By Randal W. Deese (8-4-2026)

We believe that alcoholic beverages are not inherently sinful merely because they contain alcohol. Scripture recognizes wine as an ordinary part of ancient life, sometimes describing it as a gift to be received with thanksgiving, while consistently warning against its misuse.

The biblical distinction is not primarily between drinking and abstaining, but between sobriety and drunkenness, liberty and enslavement, wisdom and recklessness, self-control and excess.

Therefore:

• We do not teach that every use of an alcoholic beverage is sinful.
• We unequivocally condemn drunkenness.
• We affirm voluntary abstinence as honorable, prudent, and, for some people, necessary.
• We reject the condemnation of responsible believers merely because they do not practice total abstinence.
• We reject any use of Christian liberty that harms others, produces addiction, weakens one’s witness, violates the law, or places another person in spiritual or physical danger.

This position does not encourage drinking. It is a commitment to speak where Scripture speaks and to refrain from creating universal commandments that Scripture itself does not establish.

Alcoholic Wine in Scripture

The biblical words translated “wine” ordinarily refer to the recognized product of the vine, which could produce intoxication. The Bible does not need to condemn drunkenness from wine while simultaneously pretending that every positive reference to wine concerns an entirely different, nonintoxicating substance.

Scripture sometimes presents wine positively:

• Melchizedek brought bread and wine when he blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:18).
• Wine was included among the provisions of God’s covenantal blessing (Deuteronomy 7:13; 11:14).
• Israelites celebrating before the Lord could purchase “wine or strong drink” for the covenant meal (Deuteronomy 14:22–26).
• The psalmist praises God for giving plants for human cultivation, food from the earth, and “wine that gladdens the heart of man” (Psalm 104:14–15).
• Wisdom prepares her table and invites others to drink the wine she has mixed (Proverbs 9:1–6).
• Ecclesiastes associates eating bread and drinking wine with gratefully receiving the ordinary gifts of God (Ecclesiastes 9:7).
• Jesus transformed water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1–11).
• Jesus was accused of coming “eating and drinking,” in contrast to John the Baptist’s ascetic manner of life (Matthew 11:18–19; Luke 7:33–34).
• Paul advised Timothy to “use a little wine” because of his stomach and frequent illnesses (1 Timothy 5:23).

These passages do not command Christians to consume alcohol. They do, however, prevent the Church from declaring that every consumption of alcohol is intrinsically immoral.

The Lord’s Supper

Jesus took the cup and identified its contents as “the fruit of the vine” when instituting the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:27–29; Mark 14:23–25; Luke 22:17–20). This terminology was the ordinary biblical and Jewish manner of referring to wine.

Paul’s correction of the Corinthians further demonstrates that the wine associated with their communal meal was capable of intoxication: “One goes hungry, another gets drunk” (1 Corinthians 11:21). Paul condemned their selfishness, division, humiliation of the poor, and drunken abuse of the gathering. He did not teach that the presence of wine itself made the Supper sinful.

The sin in Corinth was not that the believers possessed wine, but that they consumed the meal selfishly and excessively, despised the Church of God, shamed those who had nothing, and failed to discern the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:20–34).

Scripture’s Condemnation of Drunkenness

Although Scripture does not universally prohibit drinking, its condemnation of drunkenness is unmistakable.

Wine becomes destructive when it deceives, dominates, impairs judgment, produces violence, encourages sexual immorality, wastes resources, or enslaves the drinker:

• “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler” (Proverbs 20:1).
• Proverbs describes the sorrow, conflict, wounds, distorted perception, and compulsive desire produced by lingering over wine (Proverbs 23:29–35).
• Isaiah pronounces judgment upon those who pursue intoxicating drink from morning until night (Isaiah 5:11–12, 22).
• Jesus warns against hearts being weighed down by dissipation and drunkenness (Luke 21:34).
• Christians must walk properly, “not in orgies and drunkenness” (Romans 13:13).
• Drunkards who remain unrepentant will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9–10).
• Drunkenness is listed among the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21).
• Believers are commanded, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
• Peter contrasts Christian living with the former life of sensuality, passions, drunkenness, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry (1 Peter 4:3–4).

The contrast in Ephesians 5:18 is especially important for Biblical Pentecostals. The Spirit-filled life is not characterized by impaired judgment, uncontrolled appetite, or fleshly excess. It is characterized by worship, thanksgiving, mutual submission, holiness, and Spirit-produced self-control (Ephesians 5:18–21; Galatians 5:22–23).

Addiction and Enslavement

Paul writes, “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Even something that is not inherently sinful becomes spiritually destructive when it masters the believer.

Alcohol addiction is, therefore, incompatible with Christian freedom. A person who cannot consume alcohol without losing control should abstain entirely. A believer who has experienced alcoholism should not be pressured to demonstrate “liberty” by drinking again. In such circumstances, abstinence is not weakness but wisdom.

Churches should respond to addiction with truth, accountability, compassion, practical assistance, prayer, and appropriate professional care. Addiction should neither be excused nor treated merely as an opportunity for shame. The purpose of correction is restoration, freedom, healing, and faithful discipleship.

Christian Liberty and the Conscience of Others

Christian liberty is never permission to act selfishly. Paul teaches that believers must consider how their conduct affects others:

“It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble” (Romans 14:21).

Romans 14 does not establish a universal prohibition against wine. Rather, it teaches that love may voluntarily limit a legitimate liberty for the spiritual well-being of another person.

The Christian must therefore ask not only, “May I do this?” but also:

• Will this master me?
• Will it impair my judgment or self-control?
• Will it endanger another person?
• Will it tempt someone struggling with addiction?
• Will it damage my family or ministry?
• Will it violate the law?
• Will it bring reproach upon Christ?
• Can I do it with thanksgiving and a clear conscience before God?
• Am I acting from love rather than self-indulgence?

