A Plea For Total Abstinence
What’s the matter with this picture? Many would say nothing at all. Many of those who profess Christ would say nothing at all. I am not among that group.
Beliefs about alcohol consumption in moderation in the church have varied down through history. Early Free Will Baptist and General Baptist history also discloses some who disagreed with the stance of total abstinence. However, through the years Free Will Baptists have come to the conclusion based on biblical principles and evidence that the proper stance for the Christian is that of total abstinence. So firm is our stand against alcohol that covenantal statements even to extend to the prohibitions of the sale of alcohol or endorsing those who do.
“We promise, by His grace, to love and obey Him in all things, to avoid the appearance of evil, to abstain for all sinful amusements and unholy conformity to the world, from all sanction and the use and sale of intoxicating beverages, and to provide things honest in the sight of all men.”
Free Will Baptist Church Covenant
In recent years very few churches have been vocal in their stance for total abstinence. Few pulpits or teaching lecterns make a biblical case against alcohol and for teetotalism. It is not enough to occasionally decry drinking with a witticism or quip. We must go to the Word of God to make our case.
I think sometimes Free Will Baptists are afraid to bring up the issue because of differences of opinion tracing back to the “wine issue” if the 1980’s. However, whatever your belief about the content of wine in the Bible, Scriptures still point to total abstinence. Dr. Norman Geisler states in his article A Christian Perspective on Wine Drinking:
“Many wine-drinking Christians today mistakenly assume that what the New Testament meant by wine is identical to wine used today. This however is false. In fact, today’s wine by any biblical definition is ‘strong drink’ and hence is forbidden in the Bible! What the Bible frequently meant by wine was basically purified water.”
At another point Geisler makes is that one would have to drink twenty-two glasses of wine in the New Testament times to consume as much alcohol as two martinis today.
Pastor David Brown concurs:
“All alcoholic beverages used in our culture fall under the biblical classification of strong drink and therefore are forbidden. The least ration of water to wine mixture is 3 parts water to 1 part wine. That produced a sub-alcoholic drink that was 2.5% to 2.75% alcohol. Normally, the ration was even higher; up to 20 to 1. There is not biblical support for Christians drinking the alcoholic beverage of our day.”
Please do not miss the point. I am not calling into question anyone’s stance on the wine of the Bible. I am, however, pointing out that even if a person does believe that some references to wine in the Bible refer to some degree of alcoholic content, the case must still be made for total abstinence.
Nevertheless, as if biblical support for being a teetotaler is not enough, we need look no further than our own culture. No other drug is so abused as alcohol. No other product has produced so much havoc, broken up so many families, ruined so many lives, and killed so many people as alcohol. But it is culturally accepted and even promoted. My fear is that we are looking the other direction.
We must be making the case for total abstinence. We need to uphold this statement in our covenant. I am firmly convinced that we need to let it be known that we believe drinking alcohol is a sin.
But I also believe that we should reach out to those who have problems in this area, and even those who disagree with us in this area. We must stand true to our belief in teetotalism and reach out in gracious but resolute admonition. We must take them where they are a seek to lead them to where they need to be. For they do not know the dangers of the glass before them. For “wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1)
The Bible is replete with Scriptures against alcohol. We must stand against drunkenness and social drinking. May God impress on us the souls that are at stake and the gravity of a stand for total abstinence. May in the coming days it be know how Christians in the Free Will Baptist denomination stand. Whether a drop, pint, or barrel, there is no place in the Christian’s life for alcohol.