The book of Luke makes this statement quite clearly. The religious leaders of the time were upset with Jesus and charged Him with being a "winebibber." "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber [an excessive drinker], a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'" (Luke 7:33-34).

Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says the Greek word for winebibber, oinopotes, means "'a wine drinker' (oinos, and potes, 'a drinker')."

In the Old Testament the word winebibber is used to describe those who abuse the use of alcohol (Proverbs 23:20). Since Jesus drank a little wine from time to time, this opened Him up to the charge of abusing it. Christ, of course, always drank in moderation; He never abused alcohol.

The Bible teaches that it is the misuse of alcohol that is a sin (Romans 13:13; Galatians 5:21; 1 Peter 4:3). Reflecting its use in moderation, Judges 9:13 speaks of wine that "cheers both God and men."Psalm 104 also presents moderate alcohol use in a positive light: "And wine that makes glad the heart of man" (verse 15).

It's also noteworthy that Christ's first public miracle was turning water into a fine quality wine (John 2:1-11), something He surely would not have done if drinking any alcoholic beverage were a sin.

Christ instructed Christians to take wine as part of the Passover service (1 Corinthians 11:25-26). In the context of this instruction, Paul corrected some of the Corinthian congregation for getting drunk at the Passover (1 Corinthians 11:21).Clearly, they were using fermented wine in the observance of the Passover or it would not have been possible for them to become drunk.

People with a proclivity toward alcoholism and those who cannot drink in moderation should not drink, nor should anyone whose conscience would be violated by doing so. Christians of legal age who choose to drink should do so in moderation.