Paul declares that not everything lawful is helpful or edifying (1 Corinthians 10:23). Whether eating, drinking, or doing anything else, believers must do everything for the glory of God and seek the good of others rather than merely asserting their personal rights (1 Corinthians 10:24, 31–33).

Voluntary Abstinence

Total abstinence can be a wise and honorable Christian practice. Some believers abstain because of personal history, family experience, health concerns, ministry responsibilities, cultural circumstances, concern for weaker believers, or a desire to avoid all possibility of enslavement.

Such abstinence should be respected. No Christian should be mocked, pressured, or treated as spiritually immature for refusing an alcoholic drink. A church should always provide nonalcoholic alternatives and should never create social environments in which drinking becomes an expectation.

Nevertheless, voluntary abstinence must not be transformed into a universal law by which the salvation, holiness, spirituality, or ministerial faithfulness of every other believer is judged. Paul warns against submitting to man-made religious regulations that appear wise but are not genuine victory over the flesh (Colossians 2:16, 20–23).

Holiness is not established by adding commandments to Scripture. Holiness is life set apart to God through obedience to His Word and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Qualifications for Christian Leadership

Scripture requires especially appropriate conduct from church leaders. An overseer must not be a drunkard or one controlled by wine, and deacons must not be addicted to much wine (1 Timothy 3:2–3, 8; Titus 1:7). Older women likewise must not be enslaved to much wine (Titus 2:3).

These qualifications do not require interpreting every use of wine as sinful. They require sobriety, dignity, wisdom, self-control, freedom from addiction, and conduct that is above reproach.

Because leaders influence others, they may choose stricter personal limitations than Scripture universally commands. Such limitations may be prudent, but they should be identified as personal or ministerial commitments rather than presented as divine laws binding every Christian.

Historical Christian Practice

The historic Christian Church generally distinguished between the use of wine and its abuse. Early Christians used wine in the Lord’s Supper while condemning intoxication and teaching moderation. Justin Martyr described Christians bringing bread and a cup of wine mixed with water for the Eucharist. Cyprian argued that wine, rather than water alone, belonged in the Lord’s cup. Clement of Alexandria explicitly acknowledged the Christian use of wine while repeatedly warning against intemperance and drunkenness.

It would be historically imprecise to claim that every Church or Christian before 1869 approved of drinking without qualification. Ascetic Christians sometimes abstained, Methodists opposed distilled spirits before 1869, and nineteenth-century temperance movements were already advocating total abstinence.

Nevertheless, the dominant historical Christian practice did not regard wine itself as inherently sinful. The widespread use of fermented wine in the Lord’s Supper across centuries demonstrates that the traditional concern was ordinarily drunkenness, intemperance, and abuse rather than the mere presence of alcohol.

The importance of 1869 is that Thomas Bramwell Welch developed a practical pasteurization process that kept grape juice from fermenting, making an unfermented communion substitute widely possible. This occurred within the nineteenth-century Methodist temperance movement. Even during that controversy, most churches initially continued using wine, while some temperance advocates sought alternatives. Thus, 1869 did not mark the first Christian concern about alcohol; it marked a major technological and cultural development that helped normalize unfermented grape juice in portions of American Protestantism.

Errors We Reject

The Association of Biblical Pentecostals rejects the following teachings and practices:

1. We reject drunkenness, drinking parties, intoxication, impaired driving, alcohol-fueled violence, neglect of family responsibilities, and every form of alcohol abuse.
2. We reject addiction and enslavement, recognizing that any substance must not master the believer.
3. We reject reckless appeals to Christian liberty that disregard weaker believers, recovering alcoholics, children, families, public safety, or the reputation of Christ.
4. We reject the claim that Scripture universally commands every Christian to consume alcohol. Drinking is permitted in Scripture, not required.
5. We reject the claim that every Christian who drinks responsibly is living in sin. Such a judgment goes beyond the written Word.
6. We reject the claim that total abstinence makes a person inherently more righteous or Spirit-filled. Abstinence may be wise and honorable, but righteousness comes through Christ, and holiness is produced through obedience to God and the work of the Holy Spirit.
7. We reject efforts to reinterpret every biblical reference to wine as unfermented grape juice merely to protect a later doctrinal tradition. Scripture must be allowed to speak according to its own language and historical setting.
8. We reject pressuring any believer to drink. Love must protect those whose conscience, history, health, or recovery requires abstinence.

Pastoral Commitment

We call every believer to sobriety, wisdom, self-control, love, and submission to the Holy Spirit. Where alcohol has become destructive, the Church must speak clearly and intervene compassionately. Where believers voluntarily abstain, the Church must honor their decision. Where believers partake responsibly, they must do so without drunkenness, addiction, pride, pressure, or disregard for others.

The question is not merely whether a beverage may be consumed, but whether Christ is being honored, the believer remains self-controlled, others are being loved, and God is being glorified.

Conclusion

We believe that Scripture does not condemn the drinking of alcohol as inherently sinful. Scripture does condemn drunkenness, addiction, reckless behavior, loss of self-control, and conduct that harms others or dishonors Christ.

Accordingly, the Association of Biblical Pentecostals affirms Christian liberty under the authority of Scripture, voluntary abstinence according to wisdom and conscience, compassionate ministry to those harmed by addiction, and the Spirit-filled self-control required of every follower of Jesus Christ.

We will neither call evil what God has not called evil nor use Christian liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. We will pursue holiness without legalism, liberty without selfishness, and sobriety under the gracious rule of Jesus Christ.