Wine and the Spirit

Let me begin with a sober and clear declaration. This article will focus on the topic of drinking, whether beer, wine or strong drink, by the saints in Christ. I have used the term wine in a general sense to refer to or include all the above terms. I am mindful that there is no disclaimer sufficient here which would prevent any distortion or rash, wild and outlandish comparisons between one sin and another by some brothers and sisters. This may or may not be to discredit this article. Your substantive response from the written word of God is much welcome.

No one is edified simply through dilution of this message with a multitude and a barrage of barely cohesive or connectable questions and speculations concerning the matter of drinking. This article is no more a hearty call or a commandment for anyone to drink anymore than it is a warning, threat or a condemnation for anyone to abstain from drinking. These tactics may be familiar to some of you. The desired intent of this article is that the saints understand and be edified concerning wine as well as the Spirit because it is the Spirit whose words are life in the Son.

There is a history of men of God who lost or forgot their way and confidence with the people whom they led. Moses lost his way momentarily which led to some serious consequences, namely, God informed Moses that he would not lead Israel into the promise land. Even as Moses reproved the children of Israel for being rebels at the waters of Meribah the LORD himself was quick to reprove Moses immediately afterward for his own rebellion against God. Moses had failed to honor God. The transgression of Moses was not, as the saints have often heard, that Moses (Numbers 20:10) struck when the LORD had told him to speak to the rock, but rather that Moses took the honor for himself and Aaron saying, “Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” See Moses’ own reflective commentary on his actions at Meribah (Deuteronomy 8:15) and who was the one who brought water out of the rock for the children of Israel. King Saul lost his confidence before the people when he, too, rebelled against God (I Samuel 15:25, 30). The point of the lesson concerning Moses and Saul for those who lead, teach and preach is to be mindful of self and pride even as they cast the judgment and condemnation of sin upon those who choose to drink wine, even worse when they are mistaken on those judgments and condemnations against their brothers and sisters.

tactics

There are some tactics with which some saints are familiar on discussions concerning matters of faith. These include, but are not limited to, the standard original language single word definitions in isolation, of course, with the call to be mindful of the context. The word definition is presented, but also, too, other possible meanings of the word. There is also the abundant quotations of one man after another and what each one has to say on the matter that is favorable to the message of the speaker. And, for as much as the saints hear that “we are not under the law” there is an abundance of references to the Old Testament scriptures which are presented in a light that is favorable to the message of the speaker. There are the standard favorites for and against drinking and such as Proverbs 20:1 and Ephesians 5:18 and I Timothy 5:23. There is also the abundance of national statistics of deaths in automobile accidents involving alcohol. There is the call to abstain from drinking as a matter of common sense as though common sense were a guide for the saints in Christ and as though it were on par with the holy commandment of the word of God. Lastly, there is the personal appeal by the speaker that he doesn’t drink and he doesn’t see why any Christian would have the need to drink. Generally, these things tactics have the desired effect of impressing listeners. They represent a concoction, convolution and obscurity of what is not that difficult to understand much less for the saints to read for themselves in the scriptures. There is no doubt that word definitions and original language studies as well as exegesis and hermeneutics have scholarly merit, but (perhaps not unlike the misuse of wine?) often these are merely to display and to flaunt in discussions. Those in one-on-one discussions who may not have a background in those areas or the saints in the assembly who also may not have a background in those areas are simply bedazzled, lost and out of luck

I will not expend time and energy in the futility of those things which are in abundance and to which readers can readily obtain access either online or paper and ink copies at the local library even from a Christian university through inter-library book loans. I believe, you, the reader, can see and read in plain English in your preferred version of the scriptures these matters and make a determination for yourself. Assuming you come to an understanding of this matter in a way in which you have not known before this will not remove the struggle and tug of the emotions of the heart on you. Will you allow yourself to be guided or held captive by the fickle emotions of the heart, or will you choose to trust in the word of the Lord which the Spirit has given for our understanding and edification?

playing it safe

You have heard this one before, right? “Why drink and risk being seen by a non-believer?” This seems and may be harmless and may well be for the individual Christian to exercise. But, just where or how did the saints ever come to adopt such a strategy for living in the Spirit and living for Jesus in the world? These may be the notions dispensed by some who lead, teach and preach instead of building up the saints with a solid understanding of the word of God. There are a couple instances which come to mind of those who thought to play it safe, the servant who received one talent from his master (Matthew 25:24-28) and hid it lest he lose it while attempting to multiply it for his master. There is the safe response of the disciples to the teaching of Jesus on marriage and divorce which they did not understand. They said, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry” (Matthew 19:10). Jesus was quick to respond incisively and powerfully to the disciples to debunk such mistaken notions of playing it safe.

