Ephesians 5:18a [18] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, (but be filled with the Spirit), (ESV)
If you have been following what has been deemed essential and non-essential by government officials during this COVID season, there has been some surprising designations. Corporate worship was deemed non-essential, while alcohol sales, deemed essential. With uncertainties, added pressures and home isolation, alcohol and drug abuse has skyrocketed. While the people who can provide assistance, counsel and help for dealing with these challenges, have been deemed non-essential.
Ephesus had a great problem with alcohol abuse. Ephesus was a center for the cult of Dionysus (Greek, “Bacchus”), the god of wine. Celebrations in honor of Dionysus emphasized fertility, sex, and intoxication. Intoxication, (the cult members believed) would allow Dionysus to control the body of the worshiper. Thus, the worshiper would do the will of the deity. Paul was saying in Ephesians 5:18, “Don’t be filled with the spirit of Dionysus through wine (Hughes, R. B., & Laney, J. C. (2001). Tyndale concise Bible commentary (p. 595). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.)
Before Paul commanded to “be filled with the Spirit” which we will look at lord willing next week, considering the characteristics of the Spirit–filled life (vv. 18b–21), Paul first gave a contrasting and negative command, And do not get drunk with wine. This is a PRESENT PASSIVE IMPERATIVE with the NEGATIVE PARTICLE which usually means to stop an act in process (Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul Bound, the Gospel Unbound: Letters from Prison (Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon, then later, Philippians) (Vol. Volume 8, p. 128). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.)
In light of the apostle’s preceding contrasts between light and darkness (vv. 8–14) and between wisdom and foolishness (vv. 15–17), his point here is that getting drunk is a mark of darkness and foolishness and that being filled with the Spirit is the source of a believer’s being able to walk in light and wisdom. The problem with drinking in order to be happy is not the motive but the means. It brings only artificial happiness at best and is counterproductive to spiritual sensitivity. It is a temporary escape that often leads to even worse problems than the ones that prompted the drinking in the first place. Intoxication is never a healthy remedy for the cares of life, but it has few equals in its ability to multiply them. Intoxication is not the effective remedy for the cares and worries of this life. The so-called “uplift” it provides is not real. It is the devil’s poor substitute for the “joy unspeakable and full of glory” which God provides. Satan is ever substituting the bad for the good (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of Ephesians (Vol. 7, p. 239). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).
In Ephesians 5:18, Paul was therefore not simply making a moral but also a theological contrast. He was not only speaking of the moral and social evils of drunkenness, but of the spiritually perverted use of drunkenness as a means of worship. Christians are not to seek religious fulfillment through such pagan means as getting drunk with wine, but are to find their spiritual fulfillment and enjoyment by being “filled with the Spirit.” The believer has no need for the artificial, counterfeit, degrading, destructive, and idolatrous ways of the world. A Believer has God’s own Spirit indwelling them, the Spirit whose great desire is to give believers the fullest benefits and enjoyment of their high position as children of God. From this concept, we can see: 1) The Prohibition (Ephesians 5:18a), 2) The Product (Ephesians 5:18b), 3) The Principle (Ephesians 5:18c) to avoid intoxication as a believer in Christ.
A Believer in Christ should be filled with the Spirit and therefore avoid:
1) The Prohibition (Ephesians 5:18a)
Ephesians 5:18a [18] And do not get drunk (with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit), (ESV)
To keep our faith from being merely about human doing and thinking, the apostle says, “Do not get drunk with wine.” This command is a synecdoche (a part for the whole), referring to emptying our lives of excess wine but also—in contrast to the filling of the Spirit—emptying ourselves of anything in this world that would hold us under its influence. Such influence, whether by wine or other intoxicants, leads to reckless living that would darken the very life of light the apostle has been advocating (Chapell, B. (2009). Ephesians. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (p. 262). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.).
Specifically, here drunkenness is the clouding or disruption by alcohol of any part of a person’s mind so that it affects their faculties. A person is drunk to the extent that alcohol has restricted or modified any part of their thinking or acting. Drunkenness has many degrees, but it begins when it starts to interrupt the normal functions of the body and mind. Scripture shows drunkenness in its full ugliness and tragedy, as always associated with immorality, dissolution, unrestrained behavior, wild, reckless behavior, and every other form of corrupt living. It is one of the sinful deeds of the flesh that are in opposition to the righteous fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:19–23). Drunkenness is first of all a sin. It develops attendant disease as it ravages the mind and body, but it is basically a sin, a manifestation of depravity. It must therefore be confessed and dealt with as sin. We see a common theme from the stories of Noah, Ahab (1 Kings 20:16–34), Belshazzar (Dan. 5), to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:27–30), both the Old and New Testaments unequivocally condemn drunkenness. Every picture of drunkenness in the Bible is a picture of sin and disaster. The danger of drunkenness (Gal 5:21) lies not only in itself but in what it may induce.( Wood, A. S. (1981). Ephesians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon (Vol. 11, p. 72). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
Please turn to 1 Peter 4
Paul admonished the Thessalonians, “Let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:6–8; cf Rom. 13:13). He warned the Corinthian believers that they were not even “to associate with any so–called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one” (1 Cor. 5:11). In the next chapter he went on to say, “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9–10). … The intoxication of drink is not introduced as a mere foil to spiritual exhilaration. It is a concrete example of worldly folly in wicked days and a sample of how fools make themselves utterly incapable of wisdom, sound judgment, and real understanding. They dull and drug even their physical brain and wickedly add to the wickedness of the days in which they live (Lenski, R. C. H. (1937). The interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, to the Ephesians and to the Philippians (p. 617). Columbus, O.: Lutheran Book Concern.)
