The next “work of the flesh,” we will study from Galatians 5:22 is “drunkenness.” Of course, getting drunk, or high, should have no place in the life of a Christian. To become drunk is at best to reduce your ability to control yourself, or to resist the devil. When this happens we can count on the other “works of the flesh” to assert themselves, and the devil taking advantage of us to do his evil work.

There are many people who are paying the price for the rest of their lives because of one event while they were drunk. Drunk drivers may have never meant to hurt anyone, but many people are crippled for life, and others are dead because of them. Many of these were children. These drunk drivers also had their own lives devastated and many permanently ruined by one foolish lapse in judgment because they allowed themselves to become drunk.

Many others have said or done things when they were drunk that they will be sorry for the rest of their lives. Most of these were sure that they could control themselves while drinking. But the more they drank, the more control they lost. You can count on what happens then to not be positive. Those who allow themselves to become drunk are inviting the devil to take his best shot, and he will rarely fail to take advantage of such an opportunity.

Before I became a Christian, I used to try to get my date drunk, for obvious reasons, but I would never take her seriously after that. I simply did not trust her enough to become serious. I know this was true of almost every guy I knew. I watched many serious relationships break up because of drinking too. Some think when they are drunk that they are being cool and people will laugh at them, but at the same time those observing will lose their respect for them, regardless of how much they may say otherwise.

When I was in the Navy and before I became a Christian, I did my share of carousing and drinking. However, I was also very aware of any of my squadron friends or shipmates who drank too much and lost control while on liberty. I may have continued to like them after that, but I would never trust them with important secrets, information, or responsibility if they worked with me. If people allow themselves to become drunk, they simply are not trustworthy.

Of course, many believers have interpreted this to mean that we should never touch wine or any other alcoholic drink. When we see the devastation and hurt to so many people because of alcohol, it is easy to understand this. I would never discourage anyone who has this resolve from keeping it. However, it is not a biblical teaching or perspective. Nowhere does the Bible command abstinence from alcoholic drinks, though it does have a great deal to say about excessive drinking, or becoming drunk.

Those who have tried to condemn any drinking of alcohol by calling it a biblical doctrine have to substantially bend the Scriptures to come up with that. This is a serious transgression itself, and is considered by many theologians to be the open door through which Satan was able to deceive Eve in the Garden. The Lord had commanded them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but when asked what God had told her, she replied that they could not eat from it “or touch it” (see Genesis 3:3). The Lord did not say anything about not touching the tree. Eve’s tendency to add to what God had said in this way revealed a basic disrespect for His Word that the devil was able to exploit. This is also what the Pharisees did to the Law of Moses which made it of no effect, and soon made the traditions and precepts of men more the attention of the people than the Law itself.

In this same way, when people stretch or add to the Scriptures to justify their pet doctrines, it makes everyone who truly esteems the Scriptures and integrity, at the very least, lose confidence or respect for them. Sadly, going to such an extreme, even with the noble motive of trying to protect people, has proven to not only be ineffective, but seems to even aggravate the problem. When our nation tried to force prohibition on everyone, the government may have had good intentions, but they so magnified the problems with alcohol that we have not yet fully recovered from this debacle.

Studies have also shown repeatedly that the denominations which do not allow any drinking of alcohol have the highest percentage of alcoholics of any people group. Interestingly, they also tend to have the highest rate of strokes and heart disease, which some studies indicate are also related. A very modest amount of wine with a meal does help digestion, as well as the circulatory system. This seems to be why the French, who almost all drink wine with their meals, tend to eat some of the richest food in the world, and yet have a very low rate of heart problems or strokes. Could this be why Paul the apostle encouraged Timothy to drink a little wine for the sake of his stomach? (see I Timothy 5:23)

Studies show that people groups who freely allow drinking in their culture, such as the Jews, have the lowest incidence of alcoholics. I have spent a great deal of time in Europe over the last twenty years as it is my main mission field, yet I do not remember seeing a single drunk in public unless it was an American. The French, who freely drink wine with their meals, frown on any drinking to excess even at a meal, and are offended at the drinking of wine when it is not at a meal.

Now we do not want to base our doctrines on such studies either, but on the Scriptures. However, these studies do seem to verify the sound teaching of the Scriptures that legalism is not the answer to lawlessness. Legalism is the result of people adding their own prejudices and opinions to the Scriptures, turning them into commandments. Again, it was because of their practice of this that the Pharisees, who were seemingly the most devoted to the written Word of God, could not recognize God, the Word Himself, when He came to them.

If one has a problem with drinking to excess, they should not drink a single drop. If we are with someone who has a problem with drinking, we should not drink in his presence lest we cause him to stumble. This is the commandment of love. However, this is not a commandment that we can impose on others. To do so, especially if we try to imply that it is a biblical teaching, is to add to the Scriptures what is not found in them.

The Lord Jesus not only drank wine, He made a lot of it with His first miracle. Some who are not able to comprehend this because of their prejudice against drinking alcohol, have asserted that He drank grape juice, and made grape juice. Such assertions make those who hold to them appear foolish at best, and to anyone truly devoted to the integrity of Scripture or reason. The Greek word translated wine in these texts actually means “fermented grapes.” There is no room for an honest person who seeks to be faithful to the Word of God, or to reason, to assert that Jesus only drank grape juice. Why would He then be accused of being “a wine bibber” or “a drunkard” if He was only drinking grape juice? (see Matthew 11:19)

This kind of foolishness causes thinking people to assume that the Scriptures are full of contractions. It is not the Scriptures, but people who are adding to the Word of God, trying to establish as a doctrine what is in fact their own prejudice. Even so, we can be sure that the Lord never drank to excess, or to a degree that it could affect His judgment to any degree, and neither would anyone who is led by the Spirit.

As the Lord Jesus Himself pointed out, because John the Baptist did not drink at all, people thought that he was eccentric. Because Jesus did drink wine, people accused Him of excess, though He obviously never did abuse it. People will accuse and misunderstand you regardless of which side you take. However, as both John and Jesus revealed through their practices, among Christians there should be room for both without them accusing or misunderstanding each other.

One thing is certain, if you become drunk or high, the devil will use it against you and any others that he can. A single lapse here can cost you dearly for the rest of your life. It is not worth it. Why give the devil such a wide-open opportunity to take a shot at us? Why would we want to do anything like this that could for any period of time compromise our sensitivity to and fellowship with the Holy Spirit? As Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”