There is a pretty good sized swath of folks within christianty who misinterpret scriptures about drunkenness by conflating drunkenness with all drinking of alcohol. Conflation is a logical fallacy, and these “all-drinking-is-sin” false teachers are guilty of that logical flaw.
And, I know at the onset of what I’m writing here that there will likely be some christians in groups where this will be posted who will accuse me of justifying sin, and then suggest that I have some secret sinful lifestyle that I’m trying rationalize. As they will do so from ignorance about me, personally, such attacks will be just as meritless as their false teachings about alcohol.
Now, why would I say that “all eating is sin”? It’s because that’s the exact same argument those who claim that all drinking is a sin make. They conflate drinking with drunkenness, which is to lose self control, and they make the specious claim that drinking alcohol is a sin. The sin is losing self control, not drinking alcohol.
Stating that all eating is sin is the exact same argument as their conflation of drinking and drunkenness. You see, eating without self control leads to gluttony, and gluttony leads to obesity, and obesity is a major cause of death in the country. So, according to their corrupt logic, eating must be sin, since it leads to the devastation of death by obesity—and, how many families are affected each year by the deaths of loved ones that have been caused by obesity?
They miss the true meaning of the scriptures, and the lack of scriptural understanding is largely the basis of christianity itself. The issue is not drinking or eating or anything else of the flesh. The issue is self control, which is a spiritual matter—drinking is physical.
So, drinking without self control leads to drunkenness. Eating without self control leads to gluttony. Sexual desire without self control leads to fornication and adultery. Covetousness without self control leads to greed and stealing. Anger without self control leads to hatred and murder.
The spiritual matter for those who have been made righteous by the indwelling Holy Spirit (those who have received confirmation from Him that they have been given the covenant) is self control—bringing the desires of the flesh under the control of the Holy Spirit.
It is a choice those who are Yah’s children should make. Now, what should be is not always what is. Some who have been made righteous will choose not to deny their flesh, and for that, they will lose out on reward in heaven.
But, ultimately, to claim that drinking alcohol is a sin is to accuse Messiah Yahoshua of sinning, as He clearly stated that He drank alcohol (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34), but He never drank to the point of losing self control, for that would be drunkenness, and drunkenness is a sin. Conflating the two things, as many christians do, is clearly false teaching.
But, then, much of what christianity teaches is based on false interpretations of scripture and the traditions of men, rather than the truths of the Holy Spirit and the Father’s traditions. And, this spiritual truth has nothing to do with what I personally choose to do, or not do, or what anybody else chooses to do, or not do. This is merely an attempt to delineate between what the scriptures state is a sin, and what the scriptures clearly do not state is a sin. To state that something is a sin that is clearly not defined as sin by the Holy Spirit is the true meaning of LEGALISM.
For more information: Did Christ Drink Alcohol?