22 χεῖρας ταχέως μηδενὶ ἐπιτίθει μηδὲ κοινώνει ἁμαρτίαις ἀλλοτρίαις· σεαυτὸν ἁγνὸν τήρει. 23 Μηκέτι ὑδροπότει, ἀλλʼ οἴνῳ ὀλίγῳ χρῶ διὰ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ τὰς πυκνάς σου ἀσθενείας. 24 Τινῶν ἀνθρώπων αἱ ἁμαρτίαι πρόδηλοί εἰσιν προάγουσαι εἰς κρίσιν, τισὶν δὲ καὶ ἐπακολουθοῦσιν· 25 ὡσαύτως καὶ τὰ ἔργα τὰ καλὰ πρόδηλα, καὶ τὰ ἄλλως ἔχοντα κρυβῆναι οὐ δύνανται. 1 Timothy 5:22-25 (NA28)
22 Do not lay hands on too quickly and thereby be partner in sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23 No longer drink water alone, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent weaknesses. 24 The sins of some men are clear before them, leading them to judgment; for others, their sins follow on; 25 likewise also the works that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be hidden. 1 Timothy 5:22-25 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)
If you get a group of Baptists together then hit certain passages of scripture that contain references to wine, it doesn’t take long for the discussion to get hasty, defensive, polemic, and somewhat confused. When positions are taken that are based on what some preacher from my parents’ generation said instead of what the Word of God says then we should exercise discernment right there and insist on solid exegesis of scripture instead of emotional, cultural and denominational positions.