Several years ago, a pastor I highly respect told me it was sinful for me to drink alcohol in any form. In fact, he said (with the best of intentions), I shouldn’t ever have a glass of wine, even with dinner. 

This was after I mentioned, in the course of conversation, that I did exactly that — I sometimes enjoyed a glass of wine for special occasions or with a meal, always giving thanks to God and not wanting anything to do with getting drunk.

I even shared with him that a beer calmed my stomach with spicy foods! 

This fellow believer held staunchly to his opinion though, even turning wine glasses upside-down in restaurants (so the wait staff would know not to even offer wine, I suppose?).

And perhaps because I was afraid of what he would think of me, I never took the opportunity to share that, as a photographer, I’ve witnessed thousands of people joyfully celebrate weddings with temperate toasting. Or that, in all my years of being a Christian, I had never heard this strange doctrine of abstinence before! I had never seen it in the Bible, even though I had read it through many times in its entirety.

But, because I knew this pastor was a wise and learned man, who truly cared for his flock, I took his word for it and stopped drinking alcohol in any form.

While I was abstaining, I studied the Bible like a Berean (Acts 17:11) to find out for myself whether these things were so. 

After all, the only thing that matters is what God says. Churches, elders, deacons, and denominations (yes, even Baptists) are all equally able to hop on cultural bandwagons and fashionable trends without fully searching out a matter for themselves. But if God said drinking was a sin, then I wanted to read it for myself so I could be obedient.

What I discovered instead is what a large number of Christians who continue to enjoy wine with dinner already know: 

The Lord who condemns drunkenness does not condemn drinking. 

In fact, wine is a creature given by God for our enjoyment — and for his glory.

Fast forward through 15 months of abstinence and diligent study, when God’s word brought me to an even more unexpected and shocking realization:

Not only does God not condemn drinking, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ actually requires wine for the Lord’s Supper! 

And now that I know this biblical truth, I can no longer unquestioningly follow the traditions of men. If I continue to drink grape juice for the Lord’s Supper, to me it is sin (James 4:17). 

If this doctrine of wine in the Lord’s Supper is new to you, or something you’ve never considered before simply because it’s the opposite of what you’ve been taught, I ask you to prayerfully study what God himself has told us about wine in his word.

10 Reasons True Believers Must Drink Wine for the Lord’s Supper

These are the top ten reasons we know wine is a blessing from God, and, most importantly, why we not only can but must drink wine — and only wine — for the Lord’s Supper.

1. Scripture says so. (The longest section, even though I am sharing only a tiny fraction of verses I could share.)
2. Wine is a symbol (given by God, which should not be marred by the hands of men).
3. Etymology says wine is wine.
4. Science says wine is wine.
5. History says wine is wine.
6. Logic says wine is wine.
7. We’ve been marketed to (or, a short history of Welch’s “unfermented wine,” which is not wine at all).
8. Abstinence undermines true salvation and the power of the Holy Ghost (and gives credence to AA’s doctrines of devils).
9. Preaching abstinence is a lost opportunity to preach against actual sin. 
10. To avoid wine is to cast doubt on the entire word of God. (#10 is the most important reason of all. If you read nothing else, read this.)

Reason #1: Scripture says so. 

The word wine appears exactly 231 times in the Bible — that’s 7 x 33 times!! 

Seven is God’s number for rest, ending, completion, and perfection. Other words and phrases God has sevened in the Bible: Jesus; Jesus Christ; Word of God; the Father + the Word + the Holy Ghost; Jehovah; Word; Holy Spirit; his body; his blood; church; bride; marriage; supper; lamb. (See the connection? How beautifully does God reveal his character by his pure and perfect ordering of words!)

About two thirds of the time the word wine appears in the Bible, it is in a positive light. The other third of the time, it has what many would consider a negative connotation, which is consistent with warnings against drinking to excess; in this sense it is often associated with God’s wrath. The dual nature of wine is part of its inherent value.

In other words, the fact that God has given wine qualities that can be used for blessing and cursing perfectly pictures how Jesus Christ extends blessings to his bride and also delivers wrath upon those who reject him.

There is not one verse in the Bible that prohibits drinking (but many that condemn drunkenness). Those who want to condemn drinking itself must start with chapter and verse. The big picture of the Bible taken as a whole, however, shows God’s heart toward the creature comforts he himself created!

Using the Bible itself, we can easily see that wine is always a fermented beverage, with the ability to bring joy or inebriation. 

Here’s a short list of scripture you’ll come across when you study wine in the Bible. I highly recommend prayerfully reading each of these verses, along with all of the others, asking God for wisdom as you study:

• Using the principle of first mention, we see Noah as the first vintner, and God himself gives us the definition of wine right away: It is a drink from the vine with inebriating qualities!
  
