In the bible (old and new), the word ‘wine’ was used about 231 times in KJV and 234 times in NIV. In most of the portions of scriptures where the word was used, it meant different things and there’s a need to look at the different meanings properly. Let me say this, certain words in the original Hebrew and Greek text were not properly translated into English and one of such words is wine. Let’s look at wine from the original bible language:

1. ‘Tiyrowsh’: That’s the Hebrew word for wine (without alcohol/fermentation). It is a type of wine squeezed out from fruits like grapes. What we call juice today was also known as wine even in bible times. That debunks the idea that all wines have alcohol. In old times, they were wise enough to separate fruit wine from alcoholic wine. But the generic name stands. Anywhere in the bible where God demands for an offering of wine, ‘tiyrowsh’ was implied. Numbers 18:12, Nehemiah 10:37-39, 13:5.

2. ‘Yayin’ or ‘Shekar’:That’s another Hebrew word for wine. This is the fermented wine which leads to intoxication. A vivid example is the story of Noah. In Genesis 9:24, “And Noah awoke from his wine…”, (Yayin), that’s alcoholic wine. In other places, ‘yayin’ was used and the resultant effect of intoxication followed. Genesis 9:21 and 24,19:32, Proverbs 31:6.

3. ‘Oinos’: This is literal wine and could be used figuratively. It is simply wine as the word implies – no alcohol in it. That was the word used in John Chapter 2 where Jesus turned water to wine. If it was an alcoholic wine the Greek word ‘Gleukos’ would have been used as it was rendered in Acts2:13. Even in Ephesians 5:18 where most people hold on to as an alibi for drinking but not excessively, Paul used the word ‘oinos’. In essence, he was saying that we should not be full of banquet/non-alcoholic wine as in parties. He was not implying alcoholic wine.
If we are truthful to what scripture reveals, we wouldn’t try to use semantics to find a leeway for what is not supported in scriptures. Do a study as I’ve done and compare scriptures with scriptures before teaching sensitive issues like this in public. 
LOOK AT THESE SCRIPTURES:

1. Alcohol Forbidden for Kings: Proverbs31:4-5,“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes, intoxicating drink; lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted. “Did you read that scripture above?
We were not told that a king should drink a little glass of wine (‘yayin’) but he shouldn’t drink it at all. By virtue of redemption, you are a King(Revelations 1:5-6). If Old testament Kings who did not have Jesus were told not to drink wine(‘yayin’), how much more you? 
Let’s read verse 6: “Give beer to those who are perishing….”Are you perishing? Beer is a recommendation for those perishing.  What alcohol is to a carnal man is what the Holy Ghost is to a spiritual man.

God’s Instruction To The Nazirite: Numbers 6:1-3, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.’ “Note verse 3. We are a called out people (Ecclessia) and we have been separated unto the Lord by the blood of Jesus for Kingdom purpose. Separation from the world and the things of the flesh remain as God’s standard till date. If Old Testament priests or Nazirites were commanded to abstain, don’t you think God is demanding same from us? The Old Testament is a type and shadow of New Testament realities. A priest in the Old Testament was a Levite but a priest in the New Testament is every believer with Christ as our High Priest.

2. Proverbs 20:1,”Wine (‘hayayin’) is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise. “The bible did not tell us the quantity here but it simply said ‘hayayin’ is a mocker and folly was implied to those that it led astray.

3. Hosea4:11, “Whoredom and and wine (Yayin) and new wine (wtiyrowsh) take away the heart.” The word ‘tiyrowsh’ here is not implying alcoholic wine but ‘yayin’ does. ‘tiyrowsh’ was used with respect to merriment or enjoyment but ‘yayin’ was what brought about the intoxication that led to the taking away of the heart. Isaiah 5:22-23

4. Proverbs 23:29-30, “who hath woe? who hath no sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babblings? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.” Did you read that? 

