The world would tell you to join Alcoholics Anonymous, which has indeed helped some in their addiction to alcohol. Yet there is no guarantee whatsoever that joining AA will deliver you from this awful addiction and even those who are helped still refer to themselves as addicts. The Bible does offer the believer in Christ an absolute guarantee of deliverance from alcohol (or any other “vice” that one may be addicted to) and once delivered you will no longer continue to think of yourself as an addict.

The key passage I would turn you to is John 8:31-36, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed on Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, You will be made free?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, WHOEVER COMMITS SIN IS A SLAVE OF SIN. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. THEREFORE IF THE SON MAKES YOU FREE, YOU SHALL BE FREE INDEED’” (NKJV). These words are clear and plain. Jesus was teaching Jews who believed on Him that they could be SET FREE FROM THE BONDAGE OF SIN. This would include freedom from alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex addiction and anything else that holds one captive to sin.

In verses 32 and 36 we see that the deliverance comes from “God’s Word” and from “God’s Son.” In verse 32 we learned that if we “abide in His word….the truth shall make you free.” And then we saw in verse 36 that “the Son makes you free.” Putting these two together we are taught that “it is the TRUTH about the SON that sets us free!” The Psalmist could say, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” God’s precious Word, stored up in our hearts, WILL KEEP US FROM SINNING. In Colossians 3:16 the Apostle Paul exhorts the believer, “Let the WORD OF CHRIST dwell in you richly.” Of course, he is speaking too of “storing up the Word of God in our hearts,” but he refers to the Word as “the word of Christ” because the truth of Christ is actually taught throughout the whole Bible. We have Christ set before us in the Old Testament in TYPES (i.e. PICTURE forms) and direct PROPHECIES, and we have the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension of Christ, and His present work in the glory brought before us on nearly every page of the New Testament. If we “abide in the Word” (by reading and meditating on it and then obeying it) our focus will be on the Lord Jesus Christ and He WILL DELIVER US FROM SIN.

In closing, I would ask you a very important question, “What is the focus of your life?” With many (even some Christians) their focus is on their job, their family, entertainment, and a host of other “temporal things.” If this is our focus, we will eventually fall into the bondage of sin. But if our focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ as He is presented to us through the Word of God, we will indeed be SET FREE FROM SIN. There is no other way to experience true, permanent deliverance from alcohol or any other vice. My prayer is you will lay hold of this truth in your heart. In John 15:5 Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing.” In Philippians 4:13 the apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You were powerless to save yourself from the penalty of sin (Hell); you are just as powerless to save yourself from the power of sin. The Lord Jesus died to save you from Hell and now He lives to give you the power to set you free from sin.  (376.1)  (DO)