  “And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.” —Genesis 9:20-21
  
  
• In the Old Testament, Melchizedek, king of Salem, is a type of Christ. He is the priest of the most high God, and he brings forth bread and wine to bless Abram. These are the elements Jesus would institute himself in his supper, and they are also a picture of the marriage supper of the Lamb after Jesus himself defeats his enemies.
  
  Wine is seen over and over again in the Bible as a sign of God’s blessing!
  
  “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” —Genesis 14:18
  
  
• Drink offerings in the old testament were always wine poured out to God. (It is an interesting study to see which times God requires a drink offering — it is not with every sacrifice, but with those representing completion and joy.)
  
  “And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” —Exodus 19:40-41
  
  
• God allows and even commands his people to use part of their income in hospitality, to rejoice in the blessings of wine and even strong drink that God has given them. The Benson Commentary says, “The comfortable and cheerful using of what God hath given us, with temperance and sobriety, is really the honouring of God with it.”
  
  “And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,”
  —Deuteronomy 14:26
  
  
• Wine gladdens the heart of man. And it is God who brings forth wine out of the earth, just as he does oil and bread. They are gifts of God, and we should receive them always with thanksgiving.
  
  “He causeth the grass to grow for cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.” —Psalm 104:14-15
  
  
• Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine! This is so simple even a child can understand. Those who would say he was merely turning it into grape juice are ignoring Jewish culture, and even what God says in the verse itself: This was clearly wine, because it is the best wine — and only wine, not grape juice, gets better with age.
  
  “When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.” —John 2:9-10
  
  
• Jesus himself was called a winebibber. (And by the way, the Bible never says he stopped drinking because of it.)
  
  “The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!” —Luke 7:34
  
  
• In the Bible, in Jewish culture, and throughout history, wine has always been used medicinally. In fact, it is the very alcoholic properties of wine make it suitable as an antiseptic, anesthetic, healing, living, and life-giving food.
  
  “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” —1 Timothy 5:23
  

• Wine is a creature of God. As the fruit of the vine, it is part of God’s creation in Genesis, and he calls it all good.  As with all foods, it is good if received with thanksgiving, and nothing to be refused. We are to give thanks to God and do all things for his glory — including drinking wine. It is when we don’t sanctify it and instead use it for our own selfish purposes (escapism, drinking for sport, offering to idols, etc.) that wine (or any drink) becomes unholy.
  
  “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” —1 Timothy 4:3-4
  

• In the Bible, wine is medicine. Its antiseptic qualities made it something useful for treating wounds — which only reinforces that wine is alcohol. (Who ever heard of putting grape juice on a wound?) It’s also useful for dulling pain — a great gift at the time of injury.
  
  “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.” —Luke 10:33-34
  

• Jesus himself instituted “the cup” in his supper, and by extension, what is in the cup. Wine, in the cup, represents the life-giving properties of Jesus’ blood. As he said in his word, the life is in the blood. Grape juice has no life.
  
  Those against wine for the Lord’s supper wrest this phrase by saying that “the cup” does not mean wine. But a thorough study of scripture reveals what is in the cup: The blood of grapes, which is wine.
  
  At the last supper, Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the passover. Why? Because Jesus himself is the passover Lamb (Gen. 22:8). His blood must be shed for the remission of sins — and living, life-giving wineis the picture God has chosen for us of the blood of Christ, shed for us.
  
  “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” —John 6:53-54
  

• It is Jesus’ blood that makes atonement for our souls. God has chosen effervescent wine — a living creature — to represent the life-giving power of his blood. Friend, this is huge. Grape juice does not complete the picture of Jesus’ blood sacrifice. Do you know the hymn, “There is power in the blood”? Wine represents Jesus’ sacrifice and the abundant life we have through the Holy Ghost living in us. There is no life in grape juice.
  
  “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: for I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for your soul.”
  —Leviticus 17:11
  
  “After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”
  —1 Corinthians 11:25
  
  
• On the day of Pentecost, the people present heard “the wonderful works of God spoken of in their own language” and were amazed. There were others, however, who mocked and presumed the disciples were drunk. Peter corrected them that the unusual behavior they saw wasn’t because they were drunken because it was still morning — it was, more precisely, 9:00 a.m.
  
  If drinking itself were a problem, surely he would have used the opportunity to say, “Hey, we’re not drunken, because we don’t drink.” Instead, the reason he gives that the men are wrong, that the disciples are not drunken, is because of the time of day. In other words, there’s no possibility they are drunken because it’s too early for over-drinking in the first place!
  
  “For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.”
  —Acts 2:15
  
  
• In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he’s addressing a lot of issues within the church, one of them being getting drunk at the Lord’s table. Take note of this — it’s very important: He doesn’t even once condemn them for drinking wine! He tells them they have houses to eat and drink in, and therefore there should be no lack, nor eating and drinking to excess, when the church comes together to remember the Lord’s sacrifice.
  
  Obviously there is wine in the cup! And Paul, speaking as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, never condemns it. (Incidentally, this verse completely puts to rest using the “weaker brother” argument for serving grape juice at the Lord’s table, but that’s another article.)
  
