October 26
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-21)
Here Paul gives a direct exhortation to not get drunk with wine, which I believe includes any alcoholic beverage or mind altering drug. Basically any substance that changes our perceptions of reality or reduces the control that we have on our brains in my view is included in this prohibition. The reasons for this it seems to me are obvious: we are much more inclined to sin against the Lord and others when our sense of right and wrong is altered and our ability to control our behavior is diminished. As an aside, there are a number of Christians who believe it is okay to drink alcohol in moderation, and I would agree with that in principle. But in practice, what good does it serve? Are you doing it for your health, as Paul exhorted Timothy to do in 1 Timothy 5:23, or for a buzz? What profit is there in it, really, and what are the downside risks, or who might you be making to stumble with your habits? Is it really in moderation, or has it become something you can’t readily let go of? More to the point at hand, how does drinking alcohol affect your ability and resolve to resist temptations of immorality? Is drinking alcohol something you need to reduce or eliminate in order to avoid sins of immorality?
I would also go a step further to say that indulging in the gratification of immoral lusts is in a way like being drunk with alcohol. Research has shown that stimulating chemicals are released in the brain when pornography is viewed. Pornography addiction is to a large extent an addiction to the good feelings one gets when one views it, an addiction to the chemical stimuli that are released. Certainly Paul’s prohibition on getting drunk with wine can and should be extended to our modern day problem of getting drunk on pornography.
The real solution to all our addictions, whether alcohol, pornography, drugs, or other sinful habits is to replace the need for these things with the Holy Spirit, to be so enraptured with Him and His fellowship and His joy and peace that we don’t have a need for these cheap and degrading substitutes. This is the real solution to our problem of sin. We need Christ in us, all the time. We have been given His incredible, patient, loving, caring Spirit, a truly astounding gift that we often take for granted as Christians. Yet we treat Him like dirt and drag Him through our indulgences of immoral lusts! How degrading to Him! How short-sighted and foolish on our parts! Paul says in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Being filled with the Holy Spirit is infinitely better than being filled with physical stimuli, especially compared to that which comes from immorality.
Flee immoral lusts, which wage war against the soul, and flee to Christ. Don’t get drunk with immorality and pornography, but rather seek to continually walk in the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit. Replace the inestimable loss and shame of immoral lusts with the inexpressible joy of being filled with God Himself.