kind called protropos... effeminatum …as being good for the stomach; for sweet wine does not make the head heavy.”

 

More recently, the Jewish Encyclopedia says “Fresh wine before fermenting is called …wine of the vat. The 1971 edition of Encyclopedia Judaica and the American Jewish Yearbook express the same truth. The earliest Jewish collection of the Talmud reads: "One may press out a cluster of grapes and pronounce the Kiddush over the juice, since the juice of the grape is considered wine in connection with the laws of the Nazirite." Encyclopedia Biblica distinguishes between fermented and unfermented wine observing "it is impossible that the must [juice] could ever have been put into skins to undergo the whole process of fermentation, as is usually stated, the action of the gas given off in the earlier stages of the process being much too violent for any skins to withstand."

English sources distinguish between fermented and unfermented wine. The 1955 Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary, gives for wine: “The fermented juice of the grape; in loose language the juice of the grape whether fermented or not.” The 1971 Webster’s Dictionary defines “must”: “wine or juice pressed from grapes, but NOT fermented.” The 1896 Webster’s International Dictionary says of “wine” – the expressed juice of grapes, especially when fermented…a beverage… prepared from grapes by squeezing out their juice, and (usually) allowing it to ferment.” 1748 Benjamin Marin’s A New English Dictionary gives for “Wine” – 1) the juice of the grape; 2) a liquor extracted from other fruits besides the grape…”

 

In William Whiston’s 1737 translation, referring to Joseph’s interpretation of the cupbearer’s dream, Josephus writes: “He therefore said that in his sleep he saw three clusters of grapes hanging upon three branches of a vine, large already, and ripe for gathering; and that he squeezed them into a cup which the king held in his hand and when he had strained the wine, he gave it to the king to drink… Thou sayest that thou didst squeeze this wine from three clusters of grapes with thine hands…” When Josephus said wine, he meant grape juice.

 

Jesus said in Mark 2:22, “And no one puts new wine into old “wineskins”; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins.” A. B. Bruce writes in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, “Jesus was not thinking at all of fermented, intoxicating wine, but of must, a non-intoxicating beverage, which could be kept safely in new leather bottles, but not in old skins which had previously contained ordinary wine, because particles of albuminoid matter adhering to the skin would set up fermentation and develop gas with an enormous pressure.” Clearly, the Bible word translated wine CAN refer to grape juice. Does it?

 

God commands Christians to be sober in 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8, “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober…” The Spirit here sets up a series of contrasts between being drunk and being sober. Paul contrasts those of the day with those of the night; those who watch with those who sleep; those who are sober with those who are drunk.

 

Paul says day is opposite of night, watching the opposite of sleeping, and being sober the opposite of being drunk. The Jewish philosopher, Philo died about 40 AD. He says “soberness and drunkenness are opposites.” Baurnfeind says in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament that "The concept which underlies the verb nepho ‘to be sober’ and the whole word group is formally negative. It is the OPPPOSITE of intoxication, both 1) in the literal sense of intoxication with wine, and 2) in the figurative sense of states of intoxication attributable to other causes."

 

A host of Greek-English lexicons concur: Liddell & Scott say sober means “1) to drink no wine; 2) metaphorically, to be sober, dispassionate.” Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines “Sober” - “free from the influence of intoxicants.” Lampe’s Lexicon: “to be temperate, drink no wine.” Donnegan: “to live abstemiously, to abstain from wine.” Robinson: “to be sober, temperate, abstinent, especially in respect to wine.” Abbott-Smith: “to be sober, abstain from wine.” An open mind cannot miss the clarity here. Living the Christian life sober is challenging enough; add alcohol and we invite the devil to the party.

  

After a list of sins including drunkenness, the Bible says in Galatians 5:21, “that those who practice such things WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God.” The issue becomes, “How do I know when I have violated the command against drunkenness?” Do I have to be legally drunk according to State law? Does wobble-walking cross the line or is it just being unable to think clearly? Does one have to pass out to be sinfully drunk?

 

Consider these facts: Alcohol affects each person differently depending on the number of drinks per hour, the strength of the alcohol, body composition, weight, gender, age, use of medication, mood changes, metabolism rate, the amount of food in your stomach, what you mix drinks with and your family history of alcoholism. When you think about all the possibilities, nearly everyone could develop his own definition of drunkenness. Do you think that’s what God had in mind?