Peter told believers:
1 Peter 4:3-7 [3] For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. [4]With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; [5]but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. [6] For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. [7] The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. (ESV)
• The lives of unbelievers have not fundamentally changed from the first century to the twenty-first; believers should have nothing to do with such behavior, even when their nonparticipation means that others will malign them. Drunkenness is a gospel issue. In the context of the imminent return of Christ, believers are to be self-controlled and sober-minded, so that they may be devoted to prayer and maximize their usefulness in God’s kingdom. It is possible for a Christian to become drunk, just as it is possible for a believer to fall into other sins. But the truly redeemed life will not be continually characterized by drunkenness or any of the other sins mentioned by Peter and Paul. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2411). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Illustration: 85 Abstinence Without God Fails
There is a clear difference between pure self will, and a Spirit controlled life. Even prominent people have mistaken the consumption of alcohol with the control of alcohol. The Hon. Thomas Marshall of Kentucky made a ten minutes’ speech in Broadway Tabernacle, saying, “were this great globe one chrysolite, and I offered the possession if I would drink one glass of brandy, I would refuse it with scorn. And I want no religion—I want the temperance pledge.” Expressing a desire to form a temperance movement, that abstained from alcohol to display personal strength, he said: “We want no religion in this movement; let it be purely secular, and keep religion where it belongs.” Yet Tom Marshall, with all his self-confidence and energies, fell and died at Poughkeepsie in clothes given him by Christian charity (Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 128). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.).
Drinking or not drinking is not in itself a mark, and certainly not a measure, of Christianity. Biblical Christianity is determined by what we are inside, of which what we do on the outside is but a manifestation. What we do on the outside cannot create something on the inside. Once the inside changes, outward changes will inevitably result. What we allow to control our lives shows who controls our lives.
A Believer in Christ should be filled with the Spirit and therefore be cautious of something else controlling our lives, whatever:
2) The Product (Ephesians 5:18b)
Ephesians 5:18b [18] (And do not get drunk) with wine, (for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit), (ESV)
Despite its many warnings about the dangers of wine, the drinking of it is not totally forbidden in Scripture and is, in fact, sometimes even commended. Drink offerings of wine accompanied many of the Old Testament sacrifices (Ex. 29:40; Num. 15:5; cf 28:7). It is likely that a supply of wine was kept in the Temple for that purpose. The psalmist spoke of “wine which makes man’s heart glad” (Ps. 104:15), and the writer of Proverbs advised giving “strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to him whose life is bitter” (Prov. 31:6). In speaking of God’s gracious invitation to salvation, Isaiah declared, “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isa. 55:1). Paul advised Timothy, “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim. 5:23). Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:6–10). He also spoke favorably of wine in the parable of the Good Samaritan, who poured oil and wine on the wounds of the man he found beaten by the roadside (Luke 10:34).Like many other things, the kind of wine of which Scripture speaks has the potential either for evil or good. Before the fall, there was a time when the juice of the grape, like every other thing God created, was only good and did not have even the potential for evil. Fermentation, a form of decay, likely was made possible by the corruption of nature at the Fall and actually began with the vast environmental change caused by the Flood and the accompanying removal of the vapor canopy over the earth that had protected it from direct sunlight. It is not unreasonable to believe that in the final consummation of the kingdom, the process will again be reversed, when the curse is removed and nature is restored to its original state of perfect goodness. Naturally fermented wine has an alcoholic content of from nine to eleven percent. For an alcoholic beverage such as brandy to have a higher content, it must be artificially fortified by distilling already–fermented wine. The unmixed wine of the ancients therefore had a maximum alcohol content of eleven percent. Even mixed half and half (a mixture which Mnesitheus said would bring madness), the wine would have had less than five percent alcohol. Since the strongest wine normally drunk was mixed at least with three parts water to one of wine, its alcohol content would have been in a range no higher than 2.25–2.75 percent—well below the 3.2 percent that today is generally considered necessary to classify a beverage as alcoholic. It is clear, therefore, that whether the yayin or oinos mentioned in Scripture refers to the thick syrup itself, to a mixture of water and syrup, or to a mixture of water and pure wine, the wine was either nonalcoholic or only slightly alcoholic. To get drunk with mixed wine (oinos) would have required consuming a large quantity—as is suggested in other New Testament passages. The wine of Bible times was not the same as the unmixed wine of our own day. Even the more civilized pagans of Bible times would have considered the drinking of modern wines to be barbaric and irresponsible. In Bible times, as in many parts of the world today, good drinking water either did not exist or was scarce. The safest drink was wine, and wine that had alcoholic content was especially safe because of the antiseptic effect of the alcohol. It actually purified the water. ‘Wine—alcohol—… pharmacologically speaking is not a stimulant—it is a depressant, ‘it depresses first and foremost the highest centres of all in the brain … They control everything that gives a someone self-control, wisdom, understanding, discrimination, judgment, balance, the power to assess everything; in other words everything that makes a someone behave at their very best and highest’ (Stott, J. R. W. (1979). God’s new society: the message of Ephesians (pp. 204–205). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
Please turn to 1 Corinthians 6
Some of the Corinthian Christians were theorizing that bodily appetites were matters of indifference for Christians just as they apparently were for everyone else. Paul reminds them (and us) that the bodies of Christians are one with the resurrected Christ and, in risen form, the Christian’s body will be eternal. What they do with them now, therefore, is important (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2198). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Presented in the context of sexuality, Paul writes:
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 [12]"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. [13]"Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"--and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. [14] And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. [15] Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! [16] Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." [17] But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. [18] Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. [19]Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, [20] for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (ESV)
• Paul knows that human desires are tainted with sin, which uses these desires to master the person for its own evil purposes (Rom. 6:6, 12, 16–22; 7:7–25) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2199). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
• Alcohol can cloud thinking, it, as in anything else created, must not be a dependency in itself, we must not be mastered by anything” (v.12).