  “For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.” —1 Corinthians 11:21-22
  
  
• In Titus and First Timothy the deacons and aged women are instructed to be temperate in drinking — not to be abstainers. (In fact, it would appear these verses assume drinking wine is a regular part of life, as it is in much of the world.)
  
  It is those who are mature in the faith who demonstrate for the young believers how to live godly in Christ Jesus, which includes temperance, not abstinence, when it comes to drinking wine.
  
  “Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;” —1 Timothy 3:8
  
  “The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;” —Titus 2:3
  
  
• Paul affirms that God’s creation is good. (See also Genesis 1:11-13.) In fact, he’s speaking specifically of how, in latter times, some will depart from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. (We’ll talk about AA later in this article.)
  
  Paul reminds us, though, that it is wrong to forbid certain foods (and wine is a food). Every creature of God is good and not to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving!
  
  “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” —1 Timothy 4:3-5
  
  
• And finally, I’ll share one final thought here to end this section: There will be wine at the marriage supper of the Lamb. This is so beautiful! Jesus Christ himself will drink wine with us in his Father’s kingdom, just as we are doing in remembrance of him here in earth.
  
  If we reject God’s ordinances today, what a shock it’s going to be for some of us when we get to heaven and find out we’ve been doing it all wrong for the past 150 years! How much better for the church if, like Hezekiah and the people of Israel (1 Kings 18), we let God change our hearts and do the things that he, in his perfect wisdom, has required of us in his word.
  
  “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” —Matthew 26:27-29
  
  

Reason #2: Wine is a symbol (and should not be marred by the hands of man)

One of the things I have learned over the years from solid Bible preaching is that certain things in the Bible are highly symbolic. For example, the temple in the Old Testament is a picture of Jesus Christ, and changing just one element of the temple mars the picture God has created for our learning and for his glory.

In the same manner, wine is highly symbolic of the blood of Jesus Christ, and of the life of the Holy Ghost in the life of the believer. When we tamper with or change even one element prescribed by Jesus at the Lord’s table, we mar the beautiful and perfect picture of a truth God has given us when he chose wine to represent the blood of our Saviour.

Jesus himself tells us what the elements in his supper represent. Breaking bread represents his body broken for us. (I could write another article on how we should be actually breaking bread together.) And the wine in the shared cup (one cup, not many) represents his blood that is shed for the remission of sins.

Wine is quick (alive) and powerful, just as the written word of God is quick and powerful. What power is there in grape juice, that has been pasteurized to death? (That leads to another question: Is it really any surprise that men began to meddle with wine about the same time men began meddling with the words of God?)

Living, effervescent, life-giving wine represents the working of God’s holy Spirit in the believer’s life. 

So once men — supposing they know better than God who gave wine — exchange wine for dead, pasteurized, sugary-sweet and devoid-of-nutrition grape juice, they have completely marred the beautiful picture God himself has given to reveal truths he wants us to know about his blood, the work of his spirit, and our lives as believers when we trust in him. 

The dual meaning of wine. 

The same wine that represents God’s blessing on his children also represents God’s wrath upon the nations.

“Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.” —Genesis 49:11-12

“For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.” —Jeremiah 25:15

It is not two types of wine that Scripture speaks of (as some teetotalers would have us believe), but of the dual nature of wine itself that has meaning. Wine represents both God’s blessing on those who honour his words, and a curse upon those who reject them. 

This is such a simple and biblical thing to understand: We know God is a God of love — but also of holiness, judgment, and wrath. Therefore it is wine and only wine that represents these qualities of our Saviour. 

Grape juice does not share this dual nature by any stretch of the imagination. It is a sugary drink, with no ability to make merry, as the Bible describes. Not only is it completely removed from any semblance of blessing and joy, it likewise has none of the qualities of fierceness, anger, or wrath that can also be attributed to wine. 

So I ask you, which element, wine or grape juice, best represents the nature of God?

Reason #3: Etymology says wine is wine.

Perhaps this could have been reason #1. After all, words have meaning. So we must always start there.

Wine has always meant wine — the fermented juice of grapes.

Both Webster’s 1828 Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary (which gives the entire etymology of the word) say first and foremost that wine is the fermented juice of grapes. And it is by nature intoxicating! 

Throughout the history of the world wine has always meant wine, and, as God’s chosen word, wine will always mean wine. Wine that has the ability to refresh, rejuvenate, and nourish. Wine that makes men’s hearts merry. And wine that intoxicates.

In fact, it still does. If you go into a restaurant today and order wine, you expect an alcoholic beverage. If someone brought you grape juice instead, you would laugh (and probably never visit that restaurant again).

So to say wine used to mean grape juice completely ignores the etymology of the word.

What in the world is “unfermented wine”?!

It was Thomas Welch who coined the term “unfermented wine,” which does not make any logical sense. Wine by its very nature is fermented.

