The Dangers of Drunkenness

Dan Corner

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What Happens When You Get Drunk

What happens when you get drunk? What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol? Here are the details: Alcohol results when sugar reacts with yeast during fermentation. Though there are different kinds of alcohol, the kind in an alcoholic beverage is ethyl alcohol. It can produce a variety of feelings, alter moods, affect the physical body and become addicting.

Inhibitions are the first to be suppressed when alcohol is consumed, which results in talking more, becoming disorderly and acting foolishly. Time is the only way to rid the body of alcohol after it has been consumed---approximately one hour per ounce of alcohol. As little as one or two drinks can adversely affect a driver's judgment and reaction time.

Drunkenness (and/or alcoholism) is a very serious problem in our society. The statistics associated with drinking alcohol are both alarming and disturbing, especially from a Christian point of view. (The data below does not include all of the known DUI):

Did Jesus Make Alcoholic Wine

I Thought Eternal Security Kept Me Safe As An Occasional Drunkard

In America alone there are 14,000,000 people who are alcoholics.

Among 15 year olds, girls binge drink at a rate almost the same as that of the boys.

20% of the suicides are alcoholics.

50% of all traffic fatalities are related to alcohol abuse.

1/3 of all traffic accidents are related to alcohol abuse.

50% of all homicides in the USA are related to alcohol abuse.

The average American consumes more beer than coffee or milk.

Alcohol increases the risk of car accidents, drowning, violence and physical diseases.

Any alcohol consumption during pregnancy is risky for the offspring.

40% of school students consumed alcohol before age 13.

Over 3,000,000 teenagers in the 14-17 year age bracket in America are problem drinkers.

62% of high school seniors say they have been drunk.

44% of all college students binge drink, that is, drink to get drunk.

School students consume more alcohol than smoke cigarettes.

Single car fatal accidents are 3 times higher at night among 15-20 year olds than other fatal crashes.

Non-Hispanic whites aged 15-20 binge drink more than other racial groups.

Males are nearly three times more likely to be problem drinkers than females.

People with drinking problems have a higher rate of divorce.

Listen To This Testimony Of How False Teaching Led To Drunkenness, etc. (MP3)

Premature Death Due To Drunkenness

What happens when you get drunk? Well, the physical dangers of alcohol consumption include:

Liver damage especially, but also brain, heart, bone marrow and gastrointestinal tract. Such can lead to cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, cirrhosis, nerve problems, etc. When the liver is affected nutrition is also adversely impacted which will hurt the entire body.

Becoming overweight. One glass of wine daily can add 10 pounds a year to your weight.

Ryan Dunn Dead At 34!

Multitudes have died prematurely and/or been in very serious accidents, especially car wrecks, due to drunkenness. Just one example of a fatality was Ryan Dunn, 34, one of the stars of the TV movie "Jackass." His sudden destruction left him with no time to repent and prepare for death:
WEST GOSHEN, Pa. -- Ryan Dunn, one of the stars of the TV and movie series "Jackass," was killed early Monday in a single-car accident in Pennsylvania. He was 34 years old .... Ryan Dunn tweeted a photo of himself drinking with friends just hours before a car crash that left him dead in Pennsylvania. West Goshen police said Dunn's Porsche was found in a wooded area off the road, "fully engulfed in flames." They said speed may have been a contributing factor in the accident. An investigation into the crash is ongoing .... A few hours before his death, Dunn also posted a photo on Twitter of himself drinking with two other men. According to TMZ, a friend of Dunn's said he drank three light beers and three "girly shots" at the bar but said he was "not too drunk to drive." Another witness told the website Dunn "had a lot to drink" and described him as being "wasted," however police have not said if alcohol was suspected as a factor in the crash. (https://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/jackass_star_ryan_dunn_dies_in_car_n1cBuuemKYuyYC6R2drcVI)
If Ryan Dunn wasn't a drinker, he probably wouldn't have had that car accident. [See his picture above drinking with others. He's the one on the far left.]

Drunkenness Is a Sin

It is apparent that a wide variety of temporal problems stem from drinking alcohol, as just shown. The above cited dangers and sufferings for the drunk, however, are inconsequential and almost not even worth mentioning compared to the greatest danger in the entire universe---that of being thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, which is forever. There are only two possible eternal destinies. If one doesn't inherit the kingdom of God he will be thrown into the lake of fire, and drunkenness can prevent one from inheriting the kingdom of God:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 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, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:9-11, NASB)

According to the above passage, "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic" is not true. It says that is what they were (past tense), but now they were different having been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Lord Jesus and by the Holy Spirit. Drunkards don't need rehabilitation to get freed from sin addiction. They need salvation, which will immediately set them free from sin's slavery and change their spiritual identity. Furthermore, there is no such thing as a Christian alcoholic since drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus similarly taught about drunkenness:

But suppose the servant says to himself, "My master is taking a long time in coming," and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers (Luke 12:45, 46).

This last passage, among many others, refutes the teaching of once a son always a son for it is written about those who had been saved in the past.

Four More Bible Facts About Drunkenness and Alcoholism

(1) It leads to debauchery:

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

(2) It brings woe, sorrow, strife, complaints, needless bruises and bloodshot eyes:

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?" (Prov. 23:29-35)

(3) It reveals those who do get drunk as unwise:

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise (Prov. 20:1).

(4) It disqualifies a person from spiritual leadership:

Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money (1 Tim. 3:2, 3).

Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless---not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain (Titus 1:7).

Miscellaneous Biblical Truths About Drunkenness

Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands (Isa. 5:11,12).

Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Rom. 13:13,14).

It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall (Rom. 14:21).

Often people drink alcohol to numb their painful situations, with no thoughts of their final destination beyond the grave. There is, however, a much better way to find relief, which is also 100% safe. That way is to come to God on his terms, that is, turn from your sins (repent) and place 100% of your submissive faith in Jesus alone for your salvation. Unashamedly and faithfully follow him until your physical death to avoid being hurt by the second death or lake of fire. To turn to God from your idols will set you free from sin's bondage, give you great peace within and the greatest purpose to live on earth---to serve God.

Many true Christians in our present time used to be alcoholics. They have been set free from their ungodly desires for alcohol and have been drinking living water that only Jesus can give. The same can be you! These basic simple truths are thousands of years old but still work today just like they did initially. You are invited to a new life in Christ. Hopefully this has helped you answer the question -- what does the Bible say about drinking alcohol?


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