Believe it or not some people do try to use this verse in defense of social drinking.  Paul wrote to Timothy in I Timothy 5:23, “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.”
    The question here really is simple:  Was Paul condoning the casual use of alcohol or was he telling Timothy to use it for medicinal purposes?  Based upon the context we see that the latter was the case.  In fact notice that the verse says a little.  Even wine for medicinal use can be wrong when it is overused.  When I was around 20 I had been moved from a position as a nighttime worker in a warehouse to the daytime.  Over time we would occasionally see a Nyquil bottle on one of the cards used to pull orders the night before.  Eventually we were seeing bottles every morning, and then on more than one cart.  Obviously that medicine was not being used for its medicinal value!
    Notice also that Paul had to tell Timothy to use it.  Apparently Timothy understood the Bible precept not to drink and in his eyes it took the permission of a fellow laborer to finally get him to use alcohol even for medicinal purposes.
    I had not thought of this, but notice what my father in law has written on the subject, “Also note Paul used the word “use” not “drink” in reference to Timothy’s use of wine, which denotes more of a purpose than of social drinking.”
    Last week we mentioned that the type of wine (alcoholic or simply the “fruit of the press”) being spoken of depends upon the context.  Here there is no way to tell in the context whether the wine is alcoholic or non-alcoholic, but in the context of the verse that does not matter.