drinking?

Is drinking a sin? There is a simple word in the Bible that answers that question. “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries” (I Pet. 4:3). There are three words in this verse that involve drinking alcohol.

The first is “excess of wine” in the King James. Other translations have “drunkenness.” The Greek word is oinophlugia, a compound word: oinos, wine, obviously, in this verse, alcoholic wine, and phluo, to bubble up or overflow; thus, literally, an overflowing of wine, or, drunkenness. This word stresses the amount of alcohol a person consumes and the obvious effect that follows.

The second word is “revellings.” Some translations have “carousings.” This is from the Greek word komos. This word referred to “feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry” (Greek-English Lexicon, p. 367). This word emphasizes the wild atmosphere of the carousing.

The third word in I Peter 4:3 is “banquetings” in the King James Version. The Greek word is potos which means a drinking. This word is a noun. When you see the word “potable” or “non potable” today, you are looking at English derivatives of this Greek word. What is being drunk, or how much, depends on how it is used. In this verse there is obviously something sinful about it, and that’s the drinking of alcohol. This is the most direct word in the Bible on the subject of drinking alcoholic beverages.

These three words are similar in that they all involve drinking alcohol. But each word emphasizes a different aspect of it. The first word stresses the amount of alcohol consumed and the effects it has on the person drinking it. The second word describes what people do when they drink: they party and make fools of themselves. The third word is drinkings. The amount is not the central idea. The first word, translated “excess of wine” or “drunkenness,” indicates that element. But this word is broader; it is not confined to drunkenness or carousing.

All three words involve drinking alcohol. But they emphasize that sin from different perspectives. They are not not interchangeable terms. Peter is not repeating the same thought with each of these three words. He is not saying they were guilty of drunkenness, drunkenness, and drunkenness.

This verse condemns drinking alcohol, not just getting drunk.

Kerry

West End church of Christ • November 2, 2025