Another commonly cited verse is\u00a0Ephesians 5:18. Here the argument is that Paul condemns the misuse of wine, but not the moderate use of alcohol. Markus Barth said, “The condemnation of the misuse of wine does not preclude a proper use of alcoholic beverage.” Basically, the claim is that if Paul was condemning all drinking, he would have said, “Do not drink at all.”<\/p>\n
Two states are being contrasted in\u00a0Ephesians 5:18, being filled with wine and being filled with the Spirit. The point of the contrast is that you cannot have both at once — they are mutually exclusive. You cannot be partially filled with spirits and partially filled with the Spirit. Similar exclusions appear in\u00a0Luke 1:15\u00a0and\u00a0Acts 2:4,\u00a015. In other words, the indwelling of the Spirit is connected with the abstinence of liquor.<\/p>\n
The clause that literally reads “in which is debauchery<\/em>” refers to wine in\u00a0Ephesians 5:18. Some translations change it to “that is debauchery” meaning getting drunk is debauchery, but this is not what the original text states. The original text states that there is debauchery in wine, as in\u00a0Proverbs 23:31. In a letter to Laeta, a lady who wrote asking how to bring up her infant daughter, Jerome advised, “Let her learn even now not to drink wine ‘wherein is excess.'” This quote of\u00a0Ephesians 5:18\u00a0shows that Jerome believed the excess referred to the wine and not that drunkenness held excess. Albert Barnes stated, “Let Christians when about to indulge in a glass of wine, think of this admonition [Ephesians 5:18]. Let them remember that their bodies should be the temple of the Holy Ghost rather than a receptacle for intoxicating drinks. Was any man ever made a better Christian by the use of wine? Was any minister ever better fitted to counsel an anxious sinner, or to pray, or to preach the gospel, by the use of intoxicating drinks? Let the history of wine-drinking and intemperate clergymen answer.”<\/p>\nThere is a reason why Paul did not say “Do not drink any wine.” Wine had some proper uses, such as its medicinal properties (I Timothy 5:23). Forbidding all use of wine would eliminate its use in medicine. Since the Greek word\u00a0oinis<\/i>\u00a0includes all grape juice products, a statement saying drink no\u00a0oinis<\/i>\u00a0at all would eliminate grape juice from the Christian’s diet, making partaking of the Lord’s Supper impossible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: God wrote in\u00a0Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” When God tells us not to get speeding tickets, what is He inferring? Obviously, that driving is not a sin. When God tells us not to get drunk, what is He inferring? People who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[371],"class_list":["post-3587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-alcohol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51397,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-value-of-taking-a-drink\/","url_meta":{"origin":3587,"position":0},"title":"The Value of Taking a Drink","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Alcohol has always been a demon that plagues man with its sparkle and alluring appeal to the desires of the flesh. Noah planted a vineyard and \"drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent\" (Genesis 9:21). The children of Israel did not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/wineBottles.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45333,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-proverbs-316-7-give-approval-to-the-use-of-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":3587,"position":1},"title":"Does Proverbs 31:6-7 give approval to the use of alcohol?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reviewing your articles on alcohol. I realize that you are not the author of all of the articles, but I did not see a reference to Proverbs 31:6-7. Proverbs 31 specifically does not condemn strong drink. However, you have a sermon,\u00a0Drinking in the Old Testament, posted on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-gluttony-and-drinking-are-both-sins-then-isnt-abstaining-from-alcohol-as-ridiculous-as-abstaining-from-food\/","url_meta":{"origin":3587,"position":2},"title":"If gluttony and drinking are both sins, then isn’t abstaining from alcohol as ridiculous as abstaining from food?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How would you answer the following argument: \"Getting drunk is a sin, but gluttony is also a sin. Since the Bible doesn't tell us at what point drunkenness or gluttony is sinful, it is up to us to determine how much is too much. To completely abstain from alcohol\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40186,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":3587,"position":3},"title":"Notes on Alcohol","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Based on a list by Dave Hart There is more Scripture condemning the use of alcoholic beverages than will be found on the subjects of lying, adultery, swearing, cheating, hypocrisy, pride, or even blasphemy. Genesis 9:20-27 - Noah became drunk; the result was immorality and family trouble. Genesis 19:30-38 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91551,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-risk-of-small-amounts-of-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":3587,"position":4},"title":"The Risk of Small Amounts of Alcohol","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Drinking in Moderation Is Not Harmless by Andy Sochor via Plain Bible Teaching for Today It is not uncommon to hear or see debates on whether it is permissible for Christians to drink alcohol in moderation. That is an important discussion. However, it is also interesting to take note of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/alcohol-is-a-thief\/","url_meta":{"origin":3587,"position":5},"title":"Alcohol Is a Thief","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod M. Jacobs We might not think about alcohol in terms of \"a thief,\" but I would suggest that it is. Solomon said long ago, \"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise\" (Proverbs 20:1). Notice how absolute these words are.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}