But making up the term “unfermented wine” was a crafty and subtil way (Gen. 3:1) to market his new, pasteurized grape juice drink. And by the way, the church initially rejected it, because they knew it wasn’t wine.

There is no such thing as unfermented wine — or else it would cease to be wine!

Calling something “unfermented wine” is like saying someone is an “unconverted Christian,”  which of course would be no Christian at all. 

“Unfermented wine” is a play on words, coined to deceive those in the church to believe it is a “different kind” of wine — when in fact it is not wine at all! 

Remember when Nadab and Abihu (sons of Aaron, the priest!) offered “strange fire” unto the Lord? Strange means profane or unauthorized — and God punished them for their offense. We would do well to take note of the way God instructs us to do things. 

And while God is the one we seek to please, I’ve read that churches in Europe and even in the Holy Land laugh at American believers who request “unfermented wine,” because they know there is no such thing. Wine is always fermented.

Comparing scripture with scripture

Those who would try to argue that words in the Bible no longer mean what they plainly say, and that we need to seek outside sources to understand what God’s words actually mean, have forgotten that God instructs us to compare scripture with scripture. 

The King James Bible has its own built-in dictionary that allows us to understand the plain meaning of a word in English without ever consulting an outside source! 

In the case of wine, it is clear from its first use (and all subsequent uses) that wine is always a fermented beverage with the ability to make merry and to heal, to bless and to bring joy. And to enrage and cause inebriation when used in excess.

What about the original languages?

If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I stand firmly on the foundation of the King James Bible. I believe it is the pure, perfect, infallible, and inerrant word of God for us in English today.

And yet, because some pastors so often want to tell us “what that really means in the Greek,” or explain that “in the originals that word really meant something else entirely,” I decided at one point in my study that I needed to research the Greek and Hebrew terms for wine in the Bible in case that argument ever came up.

So every time I saw the word wine in the Bible, I looked up the the Hebrew or Greek word. I won’t go into detail here because this article is too short for that. But guess what? Even the Hebrew and Greek words support the fact that wine is wine! 

For those who give the original languages more authority than the Bible God has given us in English today, the original languages also agree: Wine was wine from the beginning, wine remains wine today, and wine will continue to be wine for ever. 

The word wine didn’t mean something completely different when the original words were penned, or when the words were translated, and then magically change meaning in the last century and a half when abstinence became fashionable. After all, God is the author of languages (insert tower of Babel emoji here), and I believe he inspires, translates, and preserves words exactly as he wants us to have them today.

So any time a scholar, a profess-or, or even a fundamentalist pastor says, “back when the Bible was written, wine didn’t really mean wine,” they are either deceiving others, or have been deceived themselves.

The truth is, even the original languages support wine at the Lord’s own supper. And those churches that hold fast to their originals-only position should at the very least acknowledge this fact.

The etymology and linguistics of wine

As an English major, I love learning the etymology of words, and I find linguistics a fascinating field of study. 

Did you know that letter shapes have pictorial meaning, and often carry that very meaning even between languages? (This is a fascinating field of study, far beyond the time I have right now to explore it.)

Here’s one example: The letter W is double the letter V — so it would make sense that wine is closely related to v-words like vine, and vineyard. Wine gives the sense of a multiplying or perfecting things that come from the vine. 

When the vine gives forth its fruit, that fruit turns into more, into a substance — one that reflects the very character of God himself, both as the giver of blessings to those who love and partake of his promises, and as the bringer of judgment on those who continue in rebellion against him.

In the same way, the term “fruit of the vine” is taken to mean its natural end, as it is harvested and perfected. It refers not just to the immature grape itself but also to the finished product that comes from the grape. 

In fact, the Hebrew word for wine, yayin, means “to effervesce”! But, sadly, when it comes to grape juice, effervescence has been stopped dead in its tracks by pasteurization. Therefore, yayin does not refer to grape juice at all, but only to that which effervesces — wine.

Reason #4: Science says wine is wine.

A few months after I began studying wine in the Bible, I became convicted from scripture alone that God gave wine. 

Because I was convinced — and curious by nature — I decided at that point to learn more about the science of winemaking. Book knowledge is interesting, but what better way to learn than to take a winemaking class, to see for myself how the grape becomes the wine.

What most people don’t know (or at least I didn’t) is that, in the wild, yeast naturally accumulates on the outside of the grape. As soon as the skin of the grape is broken, the fermentation process begins immediately, as the ambient yeast begins to eat the sugar inside the grape, just as God designed.

As an ancient writer said, “The wine is in the grape!” It’s the natural end product — the fruit of the vine — that cultures around the world, including Christians, embrace.

I was so surprised to find that even unbelieving wine makers actually use the term “Jesus moment” to refer to the moment they add additional yeast to the grape must. Even unbelieving wine makers know that it is yeast that adds life and is the transformative agent that creates wine. 

