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Can an alcoholic be a Christian?


suray2

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Just wondered what ya'll thought.  I attended a church a while back, which I actually was a member of.  The preacher was a very good man....kind and compassionate.  One day in the sermon he said that he really believed that if a person is an alcoholic they are not a Christian.  This question has bothered me for a long time because I have someone in my family that is an alcoholic and I love very much.  Couldn't that person, maybe have become a Christian earlier in life, then maybe turned from God.  I know if we are saved and turn from God, he always brings us back.  I see the person in my family who turned away from God from many years, starting to pray again and even ask for prayers.

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God can change any heart.  When you give your life to Christ He will change the desires of your heart.  Some need the help of rehab and thank God for that, but yes there are many what are refereed  to as recovering alcoholics.  I would pray that once you have given your heart to the Lord you would start to seek Him and your life will change forever.  Don't put limits on God or His Grace.

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Yes,an alcoholic can be a Christian. God loves us all our sins included. But God sure wants the person who is an alcoholic to pray to him for healing. 

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7 hours ago, suray2 said:

One day in the sermon he said that he really believed that if a person is an alcoholic they are not a Christian.  

What he probably meant is that once an alcoholic turns to Christ, he also turns away from his addiction.  However, some may not be able to clean up their act immediately, but if the alcoholic is making a serious effort, then that would indicate that he wants to do what is right. On the other hand, if a person persists in his addiction but claims to be a Christian, that could be questionable.

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8 hours ago, suray2 said:

This question has bothered me for a long time because I have someone in my family that is an alcoholic and I love very much.  Couldn't that person, maybe have become a Christian earlier in life, then maybe turned from God.  I know if we are saved and turn from God, he always brings us back.  I see the person in my family who turned away from God from many years, starting to pray again and even ask for prayers.

I would be very hesitant to provide a yes/no answer, but I will say no one is sinless, and alcoholism is not an unforgivable sin.

To me, here is the main thing. God calls sinners t repentance right where they are. We do not wait to accomplish some level of righteous behavior first. We recognize our failures and come to Him, putting our effort into obeying Him, but recognizing that He performs the work or redeeming us, conforming us the the image of His Son

So, it is my judgment, that a sinner can come to Christ, always comes to Christ, as a sinner. At the same time, the Christian is surrendering his/her will do God, and in doing so will find that sin has less and less of a grip on him/her. Typically, this will not result in overnight perfection, it probably never has. At the same time, if there is not improvement in lifestle. It is reasonable to doubt whether one has actually come to Christ.

So, I would hate to say something, that would tempt a person to have unwarranted confidence, and I would hate to say something that would make a person feel hopeless.

I will drop in a few scripture passages/verses, for you consider, how they might relate to the topic:

1 Cor 6

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

 

1 Cor 6

12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. 14 Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

 

1 John 5

18 We know that everyone having been born of God does not continue to sin, but the One having been begotten of God protects him,c and the evil one does not touch him.

1 Cor 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

James 2

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

1 John 2

3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Try to understand things in a way, where all of those passages are true.

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22 minutes ago, Rick_Parker said:

Once again, we are saved by what we believe, not how we behave.

:emot-heartbeat:

Amen~!

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33 minutes ago, Rick_Parker said:

Once again, we are saved by what we believe, not how we behave.

How I believe affects how I behave.  Saving faith is exhibited by works.  If I say I believe Jesus is Lord but do not behave accordingly then I do not believe in truth.  This person is correct in worrying about their beloved family members faith.  

Suray2, trust in God and pray for your loved ones faith to be a true saving faith that produces works.  Thank you for caring enough about them to love them until they can learn to love themselves.

Alcoholism is a deadly poison for alcohol produces what is known as the Bacchus affect where it counterfeits the same feeling of the Spirit of God empowering man.  It is an illusion and provides temporary relief from the burden of sin until the person can be brought to a place of true repentance.  The alcoholic has ruined their bodies ability to process alcohol and has developed a condition of craving that cannot be satisfied.  The only hope I have seen for them is a spiritual awakening unto God followed by the enlargement of their spiritual lives.

There is a solution.

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Can an alcoholic be a christian? Well I'd say everyone, including that preacher you were talking about is at least a liar. Now I as a christian realise that lying is wrong, ask God for forgiveness and God is forgiving me. An alcoholic can be a christian. Christians are not automatically free from any addictions. A majority of Christian men is addicted to porn. Will they all go to he'll? 

I guess your question is more about someone who used to be a christian. Is he still saved even when he turned away from God? Can we loose our salvation? 

There are different opinions about that. I encourage you to seek the reasons why he turned away from God and start working from there. 

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1 hour ago, Sören Hoffmann said:

Can an alcoholic be a christian?
Well I'd say everyone,
including that preacher
you were talking about is at least a liar.

:emot-heartbeat:

Amen~! So Beloved, Can A Sinner

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Still Be Saved? Really?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

God Knows~!

And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Mark 10:26-27

:emot-heartbeat:

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