What Does the Bible Say About Drinking Alcohol? Is It a Sin for a Christian to Drink Alcoholic Wine?
Direct answer:
The Bible does not call every drop of alcoholic wine a sin. But it clearly condemns drunkenness, impairment, addiction, and being ruled by drink as sin. The cleanest, safest walk for a Christian is abstinence—to keep a holy testimony, remain sober-minded, and be filled with the Spirit rather than influenced by wine.
Scriptural explanation:
- Real wine in Scripture:
- Jesus turned water into wine, and the ruler said, “when men have well drunk” (John 2:9-10). That is not mere juice.
- In Corinth some were drunken at the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:21). That shows literal wine could intoxicate.
- Sin and strict warnings:
- Drunkenness is a work of the flesh and those who practice it “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21; see also 1 Corinthians 6:10; Romans 13:13; 1 Peter 4:3).
- “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
- “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging” (Proverbs 20:1). Read the sober warning in Proverbs 23:29-35—its bite, its deceit, its addiction.
- Leaders must be “not given to wine… not given to much wine” (1 Timothy 3:3,8; Titus 1:7). God links spiritual responsibility with strict sobriety.
- Priests were forbidden drink when serving (Leviticus 10:9); kings warned not to drink lest they forget judgment (Proverbs 31:4-5). God ties holy service and clear judgment to abstaining.
- Limited, medicinal allowance:
- “Use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake” (1 Timothy 5:23). That is medicinal, not social drinking.
- Stumbling and testimony:
- “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth” (Romans 14:21). Love chooses the higher road.
Simple clarifying logic:
- If wine itself were inherently sinful, Jesus would not have made it, and Paul would not have allowed a little for health. But the same Bible commands constant sobriety. Alcohol’s very design is to influence; how much before your judgment is dulled, your testimony is clouded, or a weaker brother is emboldened to fall?
- You can be filled with the Holy Spirit, or you can be under the influence of drink—you can’t be full of both. The Scripture points to a higher life: stay sober, stay separate, stay Spirit-filled (Ephesians 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8; 1 Peter 1:13).
- Ask yourself: Is this necessary for godliness? Does it edify? Could it open a door to bondage or cause another to stumble? If not, lay it aside.
Reinforcement:
- So, is it a sin for a Christian to drink alcoholic wine? The Bible shows wine existed and was used, but condemns drunkenness, impairment, and bondage as sin. The strongest Christian position is abstinence—a clean walk of holiness and a clear testimony. If you are bound by alcohol, repent and ask the Lord Jesus to deliver you; remove the access, seek prayer, and be filled with the Spirit. For Communion, Scripture shows literal wine was used, yet never for indulgence—only in reverence. The safest rule for daily life is simple: leave it alone and stay sober before God.
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Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The unpardonable sin
54-1024 §46
If you know what is the Gospel truth, and it's laid out to you, and God has revealed it to you, and you know it's the truth; but just to satisfy some congregation or some petty preacher, or to be popular, that you want to hold onto the things that you want to hold onto instead of taking God's Word; Paul said, "He that sins, or disbelieves willfully after he has received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." There is your unpardonable sin, is to know what is the truth and refuse to...
When their eyes were opened
56-0420 §7
What is sin? Unbelief. Smoking, drinking, committing adultery, lying, stealing, that's not sin. That's the attributes of sin. You do that because you're an unbeliever. If you was a believer, you wouldn't do that, see. Just because you quit drinking, and quit smoking, and quit drinking and committing adultery, that doesn't make you a Christian. You're a Christian because you are a believer, see. You are a sinner, you do the things that you ought not, because the life that's in you makes you do it. The tree's known b...
Led by the Spirit
59-0407 §46
Now, here's what you do then. Say, "Lord Jesus, the great High Priest of the covenant, I most humbly come to Thee in confession of my sin." Now, sin is unbelief. Smoking's not a sin. Drinking's not a sin. Committing adultery is not sin. That's the attributes of unbelief. If you believed, you wouldn't do those things, see. There's only one sin, and that's unbelief: "He that believeth not is condemned already," see. You smoke, lie, steal, drink, commit adultery, because you're not a believer. A believer doesn't do th...
Show us the Father and it will satisfy us
59-0419E §34
Now, that little tree's just like you. After you've accepted Christ in the little baby form, then we are planted together in Christ. Now, the only thing this little tree does, you just have to pour the water to it, and it starts drinking. And when it drinks its allotted portion, it's got to drink more than that. It has to drink so much until it starts pushing out limbs. Then it just keeps on drinking until it pushes out leaves. Then it just keeps on drinking till it pushes out blossoms. Then it just keeps on drinki...
Be certain of God
59-0708E §13
Ahab had done wrong marrying this woman, marrying a sinner, unbeliever. The word sin means "unbelief." I was speaking some time ago, and I said, "Committing adultery is not sin. Drinking whiskey is not sin." I was at the Henryville Methodist church. And a precious old sister stood up, and she said, "Then, Brother Branham, what is sin?" I said, "Unbelief." You commit adultery, and drink whiskey, and lie, and steal, because you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those things are attributes of unbelief. When you...