grape juice and wine

Much has been made by men to create a distinction between grape juice and wine as for instance what Jesus created at the wedding at Cana. More specifically, grape juice and wine, are designated, correctly I will note, as new wine or good wine versus wine, that is, grape juice which has turned to fermented wine. There is an instance in which Moses gave instruction to the children of Israel as to what they could do, not that they had to, if the journey to Jerusalem (or, “the place the LORD your God will choose” Deuteronomy 14:23-27) was too far for them to make with family and animals. Read the passage online or below. The LORD God did not leave it for the children of Israel to wonder or to scrutinize word definitions to determine between wine and strong drink as Christians do when they struggle to make a distinction between grape juice and wine. Typically, the default response to the passage in Deuteronomy is to evoke the cry that we are not under the law of the Old Testament, this, while citing multiple passages from that same source such as, wine is a mocker from the book of Proverbs. Hence, in this manner the inconsistency in the handling the whole of the written word of the Lord is maintained. Moses said,

23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 

24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 

25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 

26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice. 

27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

I anticipate the distortions, but I will note the following from the word of the Lord. The passage in Deuteronomy was not a commandment from the LORD for the children of Israel to drink. The wine and strong drink were options included along with the cattle and sheep which they could buy. The LORD stated, “buy whatever you like” and very importantly, “you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.” Then or today, the Lord does not command anyone to drink, but neither does the Lord condemn those who choose to drink and rejoice. This was the instruction of the LORD to the children of Israel as they were en route to worship the LORD! How much more so at a wedding celebration in which not only was the LORD Jesus present, but he gifted the wedding guests with an abundance of wine for them to continue in their celebration and rejoicing!

I have often stated over the years that what you think and what you feel is not the same as what the word of the Lord declares. There are things in the assembly of the saints which I anticipate might make make me uneasy and stir my emotions. I have also stated that I recognize those emotions of the heart and that I will not be governed by the emotions of the heart, but by my understanding and confidence in the word of the Lord. There is little need for fear or anger about these things mainly because this is neither what makes for understanding and peace in their heart nor for the edification of the saints in Christ. Indeed, if perfect love casts out fear [1] and the punishment which it involves there is no quarter for anger alongside love.

wine and being filled with the Spirit

Despite all of the apostle Paul’s efforts to instruct and build up the confidence of the saints through their understanding of the will of the Lord he was keenly aware of the reality and the struggles among the saints to attain and sustain such confidence in the Lord. Those struggles represented then and now opportunities where men impose their mistaken notions of piety and for those who allow such men to defraud them through the imposition of things that “have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion . . .[2]” Note that the apostle Paul concedes “to be sure” about the false appearance of piety in these notions of men who impose and men who allow these things to be imposed on them. In other words, those things sound good, they play well, they might even make one feel good about the yoke they have allowed to be imposed on them rather than taking on the yoke of the teaching of Jesus. It was the apostle Paul, a servant of the Lord Jesus, who declared side by side both the admonition to not be drunk with wine and the exhortation to be filled with the Spirit.

a travesty

There is a telling and significant claim which is made by brothers and sisters who wage great efforts to impose or falsely and mistakenly warn their brothers and sisters about the dangers of drinking. The claim goes like this: “one drink makes you one drink drunk.” The apostle Paul's words come to mind, “to be sure,” this sounds good and it plays well as is the intended effect. What this claim reveals is the similar measure by which some saints have been led to believe by those who profess to lead, teach and preach that like as one drink makes one drunk so, too, having the Holy Spirit means you are filled with the Holy Spirit. [3] [4] [the indwelling of deity in Jesus] However, the avoidance and abstinence of wine and not drinking no more defaults to the believer being filled with the Holy Spirit anymore than the Holy Spirit fills the believer simply because the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer. When the thirst for living water is such that there are no rivers of living water flowing freely from the believer’s innermost being there is no shortage of men with gimmicks for splashing water as a sham for the appearance of flowing rivers of living water and being filled with the Spirit.