What a beautiful picture God has created! Wine is alive — it is a creature. And just as in the life of the believer, a broken, yielded grape is transformed by the power of Jesus Christ and becomes a new creature, one that the Holy Ghost is aging and perfecting, with joy and gladness!

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:” —1 Timothy 4:4

“He causers the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthened man’s heart.” —Psalm 104:14-15

Reason #5: History says wine is wine. 

Throughout history, wine has always meant wine.

This is true in Jewish history and for 2,000 years of church history as well. 

In fact, the absurd notion that wine could ever be anything but wine didn’t even exist until the 19th century. And most churches outright rejected the concept at its outset.

It was only when the Women’s Temperance Movement grew into an irresistible force that many, if not most, American churches finally jumped on the bandwagon. 

Now, after more than a century of being enmeshed in false doctrine, very few Baptist and fundamentalist churches are able to step back from their traditions long enough to examine what Scripture truly says. 

The Christian Doctrine of Wine

Throughout history, you’ll find that wine-making (and wine drinking) were in fact part of our Christian heritage.
 
The Lollards and Vadois were exceptional wine makers. (Many Baptists claim these were their forefathers in the faith.)

Martin Luther, who wrote the German Bible and began the Reformation, was a drinker. And his wife was considered to be an extraordinarily gifted beer master!

Charles Spurgeon and Matthew Henry enjoyed wine and drank it for the Lord’s supper, along with their churches.

And regardless what you think about the doctrine of John Calvin, he had, at least, the correct doctrine of wine. 

Puritans brought wine, beer, and strong drink to America. Many Christians today would be stunned at the sheer number of gallons allotted to each individual. 

Pubs (public houses) during colonial times were places not at all like the bars we have today, but meeting houses where the entire town would meet, drink, and discuss the issues of the day. 

Baptist pastors in America were brewers and distillers. (Perhaps the most notable? Elijah Craig.) The Westminster Confession of Faith clearly identifies the element as wine (and not grape juice). And the early Baptist Confession as well is faithful in properly designating wine as the biblical, God-ordained element for the Lord’s Supper. 

In fact, Baptists were among those who at first rejected Thomas Welch’s notion of unfermented wine! 

As we discussed in the first section, wine is a gift from God. And just because that gift (as all gifts) can be abused, we as believers cannot simply turn our backs on the proper, God-given use of wine. Those who preceded us in the faith seemed to be well acquainted with this fact; it would be wise if we would consider their strong faith as an example.

(You might have noticed that in the new testament, the word wine is not explicitly used in reference to the Lord’s Supper, but rather the words “cup” and “fruit of the vine.” However, a word study of those words as God uses them throughout the Bible reveals exactly what is in the cup, and it is wine.) 

The Jewish History of Wine 

Jewish families use wine in every celebration of life. They even drink — l’chaim — to life!

The sabbath is celebrated with wine. In fact, drinking wine is one of two commandments for how to remember and observe the day (with a minimum, but no maximum, amount of wine required). The sabbath begins and ends with wine, sanctifying the day.

A Jewish wedding, like the sabbath, is celebrated with wine. In fact, the Jewish marriage ceremony itself relies so heavily on the imagery of wine that a faith-filled wedding could never exist without it. 

The bride and groom drink their first two glasses of wine under the chuppah, symbolizing sanctity, joy, partnership, and a marriage that goes through periods of crushing as it becomes a deeper and richer love over time. (The number seven, again, also plays an important role in Jewish weddings.) 

Wine is also associated with shirah, song and festivity; in accordance with Jewish law, there is much dancing at a Jewish wedding. I can say without a doubt that Jewish weddings are some of the most joyous occasions I have ever been a part of (and interestingly, the Christian weddings where wine was served to all in a common cup at communion were also some of the most joyous as well).

Wine symbolizes celebration, union, sanctification to God, and separation from sin, which is why it is an integral part of both in the sabbath and the wedding.

Even newborns are given a bit of wine on a cloth before circumcision on their eight day. This may be mostly because of wine’s anesthetic properties — but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a symbolic meaning to this tradition as well. (Feel free to send over any information if you’ve studied this.)

In Jewish culture (and many other cultures), children are served wine at the table. Because the Jewish culture has one of the lowest rates of alcohol abuse of any culture, I can’t help but wonder — is it because wine is synonymous with life, children are exposed to its healthy use from the very start, and it is treated with respect as a gift from God?

Wine is an integral part of most cultures

We recently spent two weeks in Italy, and one of the things we learned is that wine is synonymous with culture there. It can’t be separated. 

All the way back to ancient times, all people drank wine, from the emperor to the peasant.

In fact, water was often not potable, so everyone drank wine instead. And they drank it with every meal!

Interestingly, drinking water is still more of an American phenomenon. In Italy, if you’d like water with your meal, you must request it. And even then, you’ll likely get only a shot-glass sip of it, unceremoniously plunked down behind your large glass of wine.  

We toured several wineries in Italy, and our sommelier said it best: “In Italy, wine is life!”

