About Jesus    Steve Sweetman

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So What's Wrong With A Little Wine

Nothing.  That's right.  There's nothing wrong with a "little" wine.  Getting drunk on wine is wrong, but drinking a little wine is not prohibited by Scripture.  Paul says that we should not get drunk with wine. (Eph. 5:18)  Yet in John chapter 2 we see Jesus turning water into wine.  This was not just a bottle or two.  Jesus made  anywhere from 120 to 180 gallons of wine.  Now that is a lot of wine.  It was not only a lot of wine but it was very good wine, so the man in charge of the party said.  If it were grape juice I don't think this man would be so impressed.  

To make sure that Jesus did not turn water into grape juice, you should note that the same Greek word that Paul used for wine in Eph. 5:18 is the same Greek word used in John 2 when Jesus turned the water into wine.  That means if you can get drunk on Paul's wine in Eph. 5, you can get drunk on Jesus' wine in John 2.  

It is clear from Luke 7: 33-35 that Jesus Himself drank wine.  So if Jesus drank wine and turned the water into wine, drinking wine must be okay.  Yes, the book of Proverbs often says that too much wine makes one disgraceful.  But that is too much wine.  

In Romans 14 the drinking of wine is one of those issues that we can do or not do.  It is one of those things that we can hold a strong opinion on, whether to drink or not to drink.  Paul encourages us to have a strong opinion on this matter, but not to let our opinion separate us.  If we do not drink wine because we feel we will loose our salvation if we do, then Paul says that we are weak in faith.  If we don't drink wine because we simply don't want to, then we are not weak in faith.  If we do drink wine, we are not weak in faith as well.  As a matter of fact, Paul says we are strong in faith.  If we drink our wine and cause someone to fall and loose his salvation, then we are doing wrong.  If we drink wine and someone simply gets upset with us, that is not causing someone to stumble.  That is not our problem.  It is the problem of the one who gets upset.  For a detailed analyses on these points from Romans 14 you can read my Commentary On Romans 14.    

Nowhere in Scripture does it tell you that drinking wine is a sin, and that we should not partake.  I understand that for those effected by alcoholism or has a close friend or family member so effected, this issue become very emotional.  I have never been in that position.  I think of the drinking of wine from merely a mental and Scriptural standpoint.  I do not feel the emotion.  Still, Scripture does not tell us not to drink.  As a result I do drink wine and other strong drink.  I do not get drunk.  Scripture clearly tells us not to get drunk.  

For those who choose not to drink that is fine.  For those who choose to drink, that is fine as well.  Let this issue not separate us from each other. 

I have looked up every verse in the Bible that speaks of wine or strong drink and have listed them below for you to read.

 

Wine with a blessing


Gen. 14:18...Melchizedek blesses Abraham
Gen. 27:25… Isaac blesses Jacob
Duet. 7:13...if Israel obeyed God He would bless them in all their ways including increasing their wine
Duet. 11:14… if they obey, God will cause rain to fall so that they can harvest wine
Joel 2:24

Drink Offering

Ex. 29:40
Lev. 10:8-11...Aaron must not drink wine in the tabernacle
Gen. 49:11...Judah will wash his garments in wine and in the blood of the grapes
Num. 6:3...Nazirites could not drink wine
Num. 18:12...the Levites got to use the offerings given to the Lord for food, including wine
Duet. 14:26...Israel? encouraged to buy wine
Duet. 16:13...it is clear that wine was a by-product of Israel’s farming
Duet. 28:39...for those who disobey they will be cursed, one curse is that they will not be able to drink their wine because worms will have spoiled the grapes
Duet. 28:6… Israel when in the wilderness for 40 years was not able to drink wine
1 Chron. 9:28...wine kept and used in the Temple
Psa. 4:7...the Lord gives more joy of heart than what wine can do
Psa. 75:8...the wine of God’s wrath
Psa. 104:15...almost suggests that God made wine to make our hearts glad
Prov. 3:10...if we obey God then our vats will overflow with wine
Prov. 9:5...wisdom has mixed her wine
Prov. 20:1...wine is a mockery, strong drink …
Prov. 21:17...he that loves wine and oil shall not be rich
Prov. 23:29-35...tells the woes of too much wine
Prov. 31:4-7…
Issa. 1:22...choice wine diluted with water
Isa. 5...says that God’s people is His vineyard
Isa. 5:11+12+22...Woe to the heavy drinker
Isa. 28:7+9...horrors of wine
Jer. 25:15...the wine of God’s wrath
Ezek. 44:21...priest can’t drink wine in the inner court

Jesus and wine
Lu. 7:33-35...Jesus drank wine
Jon. 2 … Jesus turned water into wine
Rom. 14:21...don’t make your brother stumble by drinking wine
Ehp. 5:18...don’t be drunk with wine
1 Tim. 3:3 + 1 Tim. 3:8 Tit. 1:7 ...elder must not be given to much wine
1 Tim. 5:23...Paul told Timothy to drink wine for this stomach problem
1Pet. 4:3...used to live in excess of wine
Rev. 14:10 Rev. 16:19....wine of God’s anger.

 

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