 

Some folks say small amounts of alcohol do not "influence" them, but consider the findings of scientists Neil Kessel and Henry Walton who are not personally opposed to drinking. In their book, Alcoholism, they report "even in small amounts (alcohol) affects speech and balance and impairs judgment..."  They also say "the first thing to be depressed is the power of restraint." The sin of lasciviousness warned against in Ephesians 4:19 is just that: “an absence of restraint.”

 

According to the American Medical Association (1960), "Blood alcohol of 1/10 of 1% can be accepted as prima facie evidence of alcohol intoxication recognizing that many individuals are under the influence in the 5/100 of 1% to 1/100 of 1% range." Do you realize how much alcohol 1/100 of 1% is? That’s three ounces of beer for a small woman. The Journal of the American Medical Association goes a step further saying… "There is NO minimum (blood-alcohol concentration) …at which there will be absolutely no effect." The National Safety Council, (1957), released this statement: "Drinking to any extent reduces the ability of any driver. Small amounts of alcohol reduce self-control and driving ability." In 1989 they issued this statement by the Committee on Tests for Intoxication: "The Committee concludes also that there is no minimum amount of alcohol in the body fluids which can be accepted as indicating absolutely no impairment by alcohol." 

 

A University of Idaho article says that inhibitions (the ability to say "no" to what one believes wrong when sober) are lowered at a blood alcohol level of .01. (; )

 

A University of Oklahoma Police Department Blood Alcohol calculator shows one beer for a 100 pound woman gives her a .04 BAC and says the only safe amount of alcohol for driving is 0.0 (). So, even from a medical and scientific perspective, it becomes difficult to determine how few ounces of alcohol one must limit himself to in order to avoid the effects of intoxication. How many social drinkers limit themselves to 3-6 ounces to be certain they experience no intoxication. 

 

But let’s go back to the Bible because God has more to say. In 1 Peter 4:3-4, the Scriptures say, “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”  This passage lists sins Christians committed BEFORE conversion. Three involve alcohol consumption.

Drunkenness is defined as “an overflow or surplus of wine.” This refers to the most extreme case of a man or woman who drinks all the time - the alcoholic. They are enslaved to alcohol. Most Christians recognize this is wrong. According to Thayer, the word “revelry” refers to “…feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry.” This points to the man who drinks until he gets rowdy and boisterous. My dictionary defines “revelry” – “lively enjoyment or celebration, usually involving eating, drinking, dancing, and noise.” This kind of drinking is wrong too.

 

Trench says the next phrase, “drinking parties” refers to “the drinking bout, the banquet, the symposium, not of necessity excessive, but giving opportunity for excess.” This includes the environment where one may not gorge themselves, but merely have a drink or two. So, the Bible here presents three different kinds of drinking in a bad light.

 

Let’s read Ephesians 5:18 again from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, “And don't get drunk with wine, which [leads to] reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit…” The phrase “get drunk” or “become drunk” (methusko) indicates not merely a final state, but a PROCESS to be completely avoided. The word translated “get drunk” or “become drunk” is "methusko", an inceptive verb. Now, Webster defines an inceptive verb as “expressing the beginning of the action indicated by the underlying verb…” Bullinger’s Lexicon says “methusko” means “to grow drunk (marking the BEGINNING of methuo)” – the PROCESS of becoming drunk. Simply put, this tells us that the Christian must do more than avoid passing out from consuming mass quantities of alcohol. The Christian must AVOID ENTIRELY the process of becoming drunk – including the beginning. When Jesus turned water into wine, it must have been unfermented wine or grape juice.

 

Please join us every Lord’s Day for Let the Bible Speak and then gather with us for worship at one of the congregations listed shortly. Request a DVD copy of #1191 “Fruit of Alcohol.” We welcome your questions or comments on this or any other Bible question. If you would like for someone in your area to study the Bible with you in person or if you would like to begin a free six lesson Bible study by mail, please let us know. You can also go to to watch videos, hear podcasts, or review transcripts of the program. We close with the words the apostle Paul issued in Romans16:16, “the churches of Christ salute you.” Until next week, goodbye and God bless!

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