Intoxication, Addiction, and SobrietyGal
5:20 Sorcery/witchcraft, is from the Greek word, "Pharmakia" the same
word we get pharmacy from. It means the general illicit use of drugs
(same application as today) and the use of drugs to cast spells etc.Ephesians 5:18 (NKJ)
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation [the Greek word for “dissipation” means “an abandoned, dissolute life; profligacy; prodigality”].
Proverbs 23:21a (NKJ)
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty.
1 Corinthians 5:11
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone
who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an
idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do
not even eat.
1 Peter 1:13 (NKJ)Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober [self-controlled], and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;Romans 12:2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect
will.1 Thessalonians 5:6-8(6) So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled [KJV=sober].
(7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
(8) But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled [KJV=sober], putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
Proverbs
23:7 (KJV) says that as one thinks, so he is. That is because thoughts
are the seeds of our words and deeds. The way we “renew our minds,” and “be sober”
is by choosing to think what the Word of God tells us to think. 2
Corinthians 10:5 calls this “bringing every thought into captivity to
the obedience of Christ.” That is how we steel our minds against our enemy, Satan,
who is constantly bombarding us with stimuli designed to hijack our
thoughts in an ungodly direction, cause us to act in an ungodly
fashion, and eventually open our minds to evil spirit influence.
In
Scripture, God uses the word “heart” to refer to the inner core of
one’s being, the depths of the mind where either true faith or unbelief
resides. He admonishes believers to guard our hearts so that we allow
no evil influences to come in, because if they do get in, they may have
devastating consequences.
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.Scripture does indirectly address the illicit use of drugs,
and connects it to drunkenness, as per the following verses, where the
Greek word for “witchcraft” is pharmakeia, which includes “the use or
the administering of drugs,” “poisoning [by drugs]” (Thayer’s Lexicon),
and the variant, pharmakon, in Revelation 9:2 focuses upon “the use of certain potions or drugs” and the casting of spells
(Louw Nida Greek Lexicon).This same root word is also translated as
“sorcerer” and “sorceries” (see Rev. 9:21, 18:23, 21:8, 22:15). The
translation “witchcraft” is used in most English versions because
pharmakeia also referred to the witchcraft or sorcery in which drugs
were used for potions, spells, etc. Understanding that pharmakeia is
related to the use of drugs, notice how it appears, along with
drunkenness, in the list of the “works of the flesh” in Galatians.
Galatians 5:19-21(19) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
(20) idolatry and witchcraft [pharmakeia]; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
(21)
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did
before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of
God.
Drugs are one of the warning signs of the Last Days
The
world wide spread of drugs into society fulfills the prophetic
scriptures as one of the two forms of sorcery that would lead the
nations into rejection of Christ and bring them into final destruction
as slaves of the Antichrist under a New World Order at the end of the
age.Click to know more Our recommended treatment plan