That is the case in many countries. In fact, it sometimes appears it is only in the United States where we have gotten so far off track.

Here’s something else interesting to note: The time frame of the beginnings of this false doctrine is concurrent with the beginning seeds of the corruption in the modern Bible version movement begun by occult practitioners Westcott and Hort. It’s almost as if Satan began, at the same time, turning many away from the good seed that gives good fruit (the word) — and from God’s good fruit itself (wine).

Reason #6: Logic says wine is wine.

About the time it became fashionable to avoid alcohol altogether, some crafty theologians and social reformers came up with the two-wine theory. 

The two-wine theory is the unfounded concept that the word wine in the Bible could actually be referring to two distinctly different types of drinks. In other words, at times where the word wine is used in a negative sense, it must be referring to an alcoholic beverage (which is therefore inherently evil, they say). But the times when God speaks favorably of wine, it must be referring to another beverage, one that is not alcoholic wine (they say).

I’m no debate-team rockstar, but I do know a logical fallacy when I see one. The argument of the temperance movement (so-called) that there must have been two types of wine is none other than begging the question — assuming the thing you are trying to prove is already true.

Just to be clear, it’s not at all a problem for something to have both positive and negative qualities. This is true of many things in the Bible:

• Sexuality within marriage and God’s chosen purposes is a beautiful blessing. But used by sinful man against God’s prescription, it will ultimately lead to death.
  
  
• Food can be eaten for nourishment and enjoyment, or over-eaten with gluttony. (Side note on the weaker brother argument: Do we abstain from eating when we are with someone who is overweight or prone to over indulging with food?)
  
  
• Riches can be used to further God’s kingdom, or become idols that keep us from Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:16-22).
  

Bread is bread, riches are riches, and wine is wine. It is in how we use these things that determines whether they have a positive or a negative outcome.

The word wine means what exactly what it says, but man can choose to use it sinfully or for the glory of God.

It’s interesting to note that the abstinence movement was primarily led by women. The well-known Women’s Temperance movement was deceptive starting even with its name, since it was not about temperance at all, but rather total abstinence.

(Another interesting tangent if you want to pursue it: The Roman Catholic church has a history of finding ways to keep wine from its congregants, while at the same time the monks and priests enjoyed it for themselves. How similar this is to today, when the laity is again kept from drinking wine — this time by the fallacy that wine itself is inherently evil?) 

The same God of kindness and mercy is also a God of justice and wrath. By the same token, there is nothing inherently problematic about the dual nature of wine.

In fact, it makes perfect sense that God would choose wine as an expression of the abundance, blessings, fruitfulness, and joy that can only be found in him — and also for his wrath and judgment on those who reject his Son, the true Vine.

Reason #7: You’ve been marketed to.

Did you know that before Thomas Welch used the pasteurization process to stop God’s natural fermentation process of wine, every denomination, even the Baptists, served wine for the Lord’s supper?

It’s true! For nearly 2,000 years, the church used wine and only wine in the Lord’s supper. 

Then, in 1869, spurred on by his compulsion to remove wine itself from the ordinance, Methodist “steward” Thomas Welch used Louis Pasteur’s newly discovered pasteurization process to stop the the grape’s natural fermentation in its tracks and create a non-alcoholic beverage instead. 

In order to pitch his product as a worthy substitute for the wine all churches used when partaking of the cup, he fabricated a very subtil (Gen. 3:1) misnomer: “unfermented wine.”

In fact, he called his newly invented product “Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine,” which right there should be first our clue! Its very name shows it is the contrivance of a man and not the the work of the Lord. 

And almost every church refused to use it. Why? Because they knew the counterfeit called “unfermented wine” was not wine at all! 

In fact, the church’s rejection of Welch’s grape juice led him to almost give up on making it. 

But when his son got involved and took over the marketing, the unbiblical idea of “unfermented wine” took off. 

By the 1870s and 1880s, many Methodist churches were serving Welch’s grape juice for the Lord’s supper. (Even today, the juice that wasn’t wine still bears the name of its creator. That should tell you everything you need to know: Its creator is not God.)

It wasn’t long before other denominations followed suit, spurred on by the frenzy of the primarily female-led temperance movement, which took on a life of its own.

Though the church was initially discerning enough to know that wine is wine, modern-day Christians, including many Baptists, hopped on the counterfeit-wine bandwagon because they were craftily marketed to. Thankfully, a few churches are returning to the biblical model of the Lord’s supper and getting off the bandwagon. (Let me know if you’d be interested in hearing a sermon from one pastor whose church did exactly that.)

God’s design for grapes was always to produce wine. Man had to intervene with God’s perfect creation in order to create a dead creature out of something God created to be lively. 

Reason #8: Abstinence undermines the power of God in true salvation (and lends credence to AA’s doctrines of devils)

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) tells the world that “alcoholism” is an illness, and those who suffer from it are not sinners but sick, with no control over their behavior because the “disease of alcoholism” has afflicted them.

