Is having a drink sinful? I keep going back and forth on it and just want to hear how other believers think through the whole thing. Jesus literally turned water into wine at a party. Hard to call the act itself wrong after that.
Is alcohol a sin in the Bible?
The Bible doesn’t call drinking alcohol a sin, but it does call drunkenness a sin.
You’re right about Cana. Jesus made wine on purpose and didn’t sin doing it. The real issue is a heart that runs to the bottle for what only God can give. That’s why Ephesians 5:18 puts drunkenness and being filled with the Spirit in direct contrast.
Paul said he’d gladly give up his freedom if it caused a weaker believer to stumble, and that still applies. Let love for your brothers and sisters make the call instead of your appetite.
Scripture doesn’t call every use of alcohol sinful, and Jesus turned water into wine, so a blanket prohibition is hard to defend. But Proverbs 20:1 and 23:29-35 are blunt about the risks, clouded judgment and real harm.
Romans 14:23 is a good personal test: if you can’t drink with a clear conscience and self-control, abstaining is the faithful choice.
I don’t think having a drink is a sin, and the wedding at Cana is a fair point. The passage that settled it for me is Deuteronomy 14:26. God tells Israel to take their festival money, buy wine or strong drink, and enjoy it while they rejoice before him.
Drunkenness is what the Bible treats as sin. Priests had to stay off wine while they were serving, and a Nazirite vowed to skip it for a set time, which only works if ordinary drinking wasn’t already off limits for everyone.
A glass with dinner is fine. The problem starts when someone can’t leave it alone.
Proverbs 23 describes the morning after so vividly that I’m convinced Solomon wrote it while squinting at sunlight and regretting several life choices.
The Romans 14:23 test is wise, but it requires honesty with ourselves that isn’t always easy. I knew someone close who insisted their conscience was clear until drinking took over their life. The heart is good at writing its own permission slips, and sometimes “I’m fine with this” is exactly the clouded judgment Proverbs 20:1 warns about.
That’s why a conscience check works best with someone else involved. Asking a trusted friend or mentor for input helps us see past our blind spots.
Abstaining is the faithful choice when the conscience isn’t clear.
That made me laugh. It does get at a real distinction though. Proverbs 23 warns pretty vividly against drunkenness and being ruled by alcohol.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is better, but Scripture itself treats moderate drinking as acceptable (Proverbs 31:6-7, Paul’s advice to Timothy).
Self-control. That’s the line for me. Drinking itself isn’t the sin, but losing control is.
I’ve had to get honest about my own limits.
I abstain completely.
On drinking versus drunkenness I’m with most of you here, but the stumbling block principle in Romans 14:21 and 1 Corinthians 8:13 shapes my approach. Even when something isn’t sinful for me personally, love for my brothers and sisters has to factor in.
Part of my choice is medical. But I also don’t want to put myself anywhere near the line where drunkenness becomes a temptation, and I’ve come to see alcohol as a drug (for me, at least), so keeping that distance gives me peace.
Not saying everyone needs to make the same choice.
Certain Baptist traditions take the biblical commands against drunkenness far and treat any alcohol consumption as inherently problematic. Most denominations wouldn’t go that far.
There’s also stewardship. We’re called to care for what God has given us, and alcohol’s documented effects on the body raise the same concerns we’d have about other health choices.
And then there’s the weaker brother. The Swedish Lutheran practice of serving grape juice at communion, rooted in Paul’s teaching that not everything permissible is beneficial, shows how seriously some traditions take the risk of causing someone to stumble.
The issue is drunkenness, not drinking itself. Reading the Bible shows Jesus drank and told his followers to share the cup of the new covenant, even though he never sinned.
Not a sin. But I’ve started wondering if it’s a missed opportunity.
The 1 Corinthians stuff about not being mastered by anything stands out more when you look around at how many people, in the church and outside it, are wrestling with alcohol. Every time we grab a drink in front of someone, we’re testifying something.
Has anyone else thought about it less as ‘is this allowed’ and more as ‘what does this communicate’?
Matthew 11:18-19 adds a funny wrinkle, though. John the Baptist skipped the wine and people said he had a demon. Jesus showed up to dinner, ate and drank, and got labeled a glutton and a drunkard. People will read whatever they want into our choices.
1 Corinthians 10:31 puts it this way: “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” A glass of wine at a family dinner can show that Christian freedom isn’t anxious or rule-obsessed. Ordering a sparkling water when you’re out with a friend who’s fighting to stay sober can say “you matter more than my drink order”.
The most powerful testimony might be the person nobody notices either way, because their drink (or lack of one) never becomes the main character.
The moderation argument, though. Jesus provided wine to people already pretty well into the celebration. Does that change how you think about it?
The line comes from the master of the feast in John 2:10. The Greek word there (methusth?sin) can mean drunk, so some translations say “when the guests have drunk freely.”
A few things change how I read it, though:
The steward is describing a general custom: hosts serve the good stuff first and the cheap stuff once people stop paying attention.
Weddings back then could run for days. Running out of wine wasn’t a sign people were overdoing it. It was a real social disaster that would have shamed the couple and their family for years.
John calls it a sign that revealed his glory (2:11). The abundance ( 120-180 gallons) and the quality point to the Messiah bringing the new wine of the kingdom (Amos 9:13-14, Isaiah 25:6).
Jesus doesn’t contradict the rest of Scripture. The same Bible that has Cana also has Ephesians 5:18 and Proverbs 23.
So it doesn’t move the moderation line for me. It shows that God isn’t stingy with joy, and that celebration and holiness aren’t enemies.
It’s worth asking where a prohibition comes from. The Bible itself, or a tradition built around one person’s reading?
When everyone reads Scripture through their own lens, you end up with wildly different conclusions on things like alcohol. Some denominations take a hard line against any drinking because their founders interpreted it that way. The text doesn’t demand it.
I draw the line at unpleasant drunkenness or letting it become a habit that harms you.
Look at Cana, though. Jesus made wine for people who had already been drinking and kept the celebration going. And Solomon, his writings suggest wine has its place in a happy life. But he would also tell you life is harsh, so we might as well enjoy what we can while praising God.
The blanket ban seems like something we added later, not something the Bible teaches. Jesus kept the party going at Cana by turning water into wine (not exactly a small amount either), which makes a prohibition hard to square with Scripture.