If a Believer Takes Wine Moderately, Does Not Get Drunk and Does Not Weaken His Brothers Conscience nor Hurt His Testimony, Has He Sinned?
1) Direct answer
No—if he truly remains sober, is not under its power, does not wound a weaker conscience, and his own heart is clear before God, he has not sinned. But the higher, cleaner way is abstinence.
2) Scriptural explanation
- The Bible shows real wine existed and could be used without sin in proper measure: Jesus made wine at Cana (John 2:10), and Timothy was told, “use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake” (1 Timothy 5:23).
- Drunkenness and being influenced by drink are condemned: “Be not drunk with wine” (Ephesians 5:18); drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:21).
- Liberty is judged by love and conscience: “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth” (Romans 14:21). “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth… whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:22–23).
- Wisdom warns of its snare: “Wine is a mocker” (Proverbs 20:1); “Look not thou upon the wine… at the last it biteth like a serpent” (Proverbs 23:31–32).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- The sin is not in the mere existence of wine, but in loss of sobriety, bondage, and harmful influence.
- If there is no drunkenness, no offense, and no self-condemnation, there is no sin in that act. Yet the safest testimony and the strongest walk is to abstain, to avoid the snare, and to be filled with the Spirit rather than influenced by wine (Ephesians 5:18).
4) Reinforcing statement
You see, the Bible does not command drunkenness; it commands sobriety. But love chooses the higher road. Abstinence keeps the vessel clean and the witness bright.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Queen of Sheba
60-0401E §1
...o wonderful that he can read directly from the original script the very words that Jesus and the disciples spoke and wrote. He felt that these translations that we have are not always correct and true. And that's where the criticism comes in, because he criticizes the King James version, and some people think that St. Paul preached from the King James version. They almost worship it, it's so wonderful. I think all translations might leave something to be desired. So I'm not going to vouch for any translation, but I...
Hebrews, Chapter 6, part 2
57-0908E §37
Now, notice: He that disbelieves wilfully after he ... [not "after he received Christ in his heart"; the Bible doesn't say that.] Said: He that ... if we sin wilfully [disbelieve wilfully] after ... we have received the knowledge of the truth ... [get it? Wasn't talking to a Christian at all!] Some woman come to me not long ago, and said, "Brother Branham, I'm a Christian, but I blasphemed the Holy Ghost." I said, "It's impossible." A Christian could not blaspheme the Holy Ghost. You can't do it. A Christian spirit...
The testimony of a true witness
61-1105 §16
...is communion night. And everybody that... I just thought of something on communion. There was a certain person the other day went to a church and had to have a cab to come get him and take him down to church. He's a real poor man. He went down to take communion. And his neighbor is kind of a ... oh, kind of one of those wayward fellows that doesn't know God. He asked his neighbor, said, "Where'd you go this morning, in that cab?" Said, "I thought..." The man, hardly hasn't got bread on the table. He said, "The chu...
We would see Jesus
60-0708 §33
When Martin Luther saw the fire in the first reformation, he come out of the Catholic church, and he built his denomination under it. The fire moved into sanctification. He was already organized under that and couldn't do it, go any farther. Methodists took it, they organized under that. They couldn't go no farther. Pentecost come and took it from them. Now, if we don't watch, the fire will move right on again. Let's stay under the fire, worship under the fire, worship in the power of the Spirit, believing God's Wo...
The sin of unbelief
58-0517E §41
...ne doesn't bear fruit; the branch bears fruit. And the branch will certainly bear the fruit of the vine. Is that true? Grafted, or whatever it may be, it's got to bear the life of the vine, because it's living from the vine. Jesus said, "The works that I do shall you also." Well, then, "If ye abide in me, and my Word in you, ask what you will and it'll be given." Then notice, would a peach tree bear peaches? A grapevine would bear grapes. A watermelon would bear watermelon. The Spirit of Christ will bear the life o...