This flies in the face of Scripture, which calls drunkenness a sin. 

And if we believe we must preach abstinence in order to curb drunkenness, we don’t give much credit to the power of God and the Holy Ghost in the life of the believer. 

Once we are saved, God’s spirit goes to work in our hearts and begins to change our character and our passions so that we pursue holiness and living that glorifies God. 

Does that mean we never sin or make a mistake? Of course not! But if we are truly saved, the life of the new man trends more and more toward godliness, as God himself transforms us into the likeness of Jesus Christ. 

So to say one cannot drink because it might lead to drunkenness undermines the power of the Holy Ghost in the life of a believer. 

It’s like saying, 

“That person used to be a glutton, so they can never again have dessert.” 

Or, “She used to be covetous — so now she can never spend time with people who own nice things.” 

Or, “He was a thief, therefore he can’t set foot in a grocery or clothing or electronics store again.” 

But God says:

“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, and ye are are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” —1 Corinthians 6:11

Almost everyone today is familiar with (and even takes as gospel truth) the AA philosophy of “once a drunk, always a drunk.” According to AA, someone who drinks heavily must not only renounce his drunkenness but admit to an inability to control his own actions. 

Then, as he is indoctrinated into the Big Book’s 12 Steps, his only hope of “recovery” is to never touch a drop of alcohol again. (It’s worth noting that no one ever graduates from the AA program. The program encourages a lifetime of dependence on the program itself.)

Sadly, most people today have fallen under the spell of AA’s false teachings because they don’t know its history.

Bill Wilson actually believed he was acting under “divine guidance” while writing the Big Book, AA’s “bible.” And many consider the Big Book inspired, written under “the guidance of the spirit.” But the question we must ask is, Which spirit? God is not mocked — and the only book inspired by God is the Holy Bible.

If there is any doubt which spirit “inspired” the Big Book, we need only to look at the fruit of the founding fathers of AA. They were heavily into the occult, including spiritualism, Ouija boards, and spook sessions — remarkably similar to Westcott and Hort’s “ghostly guild” during the time the critical text was penned! 

They lifted many of their teachings directly from the Oxford Group (led by the sexually perverted Frank Buchanan), a religious group which can only be described as spiritualism at odds with true Christianity.

They also knew and were enamored with psychologist Carl Jung. And they partook of LSD with clergymen and psychiatrists. 

(As a side note, I have to point out that Bill Wilson died from emphysema, a result of years of smoking — which, ironically, his own “addiction recovery” program couldn’t help.)

And because of AA’s concept of rescuing people who have reached “rock bottom,” many have been persuaded that this is the way of salvation! In fact, the concept of “reaching rock bottom” before anyone can do away with sin is so embedded in our culture that we find Christians praying for this to happen to their loved ones!

AA has so heavily marketed the disease model, total abstinence, and its infamous “12 steps” that even the legal system and the church have bought into these doctrines of devils and “science falsely so called.” 

Treatment programs are often mandated by the court system, with a goal of total abstinence, indoctrination into the 12 steps, and often detoxing even when unnecessary (complete with the excessive drugging that often accompanies it). 

While AA claims participation in its system is entirely voluntarily, a large percentage of participants are there under coercion of a legal system that requires participation in order to avoid a harsher sentence. 

Even true believers are forced to go against their conscience by participating in what is basically a religious system (some might even call it a cult) at odds with their consciences, with the Bible, and with true Christianity.

So that leads to an important question: When churches cite the “weaker brother” argument and claim they are serving grape juice instead of wine (because even a drop of alcohol will supposedly derail an “alcoholic”), do they understand that they are buying into the doctrines of devils — into a belief system that originated not from the word of God but from the heart of unbelievers who were heavily involved in the occult? 

The questions we have to ask ourselves are:

• Do we know better than God?
  
• Isn’t God aware of what it takes for someone to choose or avoid drunkenness, since he made us?
  
• And do we have the authority to change the elements God himself instituted in his own supper?

Every time we offer grape juice instead of wine at the Lord’s supper, we snub our noses at God’s chosen element and give credence to doctrines of devils.

Reason #9: Preaching abstinence is a lost opportunity to preach against actual sin

As we discussed in the previous section, the idea that a person who has been drunk cannot drink any alcohol at all is a doctrine (teaching) of AA, not a doctrine of the Bible. 

And yet, how many preachers preach whole sermons against the “sin” of drinking? Or insert jabs into almost any other sermon hinting that anyone who partakes of a glass of wine at dinner is in fact sinning against God? 

Sadly, this type of false doctrine is rampant in many churches, to the point that many new believers are caught up on the abstinence bandwagon and will likely carry it with them their whole lives, even teaching the younger generation behind them. 

How much more powerful would it be, though, if preachers stopped preaching against abstinence and preached instead against the actual sin of drunkenness? 

