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Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... Romans 12:2

Abstinence for a Life of Wholehearted Service

by Dennis M. Swanson

The subject of abstinence from the drinking of alcoholic beverages by Christians was one which, in past decades, would have evoked little debate. It was a "forbidden" activity, one of the last vestiges of influence from such Christian organizations as the Anti-Salon League, The Christian Woman's Temperance Union and other groups spawned by the Temperance Movement in the early 1800s and the Prohibition Movement of the early 1900s.

Those movements were founded on the ideals of Christian moralism and pietism and for a time carried significant political influence. In many respects, these movements were the forerunners of the Moral Majority and Operation Rescue movements in this generation.

Today, two divergent Christian groups are challenging traditional temperance or abstinence views among Christians. One is the popular or nominal Christian movement among the "seeker sensitive" crowd which views Christian "rules" on such matters as a hindrance to reaching people for Christ and unnecessary legalism. The other group is to be found among the younger men in Reformed circles, both Presbyterian and Reformed Baptists. Their view is that Scripture does not forbid drinking, only drunkenness, and that the pietism and its supposed underlying Arminian theology, which spawned both the temperance movement and "Welch's Grape Juice" in the communion cup are both unnecessary and unbiblical.

To affirm the abstinence position, it would be simple for me, as a former Los Angeles Policeman and senior Traffic Accident Investigator, to build a case on both anecdotal and real evidence that drinking at any level is both dangerous and risky. I could also build a personal testimony based on my unsaved father who died as a relatively young man mainly from the effects of alcohol consumption.1 While these stories might be emotionally compelling they are not at the root of the issue. My purpose is to present the compelling principle from Scripture, which I believe details the paramount reason abstinence from alcohol should be the norm for the Christian.

We must acknowledge that there are fine theologians and excellent exegetes on each side of the issue. The abstinence position is one that I have arrived at in my life, by providence in my pre-Christian life and then by conviction since I was saved as a teenager. I also understand that this is an issue of Christian liberty and Romans 14:4 is applicable: "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls." As MacArthur notes, "How Christ evaluates each believer is what matters, and His judgment does not take into account religious tradition or personal preference."2 The issue of drinking or not drinking must be one that is built on one's personal convictions of conscience as directed by Scripture.

Abstinence removes a hindrance to effective witness. In Acts 2 the religious rabble tried to thwart the exposition of the Gospel by accusing the apostles of drunkenness. In Acts 2, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the preaching by the Apostles was ridiculed as the rantings of drunks. When God draws people to Himself, it is important that the instruments He uses in that process, that is you and I, are free from any taint of worldliness that the enemy of souls can use against our witness or render us ineffective (1 Cor 9:27).

Along this line, we see throughout Scripture that abstinence was not only an ideal but also a requirement for the choice servants of God. In the Old Testament we see that the kings, the priests, the prophets, and the Nazarites were to be free from not only drunkenness, but from alcoholic beverages altogether.

"It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink" (Proverbs 31:4). Speaking to Aaron, God declared, "Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you when you go into the tabernacle of meeting" (Leviticus 10:9). The passage goes on to say that the reason for this was so that their teaching of the Word of God to the people might not be hindered. Those in positions of leadership in God's economy were to abstain from alcohol entirely. The same principle carries over to the New Testament in the eldership and with deacons. In the description of character traits to be manifest in church leaders (1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1), beyond the call to "not be addicted to wine," the concepts of "temperance" (1 Tim 3:2) and "self-controlled" (Titus 1:8) have the underlying idea of sobriety. Even Paul's instruction to the various age groups in the church (Titus 2:1-10) lays great stress on "temperance."

One of the most impressive concepts of abstinence is found in the Nazarite Vow. In Numbers 6 we see that those who took a vow of dedication to the Lord were to entirely abstain from alcohol in any form. The vow could either be temporary or for life and was not always voluntary: parents could make their child a Nazarite even before their birth. God viewed Nazarites on the same plane as prophets; they were "gifts" from God to His people for their benefit (Amos 2:11-12). The Nazarite Vow was a tradition that carried into the New Testament era in several instances. In two recorded instances, Paul himself took a Nazarite Vow (Acts 18:18 and 21:23-24), and it would be a safe assumption that there were other times he did this in his life as well. In the second instance, he even went to the expense of paying for other Christians who were completing the requirements of the vow. Paul's modeling of dedication carried over into the life of Timothy who also apparently viewed abstinence as a norm for Christian conduct, especially for leaders.

In First Timothy, Paul spends a great deal of time detailing the requirements for godliness in Christians, particularly those who were in positions of leadership. In 5:23, Paul gives instruction to Timothy in this regard in the well-known aside, "no longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities." Commenting on this verse MacArthur notes:

By calling for Timothy to remain pure, Paul was not advocating a rigid asceticism. He did not want Timothy to injure his health ... Timothy had obviously committed himself to total abstinence from wine. He desired to be a model of spiritual virtue and never establish a pattern that could make someone assume a liberty that would destroy them (cf. Rom 14:13-23; 1 Cor 8:12-13). Paul instructed him not to let that commitment injure his health. Water in the ancient world was impure and the carrier of diseases such as dysentery. Paul's advice to use a little wine would help safeguard Timothy's health from the sickness-producing effects of polluted water. ... By advocating the temporary, curative use of wine, Paul does not ask Timothy to alter his commitment to the highest standard for leaders (cf. Num 6:1-4; Prov 31:4).3

In conclusion we must understand that abstinence, as such, is not specifically commanded in Scripture for all believers. However, it is certainly the strong inference of the text, particularly to those who would be leaders in God's church. All may not be suitably gifted for the eldership or deaconate, but all Christians should be striving to live a life of wholehearted service and commitment to God, and it is my opinion that abstinence from alcohol should be a cornerstone of the manifestation of that commitment.

Dennis M. Swanson is Seminary Librarian and Director of Israel Studies at Masters Seminary in Sun Valley, CA.

Footnotes:
1. I refrain from using the term "alcoholic" or "alcoholism" because that conveys the idea that somehow alcohol abuse is a type of addiction that is a disease or specific medical condition, which view I reject.

2. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (Dallas, Texas: Word Publishing, 1997). Note on Romans 14:4, p. 1720.

3. John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary: First Timothy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishing, 1995), 225.

See also Drinking With Thanksgiving.
Return to Volume 8, Number 2.