Is getting drunk a sin?
Scripture treats heavy drinking not as a personal quirk but as one of the plain, old sins of the human race — and yet it never bans the cup itself. That leaves two questions worth separating: what makes drunkenness sin, and what God puts in its place.
Listed among sins, from the start
A Bible dictionary entry sets out the plain answer, tracing the sin back to the first man to plant a vineyard after the flood:
Morrish Bible DictionaryOne of the common sins of mankind. We read of it as early as Noah, Genesis 9:21. Its grave character is shown in the New Testament by the drunkard being classed along with fornicators, thieves, idolaters, and others, and by the declaration that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God — 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 6:10.
Society tends to rank this sin low, since the damage looks self-inflicted. One writer notes that God does not grade it that way:
A. Pridham"Drunkenness" and "revellings," being vices that generally harm those who indulge in them more than they harm others, are viewed leniently by ordinary moralists... Fashion, not the love and fear of God, decides how much of this licence is allowed, whether in private or in company. There are relatively drunken and sober periods in the history of society. But the Spirit is at perpetual war with these things.
The abuse, not the use
The Bible does not forbid wine, and one writer points to an event in Jesus' life that settles it:
The Bible TreasuryAll the clever arguments of those who speak against its use are exposed — to the simple soul who bows to God's word — by the plain and telling fact that our Lord made wine (John 2). Its "use" was therefore not forbidden, and yet in excess it intoxicates, or we would not be told not to be drunk with it; and as the writer of the article points out, it is the "abuse" we are warned against. And if it is a snare to any of us, it clearly ought to be avoided.
The line between use and abuse is crossed quietly, by appetite. Commenting on the proverb that calls wine a mocker:
L. M. GrantWhile "a little wine" may be good for the stomach (1 Timothy 5:23), yet when it is indulged in simply because a person likes it, it becomes "a mocker" (v. 1), turning the drinker into a brawler. His lack of wisdom in this may lead him badly astray, as a great number have learned by experience.
A man who cannot govern himself
Noah had just been handed authority over the renewed earth when he drank himself into disgrace:
The Bible TreasuryHere we see the fall of the man to whom God first committed government. Noah failed to govern himself by his abuse of what God had created, and he gave occasion for such sin in his family that a special curse came in there... How deep the ruin, when the father's shame drew out nothing but contempt from son and grandson!
Israel's priests were barred from drink altogether while serving, and a writer draws the line forward to believers:
L. M. GrantLiquor was not forbidden to the people in general, though they were warned against drunkenness. But a priest was in a special place of responsibility, and in the service of God he was not to allow his mind to be impaired... Believers today, who are both kings and priests (Revelation 1:6), should take this to heart, and not indulge in anything that might cloud their sober discernment and wisdom in bearing witness to the Lord.
Other ways to lose your head
Commentators read the warning wider than the bottle. What wine does chemically, other things do to the heart:
Leslie M. GrantWine stands for anything that merely excites or stimulates for the moment. A man may be intoxicated by pleasures, as Solomon was for a time, or by personal pride, by money-making, or by any of the many things that stir the desires of the flesh. These can so affect the thoughts that sound, sober judgment is impaired for the time.
The cure is a filling, not a pledge
Paul's answer to drunkenness is not an empty glass but a full man. One writer explains why the two are set side by side:
F. B. HoleIt may surprise us to find such a thing contrasted with being "drunk with wine," but the fact is that when wine is taken to excess it takes control of the man and carries him outside himself. All of that is from beneath, and is evil. The Spirit of God, however, can control a man and carry him outside himself in a way that is good and divine. The very good is contrasted with the very evil.
Willpower alone is the wrong tool: "Not by signing the pledge, but by walking by the Spirit, can we conquer the works of the flesh" (G. C. Willis).
Guilt real, grace greater
The same passage that shuts drunkards out then names people who used to be drunkards and are now inside:
William Kelly"And such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). How real and great is man's depravity when left to himself and Satan! How real and still greater is God's delivering grace in the name of the Lord Jesus and by His own Spirit!
But sobering up is not the same as being saved. One writer presses the point that giving up drink leaves a person exactly where morality always leaves him — outside — and that both drunkard and teetotaler need conversion to God.
Summary
- Sin: Drunkenness is named with theft and idolatry, and no drunkard inherits the kingdom of God.
- Snare: The drink is not banned — the Lord Himself made wine — but wine indulged because you like it becomes a mocker, and anything that is a snare to you should be dropped.
- Surrender: What is wrong is losing control of yourself; Noah, holding authority over the earth, could not govern himself.
- Substitute: The remedy is not a pledge but a filling — the Spirit takes the place drink was taking.
- Salvation: Grace is greater than the guilt: "such were some of you." Yet mere sobriety saves nobody; conversion to God does.