BiblicalInsights.net

Christopher Ingraham, in The Washington Post, August 13, 2017 provided the following information about alcohol abuse in the United States.
–A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry this month finds that the rate of alcohol use disorder (alcoholism) rose by a shocking 49 percent in the first decade of the 2000’s.
–1 in 8 Americans, 12.7 percent of the U. S. population, now meets diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder.
–The authors of the study characterize the findings as a serious and overlooked public health problem.  Health issues involved in alcohol abuse are:  fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, liver cirrhosis, several types of cancer and infections, pancreatitis, type 2 diabetes and various injuries.  In another study, The American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research fund have announced the analysis of 119 previous studies involving 12 million women and 260,000 cases of breast cancer.  The study shows that even one small glass of wine or an eight-ounce beer a day causes a 5% greater risk of breast cancer for premenopausal women and a 9% increase for postmenopausal women.  Alcohol triggers DNA mutations and raises estrogen levels which are linked to increased risk for breast cancer.  (Does God Exist?, Third Quarter, 2017, p. 26).
–The CDC (Center For Disease Control) estimates that 88,000 people a year die from alcohol-related causes.  This is more than double the annual death rate of opiate overdoses (100 people a day die from opiate/heroin overdoes in the U. S.).  241 people a day are dying due to alcohol abuse!  Where are the headlines exposing this crisis?
–Nearly 1 in 4 adults under the age of 30 (23.4 percent) met the diagnostic criteria for alcoholism.
A diagnosis of alcohol dependency occurs when any three of the following seven symptoms are present:
1.  Need for markedly increased amounts of alcohol to achieve intoxication or desired effect.
2.  Characteristic withdrawal symptoms (shakes for instance) or drinking to relieve these types of symptoms.
3.  Drinking larger amounts; or, over a longer period of time.
4.  Persistent desire or one or more unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control drinking (out-of-control drinking).
5.  Spending a great deal of time in activities necessary to obtain, to use, or to recover from the effects of drinking.
6.  Continued drinking despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to be caused or exacerbated by drinking.
7.  Important social, occupational, or recreational activities given up or reduced because of drinking.
God’s Word Condemns Drinking Alcohol
Consider the following passages that condemn the use of alcohol.  Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”  Prov. 23:29, “Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling?  Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?  They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine?  Eph. 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”  “Be not drunk” is an inceptive verb that refers to the entire process of inebriation, from the first drink onward.  There is an alternative to consuming alcohol and that is to be filled with the Spirit.  Rom. 8:13-14, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”  Gal. 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The sin of drinking alcoholic beverages in our culture and in our churches has become widespread.  The indulgence of the lusts of the flesh are detrimental to the cultivation of godly character.  The use of alcohol lessons our ability to practice self-control.  The result is that alcohol use becomes an avenue for the commission of more sins (fornication, adultery, domestic abuse, violence, death and injury due to drunk driving, murder, and such like).
Paul set forth a clear pathway to God that involves mortifying the lusts of the flesh and pursuing life in the Spirit.  Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God.

Father, Son and Spirit–The Trinity and John’s Gospel is written by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Scott R. Swain. The book is part of the series, New Studies in Biblical Theology edited by D. A. Carson and published by InterVarsity Press in 2008. This book is a special study of a special topic. The authors give a thorough analysis and study of the words, God (theos), Father, Son and Spirit in the Gospel of John. They consider each term in the various parts of John’s Gospel: the Prologue, the Book of Signs and the Book of Glory. Then, they draw some theological conclusions based upon their analysis of the passages. I have completed a review of this book and added it to my Book Reviews page on my blog. Why not take a moment to read it?