• We are not free to do whatever we want with our bodies for they have been bought by Christ (v.20). Being the temple of the Holy Spirit is not restricting, but liberating. The Holy Sprit, working through the body of Christ corporately, can liberate people not only from the bondage of sin eternally, but presently in addiction.
Illustration: 79 Logical Toast In Japan
William J. Bryan, visiting Japan, attended a banquet given to the Admiral of the Navy. All present paid tribute to the Japanese naval leader. The time came to drink a toast. Those present lifted their champagne glasses, but there was a gasp of alarm as Mr. Bryan was seen to raise a glass of water. Someone grasped his arm and whispered that such a toast would be considered an insult. Without being prideful, but just expressing his personal choice, he said: “You won your victories on water,” he said, turning to the admiral, “and I drink to your health in water; whenever you win any victories on champagne I shall drink your health in champagne. (Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 126). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.)
• Although drunkenness is a sin, the choice to drink or not for the Christian is one of liberality. One must never pressure another to drink or abstain from drink. One must be convinced with their own conscience.
Finally, a Believer in Christ should be filled with the Spirit and therefore be cautious of something else controlling our lives, as seen by:
3) The Principle (Ephesians 5:18c)
Ephesians 5:18c [18] (And do not get drunk with wine), for that is debauchery, (but be filled with the Spirit), (ESV)
A concern should be for alcohol’s potential destructiveness. The mental, physical, and social destructiveness of alcohol is too evident to need much documentation. Over 40 percent of all violent deaths are alcohol related, and at least 50 percent of all traffic fatalities involve drinking drivers. It is estimated that at least one fourth of all hospitalized psychiatric patients have a problem with alcohol. Heavy consumption of alcohol causes cirrhosis of the liver and countless other physical disorders. Alcohol–related problems cost billions of dollars each year in lost income to employers and employees, in settlements by insurance companies and in higher premiums for their customers, and in many other less direct ways. Debauchery/Dissipation, to which drunkenness inevitably leads, is from asotia, which literally means “that which is unable to be saved.” The word refers to a drunk person’s being out of control, as well as to the person’s wastefulness (of resources and of life itself) (Barton, B. B., & Comfort, P. W. (1996). Ephesians (p. 109). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.). “Debauchery” (?s?t?a, asotia) is the word for the kind of dissipation and “riotous living” in which the Prodigal Son wasted his inheritance (Luke 15:13) (Boles, K. L. (1993). Galatians & Ephesians (Eph 5:18). Joplin, MO: College Press.)
Please turn to Romans 14
Alcohol, like many other things that we have options to engage in, is a discretionary issue that helps us understand what the Kingdom of God is about. We need to be making daily wise choices with a particular aim in mind. With this and many other issues, how can we decide?
Paul gives us a framework for decision making in Romans 14:
Romans 14:12-23[12] So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. [13] Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. [14]I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. [15] For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. [16] So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. [17] For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. [18] Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. [19] So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. [20] Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. [21] It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. [22] The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. [23] But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (ESV) (cf. 1 Cor. 8:9)
• We see in v17, drinking or abstaining does not make you a Christian. V.14, notes that Alcohol is not evil in itself. For V.12 We are not to stand in judgment with the one who drinks. Yet. as V.15-, states, there may be times that we publicly abstain from Alcohol, rather than as v. 13 says, we are a hindrance to another or encourage them to sin. The deciding factor is stated in v.23, if you have doubts about consumption, better that you abstain.
• As difficult as it is to discern what we are to eat, drink or whatever we do, we are to do it to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31–33). We are not to seek our own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
(Format note: Some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1986). Ephesians (pp. 229–245). Chicago: Moody Press.)
