The word “sober” is a New Testament word, never used in the Old Testament. It is found many times in Peter’s writings, as well as that of the apostle Paul. It is often associated with the “mind” of man, with serious thinking and conduct, with the realization of the fact that oftentimes what goes into a man produces that which comes out of him.
VINE”S EXPOSITORY OF NEW TESTAMENT WORDS gives the definition “free from the influence of intoxicants” as the first definition of the verb nepho from the Greek New Testament. This may give open-minded individuals a clue as to the usual cause of the “minds” of men when there is the absence of soberness.
In Tit. 2:4, Paul wrote, “….we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world.” Elsewhere, Paul admonishes “soberness” (1 Thes. 5:6, 8). See also Rom. 12:3; 1 Tim. 2:12; 3:11; Tit. 2:1-6, 12). This last reference in Tit. 2 is especially worthy of our special attention. As shown below the word “sober” is used with reference to both men and women—young and old alike. Note:
` a. Aged men are to be sober. v. 2
b. Aged women likewise. v. 3
They are not “given to much wine.” This does not mean they can drink wine
moderately, but NOT to excess (too much). “Excess” is a word that describes
what is in wine. Concerning “wine”, Paul wrote, “wherein IS excess” (Eph. 5:18). In 1 Pet. 4:3 Peter uses the words in referring to wine, when he said that believers once walked (past tense) in “excess of wine.” Then, in the very next verse, he also spoke of “excess of riot”. Does this mean that Christians can walk in “riot”, if we don’t do it to “excess?” Certainly not! As a matter of fact, a form of the very same word is used in Luke 15:13, to describe the “prodigal son” who had wasted his life in “riotous living.”
c. Then, the aged women are to teach the young women to be “sober”, v. 4. So, whatever aged men are to be, is that which aged women are to teach the young women to be. If aged women can drink (but not “too much”, just a “little”, then young women and aged men can ALSO do the same, even though Paul said they are to be “sober” (“free from the influence of intoxicants”).
d. Young men are to be soberminded. v. 6 Remember, to be “sober” is to be FREE from the influence of alcohol. Dr. Phil often says, “If you drink, you are not sober.”
Alcoholics know that if they are EVER stop drinking alcohol, that they must abstain completely. When one says, “I have been sober for five years”, he means that he has not taken a drink for five years. He knows that just one sip or one swallow or one glass full of alcohol will put him back into a state of “un-soberness”.
DON TARBET
