What Does the Bible Say About Substance Abuse?

1 Corinthians 6:10 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 5:11 ESV / 10 helpful votes

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

Isaiah 5:11 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!

1 Peter 5:8 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 4:7 ESV / 7 helpful votes

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

1 Peter 1:13 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:18 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Galatians 5:21 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 12:1 ESV / 7 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Proverbs 20:1 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

1 Timothy 5:23 ESV / 5 helpful votes

(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Romans 13:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

Romans 13:12-14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Galatians 5:19-21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 12:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Proverbs 31:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink,

Proverbs 21:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

Judges 13:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

Ephesians 6:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Ephesians 5:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Romans 12:1-2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Jeremiah 35:5-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,

Isaiah 28:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.

Proverbs 23:29 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

Exodus 12:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Revelation 1:5-6 ESV / 1 helpful vote

And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:11 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:10 ESV / 1 helpful vote

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

James 1:22 ESV / 1 helpful vote

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Titus 3:5 ESV / 1 helpful vote

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Ephesians 5:26 ESV / 1 helpful vote

That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

Ephesians 2:2 ESV / 1 helpful vote

In which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Romans 14:1-23 ESV / 1 helpful vote

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ...

Romans 13:1-14 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ...

Romans 13:1 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Romans 1:1-32 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ...

Acts 17:11 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Acts 1:8 ESV / 1 helpful vote

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

John 17:17 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

John 14:6 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 13:35 ESV / 1 helpful vote

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 8:58 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

John 8:44 ESV / 1 helpful vote

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 3:16-18 ESV / 1 helpful vote

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Luke 12:2 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

Luke 12:1-59 ESV / 1 helpful vote

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! ...

Mark 7:20-23 ESV / 1 helpful vote

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Mark 7:1 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,

Matthew 18:7 ESV / 1 helpful vote

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!

Matthew 18:6 ESV / 1 helpful vote

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Matthew 6:13 ESV / 1 helpful vote

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 5:13-16 ESV / 1 helpful vote

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Daniel 1:8 ESV / 1 helpful vote

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

Proverbs 14:12 ESV / 1 helpful vote

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Proverbs 13:20 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Genesis 3:1-24 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ...

Genesis 1:26-27 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

61 Bible Verses about Substance Abuse