@JennyLynne
A thoughtful question. I appreciate your perspective.
However, as redeemed children of The Living Holy God, something we need no longer concern ourselves with are sins.
That statement will probably raise the hair on the back of the neck of a few regulars on here. So, how can I make such an outlandish statement?
Well, God is Holy and all unholiness is Sin. That means, any thought, word, or deed short of Holy perfection is a sin. Our Sin is a deplorable innate condition, and it is not comprised of a list of mortal or venial sins. Rather, our occasional sins are validating evidence that Sin is the deplorable condition of our brokenness. Our brokenness is not remediated by mustering up sufficient will power to deny ourselves sinful indulgence, but our brokenness is only addressed by the once-for-all death of The Perfect One. Our transgressions are removed “as far as the east is from the west” only by the Grace of God. What then, should we continue to act unholy that God’s grace may abound? Of course not!
When God declared my redemption, He did not immediately cleanse my body of all illness, nor did He stall my relentless physical decay. I still get sick, I still have medical conditions which I treat, my body continues to age, and the fact that I am becoming more decrepit is undeniable. Even so, I do not lose heart because even though my outward man is perishing, yet my inward man is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Likewise, when God declared my redemption, He did not immediately cleanse me from the possibility of committing unholiness. I still stumble, I still fail, I still disappoint my Heavenly Father from time to time. But, I do not deny my lapses, I confess my failures to God, and He faithfuly and justly forgives me, and He cleanses me from all unrighteousness in His Holy eyes. (1 John 1:9) He clenses me as my inward man is being renewed (made new – starts over) day by day.
No faithful disciple of Jesus wants to act in any unholy way; No faithful disciple of Jesus takes unholiness lightly. Now, as a faithful disciple of Jesus, if drinking alcohol is something unholy to you, you wouldn’t ask the question “is it OK?”, you would simply abstain as best as you are able. It would not be a “law” to obey, it would be an unsettling and shameful act to reject. If drinking alcohol is not unholy to you, you still wouldn’t ask the question “Is it OK?” because you would be confidently acting within the sphere of honoring God in all that you do. “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)
Why then would someone ask “Is drinking alcohol OK or is it unholy?”. I surely don’t know the answer to that question, but can think of several possible reasons someone might ask it; reasons which I won’t share in the Spirit of Unity.
Even so we err when we try to develop some list of sins that if avoided somehow improve our standing with God, or improve His opinion of us. Sins, like maladies are common, best to be avoided, should be severely treated when they arise, and should be handled like a contagion, making every effort to not spread the condition among the flock. Likewise, liberty should not be flaunted, is not to be void of love for the brethen, and is not to be used as a cloak for vice. The question should not be “Is drinking alcohol OK or is it unholy?”, but rather “how do I best honor The King, and edify His representative Body of Christ?”
2-cents
KP
But part of it is a lot deeper than that too. My brother was a raging alcoholic for years, and I’ve seen firsthand what that kind of thing can do. I just don’t see the point of acting in ways you can’t take back. He burned a lot of bridges and left some really deep wounds over the years… and those kinds of scars don’t just disappear overnight.
