Hey there! How’s it brewing?

Today I wanted to discuss a topic that sort of merges my full time job with this part time job/hobby of mine. That is, what does the Bible say about brewing and drinking beer?

This is a hot topic in the christian world and there are many opinions out there (big surprise, right?). At the heart of it, I really don’t care about what anyone’s opinion on this topic is. I just care about what the Bible actually says.

Opinions are great, but that isn’t what I’m going to base my life off of.

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I don’t really care for opinions 

Plainly, I just couldn’t care in the least about anyone’s opinion on this or any other subject when it comes to biblical theology (the study of religious faith, practice, and experience especially: the study of God and of God’s relation to the world, Webster’s Dictionary Online).

The biblical text itself is where we develop biblical theology, not from our opinions or personal experiences. As with most things, the Bible speaks very clearly on this topic. 

We may have had great or damaging experiences with fill in the blank or have been taught what is right and wrong solely based on our culture. However this nor anything else should influence what the Bible communicates to us about any given subject. 

Once again, for clarity’s sake, the biblical text and only the biblical text is where we derive biblical theology from. 

Is alcohol talked about in the Bible?

If you think about it (or if you want to read about it see this post), alcohol has been around since the very beginning. This is something to be said in and of itself. As long as human records have been around, there has been record of alcohol. We as humans seem to have a preference to relax and drink alcohol. 

The Bible is super old as I am sure you know. Wether you believe it to be true is a different question all together, but it is undisputed that these texts are ancient. The Bible is not silent on the issue of alcohol and many of the biblical characters drank themselves. As far back as Noah, we have a record of not only drinking alcohol but also excessive drinking leading drunkenness (with a horrible outcome, and totally not recommended). So to address this simply, yes, the Bible talks about alcohol and drinking alcohol. 

Does this make it right?

Anyone who has read the Bible knows that there is some crazy stuff recorded in it. Why is that? Because humans are crazy complicated and the Bible tells a story involving the lives of normal humans. Think about your life and some of the crazy stuff you have done. Now imagine that stuff being written down for everyone to read over the period of thousands of years. That’s exactly what happened with the biblical characters. 

Incredibly complicated people’s mistakes were recorded in the biblical text and shows us that the human race has been this way since the fall of man. This is a comfort when we come to realize the purpose of recording this was to show us that no one is perfect! Praise God we are all in the same boat. 

See, the Bible talks about drinking alcohol and allows for it; however, what it warns about is excessive drinking. This is hard to define, for every person can drink varying amounts with different results. It is safe to say that the Bible warns about getting plastered. You know, not being able to stand, falling over, slurring your words and blacking out would definitely qualify for excessive drinking and not being of sober mind. The Bible is clear that money, sex, alcohol, basically any thing can be used to bring healthy pleasure or become a destructive distraction. 

Really it is all about how and why you consume it.

To drink or not to drink?

Read the Bible and see for yourself that it does not condemn drinking alcohol. I know that is a big thing to ask of a reader, but if you’re reading this post in the first place, that means you are showing at least some interest in the Bible. Let your personal desire to know and understand drive you to the text of the Bible itself, not what I or anyone else is telling you. Drinking alcohol is permitted, period the end. 

Now, does that mean that everyone who uses it uses it responsibly? Of course not! Just as every other material object we use can bring harm or good, alcohol is no different. Many lives have been destroyed by greed but we still use money. The same with sex, but we still “do it” (pun intended). This points to the fact that humanity is fallen and we are in need of help. It may not seem like it at first, but this is great news my peeps.

The awesome news!!

This is the best part!! Whoop whoop!!! The thing that I live to share with people. See, we are complicated people with a lot of problems and maybe drinking is one of them. If so, that’s not good. But guess what, neither is lying, stealing, cheating, greed, hatred etc. Getting drunk, and especially getting drunk irresponsibly (driving drunk and so on) can ruin your life and other’s lives. Don’t forget, though, that hatred, lying, and stealing will do the same. 

The good news about being complicated people with a bunch of problems is that it’s not by anything that we do that makes us right with God! Yeah I know that statement is completely different than any type of religion you might be familiar with. That’s because it is. 

What you could not gain by being morally perfect, you cannot loose by moral imperfection. 