Those sermons could effect actual change — repentance for true sin — because they would be preaching what God’s word actually says! Pastors must always preach the truth and only the truth — it is the truth that makes free. 

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” —John 8:32

The teaching of abstinence sets nobody free, because it is not the truth. There is no doctrine of abstinence in the Bible, and I would challenge anyone who claims there is to cite chapter and verse. 

Temperance, not abstinence, is a fruit of the Spirit.

“And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” —Galatians 5:22-23

Reason #10: To avoid wine is to cast doubt on the entire word of God.

This is perhaps the most important reason of all to serve wine as the only drink acceptable to God for the ordinance he designed: To drink anything other than wine in the Lord’s supper casts doubt on the entire word of God.

This is a strong statement, I know. So bear with me while I explain. 

If the plain and simple word wine as we have it in the Bible today does not really mean wine when it’s used in a positive light, then how do we trust that all of the other words in the Bible don’t mean something other than what they actually say? 

“Thus saith the Lord” has no actual meaning if words and their definitions can be changed on the whim of fashion and culture.

Teetotalers pick and choose verses that support their argument while at the same time casually dismissing the plain meaning of a word when it doesn’t line up with their preconceived notions.

This is no different than every man is doing what is right in his own eyes, picking and choosing his own Bible version and word definitions for himself, rather than relying on God himself to tell us the meaning of his own words.

“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” —Judges 21:25

It’s no different than deferring to the textual critics, online researchers, and professors claiming their Hebrew and Greek lexicons are more sure words than God’s. Both serve only to cast doubt on God’s actual words and their meaning. 

Here’s the crux of the matter: If a pastor or a scholar can redefine God’s chosen words (like wine) by saying “what that really means in the Greek,” or “what that actually used to mean was grape juice,” how can they claim to have the infallible, unchanging, and inerrant words of God?

Praise God, though — we do have a final authority because we do have God’s own perfectly preserved words as he spoke them — not just his ideas or sentiments — in our language today. 

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” —Psalm 12:6-7

Because we have a perfectly translated and perfectly preserved Bible we can hold in our hands today, we can know without a shadow of a doubt the certainty of the words.

“Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee to know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” —Proverbs 22:20-21

Here is what I believe: 

God’s word, exactly as we have it today in the Authorized Version of the Holy Bible, is pure, inerrant, and infallible. And every question we have regarding this, or any other doctrinal issue, can be answered from his word alone, by comparing scripture with scripture.

By trying to change (and then rationalize changing) the meaning of the word wine, today’s churches that serve grape juice instead of wine for the Lord’s supper have brought into question the entire word of God.

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” —James 3:17

What you can do

As in all things, we can find the answers to all questions like this one by praying and studying the scriptures. 

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” —2 Timothy 2:15

Whether you’ve been convicted about the doctrine of wine before, or if you’re just now hearing it for the first time, here are some things every believer can and should do:

1. Pray. This is a spiritual issue above all else, and deception in the church should not be taken lightly.
   
   Since this topic is one that God speaks plainly about, there must be a reason so many are deceived. The battle for men’s minds can only be fought on our knees.
   
   
2. Search the scriptures to see whether these things are so. God’s word is not silent on the matter.
   
   “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
   — Acts 17:11
   
   It’s so important that you search out the matter for yourself — not merely “re-search” it by looking it up on the Internet, but diligently studying the full counsel of God, prayerfully, in the Bible alone. Only after you know God’s stand on a matter should you find others who have grappled in the same way and come to the same conclusion.
   
   
3. Have patience. The answer is probably not one you will find in an afternoon. Searching out this matter diligently (or any other) may take months or even years. In the case of this article, it took me 15 months of diligent study of every use of the word in the Bible.
   
   (If you’re interested in learning more about how I search out a matter or do a word study in the Bible alone, I’m happy to share my process to help you get started.)
   
   
4. Fast, pray, and gently entreat your husband, pastor, and those in positions of leadership, that they also will seek to find and follow the true words of God.
   
   Just as Esther entreated the king, we may also appeal to the truth of God’s word on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
   
   Oh, and did you notice? It is at a banquet of wine that Esther reveals the truth to the king!
   

5. Be courageous and stand by the convictions God gives you in matters of doctrine, even if they disagree with church traditions, “for we must obey God rather than men.”
   
   After 15 months of honest study and prayer, I came to the conclusions I am sharing in this article. But it took many more years to put my thoughts into writing. And even longer still to gather the courage to share them with others. 
   

I would be surprised if I am the only one who has come to the conclusion that, whether we choose to seldom or often drink with meals and celebrations, as Christians we must always partake of wine in the Lord’s supper.

I suspect many have come to this same conclusion, because God’s word is unchanging, and we have the mind of Christ.

But I also believe many are silent because it is difficult to stand alone against tradition.

I ask that you pray for me, as I will be praying for you.

And that God’s will be done in our homes and in our churches, wherever we partake of God’s good gift of wine.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” —James 1:17