As big a travesty as there is involving the man-made measure as to what constitutes being drunk the greater travesty against the saints is how they are similarly led by those who profess to lead, teach and preach to deceive the saints that they are filled with the Holy Spirit simply because the Holy Spirit dwells in them.

the interpretation of seeming contradictions and inconsistencies

All this is hardly a matter of understanding the original language of a single word definition in isolation. Even less it is hardly a matter of what an impressive list of scholars have to say on the matter. It is about the matter of the interpretation of the scriptures. Of course, even here the same tactics and drama spin out in fits, not of anything that would lead one to believe a certain individual is in the Spirit or walking in the Spirit. It is not hard to see the blatant inconsistencies of what is touted and supposedly a sound handling of the written revelation of the word of God. Much time is expended in reading, not the word of the Lord, but _ one word labels which we pin on ourselves, and mutually and respectively, the labels that we pin on others as so-called conservative and so-called liberal.

As an example of interpretation, many saints can readily (even if poorly) account with some explanation from their English language Bible to terse conclusion that if you believe in Jesus you are saved. The statement is as true. So, too, is the response of Peter to his listeners to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Peter never mentioned or called on his listeners to believe in the Lord Jesus. What is paraded as a contradiction and inconsistency in the scriptures is not that difficult to understand. It is a totally different matter to accept what we understand.

Assuredly, no one thinks there is a contradiction or inconsistency between these words spoken by Jesus, "I judge no one" and "for judgment I have come into the world" or "I have many things to judge concerning you." It does not call for the standard original language single word definitions in isolation or the exhortation to heed the context. It does not call for a heap of national statistics on wrong judgments handed down by judges. We understand and accept the cohesive consistency of these words spoken by Jesus. Could it be that any discussion on the topic of Jesus and judging does not rise nor does it foment the sensual and carnal desires for the spectacle as does the subject of drinking, bearing arms, homosexuality or abortion?

This is precisely what happens concerning the matter of drinking in the scriptures, namely, that we understand the matter that is not difficult to understand, it's just the acceptance part that is too much for some saints. As much as there are the admonitions against being drunk there are the words of merriment, rejoicing and drinking wine. The difficulty which some experience between this seeming contradiction and inconsistency in the scriptures is for the simple reason that they stop short.

They hold back from applying the same diligence as concerns belief and baptism. A man with whom I'd been engaged in study was at a loss when I replied to him, what, then does the believer need not repent of his sins or life of sin because, after all, John 3:16 says nothing about repentance? Of course, he went here and there in the scriptures to show  me the importance of repentance in the believer. How is it then, I asked, that you can readily do this on the matter of repentance or openly and unabashedly confessing one's faith in Jesus, but when it comes to baptism you throw out as being meaningless and insignificant. Similarly, how is it that some brothers and sisters can readily discern, interpret and apply the scriptures through diligence on various matters, but seem at a loss as concerns the drinking of wine by the saints in Christ?

conclusion

People do not thirst where there is water. Where there is no water the danger is, if we have learned anything from Moses and Meribah, that even as we, like Moses, accuse others of being rebels we ourselves might be in rebellion against God. The danger is that we will resort to gimmicks and appearances of piety, but all these things are simply man-made mistaken notions of improving the commandment of the Lord and which are nothing new. The appearance of piety in such notions may deceive some saints, they do not deceive all the saints, and they definitely do not deceive the Lord.

Whether a brother or sister chooses to exercise their freedom in Christ to drink is solely for them to do so. If that were to trouble me I readily recognize this as the emotions of the heart and I will neither be guided by those emotions nor will I place those emotions in place of or on par with the commandment of the word of the Lord. The Lord no more commanded my brother and my sister to drink anymore than he commanded them to abstain from drinking.

Yes, the reality and danger of sin is always present and our adversary roars around us seeking whom he may devour. However, man-made notions of piety and the appearance of piety so as to improve on the commandment of God are as mistaken as Israel’s notions of piety to stop saying and writing the name of God. Do you think the LORD our God was concerned so to instruct Moses not to declare his name aloud to Pharaoh? Any attempt which purports to make that determination for a brother or sister is as much as to gauge and measure out the quantity of their drink. It is as presumptuous and falsely misleading as to tell a brother or sister that they are filled with the Holy Spirit simply because the Holy Spirit dwells in them. This is the same reasoning by which some brother will judge and condemn others as being drunk on the basis of a first drink. It is an indictment on those who lead, teach and preach that while they may not be able to teach the indwelling of the Spirit, they will not hesitate to expound on what the apostle Paul called “fleshly indulgence” and the appearance of piety such as in the exercise of their abstinence from wine. Do not neglect the weightier matters.

My prayer is for your understanding and edification in Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.