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Holiness Explained For Believers

There seems to be a debate on whether Christians should drink booze. People are quick to excuse their opinion with "Jesus drank wine, so it is okay to for Christians to drink as long as they do not get drunk." That is a shallow approach, because God's Word gives a more thorough answer for you and I. I challenge you to slow down, pray and ask the Lord to show you His will, from His Word. Notice in the following scripture that holiness is stated as not drinking, and unholiness is defined as drinking booze.

Holiness Explained From the Old Testament Standards
Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. (Lev 10:9-11 KJV)

No Drinking at the Temple or Tabernacle
God is a holy God and that means absolutely unique and separate from anyone else in purity, goodness, and power. Because He is our creator His will and standards are truth and reality for all people, in all places, and for all times. It does not matter what our opinions or explanations are for drinking booze, if we claim to love Him we do what He says. Old Testament worship always made sure symbols of God’s holiness were clear.

The people only came near to God when they came to the tabernacle and later the Temple of God. The places of worship back then were dedicated to the Holy God and were set up to glorify Him. "Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court." (Ezek 44:21 KJV) The priests were ordered to never drink in the tabernacle or temple to show the difference between holiness and unholiness. Remember, the priests were special leaders and dedicated to serve God.

No Drinking At All When A Person Made a Short Term Vow of Love to God

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk." (Num 6:2- 4 KJV)"Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:" (Judg 13:4 KJV)

The everyday citizen was different than the priests and had a lower spiritual standard in those days. They were okay as long as they obeyed God’s commands and followed the sacrifice laws when they strayed from God. But, they could on short term show their dedication to God by taking Nazarite vows illustrating their love and faithfulness. Notice when this was practiced they also were to stop drinking like the priests. Showing holiness unto the Lord. Even Samson was required to do this as a lifetime Nazarite.

"For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines... But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death." (Judg 13:5, 7 KJV)

In those days they were unable to walk with God in constant obedience, because men are born sinners, separated from God. Their very nature is selfish and disobedient to God's laws. All men are born enemies of God! Even the most faithful servants of God were flawed and disobedient. For example, King David was a man after God's own heart, but still murdered his friend to cover up the facts he got his wife pregnant while he was out of town. David became sorry and repented, but he committed great sin! They wished for a change and had faith God would do something to change men. They were loved by God through faith.

And it is clearly stated, God promised He would miraculously change men. "I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. 27 I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands." (Ezek 36:26-28 from THE MESSAGE) Back in the Old Testament times, God's Spirit was present in the tabernacle and then the temple when it was built. Temporarily He would come upon prophets to speak to His people. But the best the people could do to live holy was to try a short termed Nazarite vow.

What Does This Have to Do With Us today?

Booze does not have a good reputation. More people die on our highways from drunk drivers than soldiers lost on the battlefield. Families are broken up and violence always follows booze. More money is lost from workers who are injured and unable to work regularly than America wants to admit. This among other things is why God warns, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1 KJV) And, "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things." (Prov 23:31-33 KJV)

Leaders of business, government, church and law enforcement should never be allowed to drink because it destroys judgment. "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." (Prov 31:4, 5 KJV) "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. (Isa 28:7 KJV) And if it turns to drunkenness, the intoxicated only leave their filth to sicken God. "For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean." (Isa 28:8 KJV)

Does God look for people to show their dedication to Him in what we call small ways like refusing to drink booze?

"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink." (Dan 1:8, 12 KJV)

Since Daniel, who was not a priest, but a prince, would not defile himself by drinking the king’s wine, do you think God has changed His standard of holiness today? It is recorded in Daniel after the test was conducted Daniel was more healthy than all the other young men without booze. God specially blessed him for his conviction to holiness. "And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. [vegetables] (Dan 1:15, 16 KJV)

It is a sin for a true Christian to drink booze because...

We Are Priests and Kings

The Bible makes it clear that God never changes. He is the same today as He was thousands of years ago. His standard of holiness has not changed. Christians today are not to drink booze. "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (Rev 1:6 KJV) He already told kings not to drink and in the Revelation we are told we Christians are kings and priests. The highest standards of holiness from the Old Testament are given to all Christians. "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Rev 5:10 KJV) We will rule the earth in the 1000 year reign of the Lord Jesus when He comes back to the earth. We must have good judgment!

As Christians We Are God's Living Temples

The miracle that the old saints hoped for has become reality today! Every person who becomes a true Christian is invaded by the living God who miraculously puts His Spirit inside us. "But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. 10 But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells — even though you still experience all the limitations of sin — you yourself experience life on God's terms. 11 It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!" (Rom 8:9-11 from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

And we are not only the priests and kings of God’s holy kingdom but we are the temple too. "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ... But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: (1 Pet 2:5, 9 KJV) If God made such a big deal about no booze in His stone temple and wood and material tabernacle, do you think He wants His living temple defiled today?

We Are Commanded To Not Weaken Our Fellow Christians

And besides that, since we are called to "love our neighbor" as ourselves we must bend over backwards to not hurt them in anyway. No one knows that they are someday going to be an alcoholic and live in misery and destroy themselves and their loved ones in slavery to drunkenness. That is why in freedom we do not need to drink even in our homes and influence our children or friends to fall into this destructive habit. "The right thing is to eat no meat or drink no wine [at all], or [do anything else] if it makes your brother stumble or hurts his conscience or offends or weakens him. Your personal convictions [on such matters]--exercise [them] as in God's presence, keeping them to yourself [striving only to know the truth and obey His will]. Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves [who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do]. But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating, and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because he is not true to his convictions and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]." (Rom 14:21-23 AMP) And understand God does not approve of you drinking booze because it does offend and weaken people that you influence to possibly stumble and sin. How much do you really love your children or friends?

The apostle Peter explains, "You've already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it's time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don't understand why you don't join in with the old gang anymore. But you don't have to give an account to them. They're the ones who will be called on the carpet — and before God himself." (1 Peter 4:3-5 from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Last note: There is no evidence that Jesus and his disciples ever drank booze. Wine in the Greek language was used for grape juice [English term] or alcoholic wine. The most famous wines in antiquity have been proven to be boiled wines. Alcohol evaporates before water boils. Wine was stored in wine skins. By boiling them down to a thick paste, like jelly, the wine was thick with a sugar-like content and preserved, but fresh and tasty when reconstituted later with water. Yes Jesus drank wine, but not modern wine that is boosted with extra alcohol.

You cannot impose our cultural practices upon the Bible, but instead you must understand the Bible and turn from your ways in obedience to God's ways. You have a lot of Biblical evidence calling you to stay pure and holy, will you?