Sorry, it’s not all about you

Yep, that is the truth my brothers and sisters. You are not made right with God by doing or not doing anything. It’s not by drinking or not drinking, it’s not by not telling lies, or not stealing (of course you shouldn’t do these things). It’s not by doing anything good or not doing anything that is “bad” that gets you right with God. The only thing that has ever gotten anyone right with God is by trusting in Him. That is it. 

You do this by taking whatever you are trusting in today to make you right with God, whether it is being “good”or doing good works, trusting in doing the right thing, trusting in money, a different god or no god at all, whatever it is you you trust in, and instead placing that loyalty on Jesus. Then you will be made right with God.

He is the perfect one, we are not. This is why God came as a man to do what we could not. The God-man had to live a perfect life and die to pay our debt (think about all the crazy stuff you have done as a complicated person that we talked about earlier) so that those who simply believe in Him will be made right with God. 

He is the man

It’s all about belief. That is it. There is nothing more required than your belief in Jesus. This is enough and you can’t add anything else to your salvation by “being good” or take your salvation away by “being bad”.

When it comes to being made right with God, what you do pales in comparison to what He has done. I pray we understand this. It is simply by far the most important thing you could ever take time to think about. 

I want to say this again, You could NEVER be made right with God by being perfect. Because being made right with God has never been about being able to be perfect.

It has always been about belief.

Even if in some way you can live a perfect life (which you can’t, sorry), you would still not be made right with God. Why? Because you cannot be made right with God by perfection! To be made right with God you must believe. You can only be right with God by placing your faith in God. 

How much He loves you

Listen, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Meaning while we didn’t care for God, while we were estranged from God, and while we weren’t thinking about God, that is when He came as a man and died for us.

He loves you and loved you even when you didn’t love Him. If He did all this while we were his enemies, how much more will he accept us unconditionally when we put our trust (i.e your believing loyalty) in Him. 

Brew, Drink, and Trust in Jesus

Therefore when you believe in Jesus you are free. Free from trying to make yourself right with God through doing this or not doing that. You are free to live your life without the burden of always wondering just how good you need to be.

This happens because you have realized that you can never be good enough! Jesus is the God Man and He is the perfect one. He is the savior. We are none of those things, but Glory be to God we can believe in Him! 

That’s why I say put your trust in Him, not in drinking or not drinking. Transfer your believing loyalty (whatever it is you’re trusting in to make you right with God) to Jesus and you will be saved.

Brew and drink beer freely knowing that abstaining or indulging will not save you (though indulging will have its own consequences).

Again, what you could not earn by moral perfection you cannot lose by moral imperfection. 

If you believe, you will be made right. If you don’t, then you won’t. It is that simple.

Opinions are not Biblical Truths

There are many good reasons to not drink alcohol, but saying that “ the Bible forbids drinking alcohol”, is not one of them. That is just a flat-out lie and a horrible twisting of the Bible for one’s own use.

The biblical text does support that if an individual feels they should not drink, then they shouldn’t. That truth cannot and most definitely should not be conflated to mean everybody everywhere should not drink alcohol. That would be a ridiculous and bad interpretation of the biblical text. 

Like everything that is misused, the Bible becomes dangerous in the hand of people that want to push their own agendas and manipulate people regardless of how nefarious or benevolent their initial intentions were.

For those who care about what the Bible says our main question should always be what can the biblical text support? The text itself is what we derive our biblical theology from! Not experiences, neither our emotions, nor what anybody said! The text, and the text itself. 

The conclusion, my friends

In conclusion, nowhere in the biblical text does it say that we should not drink alcohol! It just doesn’t ever say that. Unfortunately this is a fabrication derived somewhere other than the biblical texts and has been propounded by those who have let other sources take precedence over the Bible in this subject.

Read and search for yourself whether what I write here today is true. Don’t just take my or any other person’s word for it. 

I hope this post was found helpful to those interested in this neat and important topic. If you do like beer, please check out more posts here at Brew with Kits about how to brew great beer at home easily using a kit.

You can brew it!

*Update

Hey guys I wanted to give a list of bibles that I have found to be really helpful in my daily walk. Hope that they will bless y’all as well.