5. In proverbs23:33, the bible associated strong/alcoholic wine with sexual immorality. Look at it:“Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.”
Alcohol and sexual immorality go hand-in-hand. How? The scriptures say so and in our world today, prostitutes hang around bars/ clubs where alcohol is sold. Have you seen those selling local gin like ‘Alomo’, ‘ Sabrina’, ‘Mokogan’, etc? They hardly sell it/advertise it without talking about sex. Anytime they advertise it, sex is used as a bait to sell because alcohol is a sister to immorality.
6. Since we don’t even know the quantity that would lead to drunkennes, it is better to avoid it.  Why? A glass of ‘yayin or Shekar’ is the visa to drunkenness and bible regards it as one of the works of the flesh that can lead a man to hell. Galatians 5:21.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH ALCOHOL

While in my second year in the Senior Secondary, I drank what I’ll term a little alcohol at the backyard of my school. It was common in my secondary school days to be curious and I was. We bought Gordons (an alcoholic beverage) and we had little gulps before the first period. I began to misbehave to the point that I couldn’t attend classes. I started riding bicycle round the school. Other guys that drank with me quickly arranged a bed rest for me in the sick bay so that the principal won’t know what happened. The point I’m trying to make here is that drunkenness is not spontaneous and the cumulative effect of ‘little’ is what turns out awry. It is better to avoid ‘little’ alcohol because you cannot tell the measure or quantity of little that may get you inebriated. 
These are my scriptural defense on why i don’t take alcohol and why I do not encourage anyone to take it INCLUDING YOU.

THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH IS NOT A MODEL

1 Corinthians 3:1-3,“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit, but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly…”
Truly, we saw in 1Corinthians 11:17-34 that some members in Corinthian church got drunk at the communion table. To have been drunk at the communion table implied that they drank alcohol and Paul rebuked them for it. What I want you to see about the Corinthian church is in the opening text. Paul called them ‘worldly’. We cannot imitate certain things done by the Corinthian church because they were carnal people. Funnily, they had all the gifts of the Spirit yet they were carnal. If you take out time to read 1Corinthians, Paul was addressing several problems in that Church and the bible didn’t recommend that we imitate problems. As a rule of thumb, that something was canonized or written in scriptures doesn’t make it a rule for all times.

LET’S GO INDUSTRIAL

By God’s grace, I did a little of Food and Industrial microbiology with beer production as a focus. Industrially, alcohol has purposes it serves. I believe God made it for certain purposes and industrialists have found a use for it. Just as it was used in ancient Greek and Hebrew nations as disinfectant for bad water, ethanol has its uses today. Alcohol in contemporary non-alcoholic wine serves the purpose of:

1-Improving the ‘shelf-life’ of a wine just as it does in cake. There, it is serving the industrial purposes of preservation and longevity and the intention is clear. Even in pharmaceutical products like cough expectorants, there is a little alcohol in it and why?
2- Most cough syrups contain menthol and natural extracts. These substances are water-insoluble. So, alcohol is used as solvent.

3- It aids absorption of organic substances.

Now you must understand from this perspective that if used for industrial purposes, it is not bad because it is serving a purpose industrially. The major component of alcohol is ethanol and it is the principal component in methylated spirit and most facial cleansers.  That’s totally different from buying a bottle of alcohol and drinking it.

CONCLUSION

There is something we call ‘Christian Apologetics’. It is a branch of bible study that deals with defense of beliefs and doctrines. There’s also another aspect of bible study called ‘Hermeneutics’ which deals with proper interpretation of scriptures. If we can gain mastery of these two, we wouldn’t have problems with most issues we argue about. I will advise you study the bible for yourself and not give it private interpretation or follow popular opinion. If you would be a good divider of the word, you shouldn’t be afraid of sounding odd as i have sounded. Popular opinion and human perceptions cannot interpret scriptures.  In your spare time, study ‘wine’ from Genesis to Revelation considering the different usages and parts of speech used. Above all, open your heart to the Holy Spirit, He knows all things and He would guide us into all truths.
The scripture is like a knife, it can be used destructively and constructively, you can make it say what you want to say but that doesn’t change the truth therein. May the peace of Christ be with His church. Amen.