7 Arguments for Total Abstinence from Alcohol

Though it is exceedingly unpopular to speak against alcohol, the Bible presents at least 3 important arguments and experience blended with Biblical principles add 4 more.

1. Alcohol raises a risk of eternal damnation.
   It alone can produce drunkenness which is condemned unequivocally as the mark of a man who will never enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 24:48-51; 1 Cor. 6:10; Gal. 5:21; Luke 21:34). If something can lead me to an eternity of torment, under what circumstances would I give it a place at my table? Does the wise man not see the potential danger and hide himself? Has it not killed so many already that whole societies the world over are dedicated to helping people be free from it?
   
   
2. Alcohol is deceptive.
   Men are easily tricked by a false view of themselves and the nature of the world. They fancy that though others fell, they will not. They consider their minds to be strong, their wills to be firm, and their judgment to be sufficient. And yet many, many men have fallen to sins because of these misplaced, exalted self-evaluations (Pro. 20:1). I cannot think of anything that deceives so many people and is yet defended by truly Christian men. But that is what Solomon told us, we will need great wisdom to escape such deception. What good is in alcohol that makes it worthwhile to bring a deceiver into your house and your own body?
   
   
3. Alcohol brings great evils in this life.
   When the evil of alcohol is placed on the scales against its possible good, evil far outweighs the good. The best that can be said for alcohol is that some say it tastes good. But the worst that can be said is that it has murdered women who received beatings from intoxicated men; it has stolen the shoes, food, and housing from children whose fathers drank the money away; it has thrown mud on the name of Christ when professing Christians sin by it; it has ruined girls by leading them into pregnancy; it has ruined the babies by damaging their little, pre-born bodies; it has raised taxes on citizens due to the increased crime and medical problems; it has torn apart marriages; it has depleted savings; it has impaired judgment so many times as to boggle the imagination; it has taken innocent lives and resources through car accidents; it bears the responsibility through Lot’s drunken stupidity of creating countries that have tormented the Jews; it is a mark of the pagans before they were converted (1 Pet. 4:3-4); it saps the time and mental acuity of many thousands of the poorest in the world so that they become as insensible as rocks when they need to work and raise themselves. Are these consequences so mild that we can overlook them or risk them?
   
   
4. Alcohol is prohibited explicitly in Scripture.
   It is common to hear people argue that alcohol is not prohibited by Scripture, but Proverbs 23:31 explicitly says, “Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.” You might justifiably look on wine, but not in that condition. When this mode is true of this substance, look elsewhere. Solomon describes it three ways to clarify that he is speaking about intoxicating beverages. Walking through the store looking for something to refresh you, you are to keep walking past that particular aisle if it has drinks that have their own life. Can this drink produce the result of seeing strange things, speaking perverse things, and addicting your palate? Its the drink that has brought people problems, and it makes their eyes red (23:29). Well, some reply, it is only prohibited in Proverbs. When we find a single proverb that teaches a doctrine we agree with, we are glad to find it. What is happening to our souls when the Spirit inspires a verse (here a paragraph, 23:29-35), and we look for ways around it?
   
   
5. Alcohol is entirely unnecessary.
   Technology and production have advanced our world in many ways so that every meal for a middle class citizen of a developed country can now be a taste thrill. A dizzying variety of non-alcoholic drinks are available to excite, comfort, satisfy, and please. Furthermore, we can now measure alcoholic content and processes of fermentation as well as store through refrigeration in ways that the Jews of David’s era could not. That ancient world had options such as water, milk, wine, and strong drink whereas we have whole aisles in our stores with juices, carbonated beverages, dairy drinks, flavored waters, coffees, and teas. If you lived in a society without refrigeration, running water, trucks supplying you with dozens of low-cost options, and instruments to measure alcohol content levels, I could see why you would speak about juices without always clearly delineating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic. With all the differences between the lifestyle and options of the past and present, why would any Christian have a need for choosing an intoxicating beverage?
   
   
6. Charles Spurgeon hated alcohol.
   At least 18 times in Spurgeon’s Practical Wisdom (originally published as John Ploughman’s Talk) he rebukes drinking any alcohol.
   
   
7. Alcohol is associated by many with drunkenness.
   Many of the Tsongas among whom I work assume that a man who drinks is either getting drunk or involved in fornication. Recently, a church discipline situation arose in our church where one member who had been converted about 2 years spoke to another member of about 3 years after finding that he had been seen with alcohol. The church agreed with the one who rebuked that Christians should not hold or drink any alcohol. The implication was alcohol and drunkenness were integrally or at least consistently related. The apostle wrote, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” The apostle’s Savior wrote, “Be perfect like your Father” so that “men may see your good works and glorify your Father.” If alcohol is connected to drunkenness then why would believers get near it?