Smoking is NOT a sin.

[dies-l]

I disagree with you!!

It happened to me and many others I have known... once Jesus came into our heart, we were convicted and motivated to immediately stop polluting our bodies. People who still smoke is a sign they have never been Born Again of the Holy Spirit and that's why they continue to smoke and see nothing wrong with it.

I don't doubt that many people do overcome great obstacles as a result of salvation. But, we are all still sinners. Some sincere born again believers do continue to struggle with a variety issues and unwise choices. I would include smoking as one such decision. However, to say that someone is not truly born again because they continue to smoke reflects an incredible lack of understanding of the biblical concepts of grace, justification, and sanctification.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

A question comes to me after reading over a number of posts here . so i'll share it .

Are we saved by Trusting in Jesus .. or by having a perfect understanding?

 

[RevRo]

I love drive-by prooftexting!

Seriously, if you disagree with me, tell me why.

LOL! That was in response to the OY! I was not disagreeing with YOU!

 

[dies-l]

LOL! That was in response to the OY! I was not disagreeing with YOU!

I'm sorry if I misunderstood.

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

I have never heard of any health benefits to "smoking in moderation". I've only seen people die from it.

If you walked past a car and saw a person sucking on the car's exhaust pipe and inhaling the smoke from the car's exhaust pipe, what would you think?

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

I don't doubt that many people do overcome great obstacles as a result of salvation. But, we are all still sinners. Some sincere born again believers do continue to struggle with a variety issues and unwise choices. I would include smoking as one such decision. However, to say that someone is not truly born again because they continue to smoke reflects an incredible lack of understanding of the biblical concepts of grace, justification, and sanctification.

I repeat.... if someone doesn't see anything wrong with smoking and wants to continue smoking...that is evidence and a sign they have never been sincerely Born Again of the Holy Spirit.

 

[dies-l]

I repeat.... if someone doesn't see anything wrong with smoking and wants to continue smoking...that is evidence and a sign they have never been sincerely Born Again of the Holy Spirit.

Let me ask you this: would you say the same thing about a Christian who sees nothing wrong with eating Big Macs and who continues to eat Big Macs?

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

Let me ask you this: would you say the same thing about a Christian who sees nothing wrong with eating Big Macs and who continues to eat Big Macs?

No. But if a Christian is stuffing their faces with McDonalds poison they need to stop that too.

God does indeed convict a born again Christian to make changes in respect to the temple of God.. e.g stop alcohol, drugs, smoking etc.

 

[lhermann3]

I repeat.... if someone doesn't see anything wrong with smoking and wants to continue smoking...that is evidence and a sign they have never been sincerely Born Again of the Holy Spirit.

This claim is baseless as all people who are born again believers are still people and therefore will have sin. Not only is it baseless, but it is contextually irrelevant because this thread is about whether or not smoking is a sin, NOT whether smoking is indicative of a lack of faith in the Son's sacrifice which is what being born again is.

Fact of the matter smoking is not a sin. Well...the act of smoking is not a sin (lighting, inhaling, exhaling). ADDICTION, however, is under the context of "serving two masters" which is usually referred to the love of worldly things, but is equally as relevant to being enslaved by addiction.

The knowledge that smoking causes addiction is one of those "see how close you can get to the fire without being burned" kinda things.

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

This claim is baseless as all people who are born again believers are still people and therefore will have sin.

You are a young man, very young and spiritually immature...so listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you. But you will need to toss aside your pride and become humble to learn.

I never said born again Christians become sinless. But listen carefully....born again Christians begin to think differently. And if someone is still putting alcohol or drugs or smokes into their bodies, and they don't see anything wrong with it, that is sign they are not born again.

Let me tell you what happened to me... When I was lost and before I knew Jesus, I would sin, sleep around with many different women, lie and deceive people, and not care, it never bothered me. But once I invited Jesus into my heart, all of a sudden, I hated sin and hated what I was doing, and what I wanted to do that I was not doing. All of a sudden I had a conscience. That is evidence of a true and sincere conversion and salvation experience. The same applied to Paul, he said he now hated what he was doing. But before that he was killing Christians.

So if someone is still smoking and has no conscience towards it whatsoever and doesn't see anything wrong with it and doesn't care about polluting the temple of God....then they do not have the mind and thoughts off God and are not born again.

 

[lhermann3]

You are a young man, very young and spiritually immature...so listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you. But you will need to toss aside your pride and become humble to learn.

I never said born again Christians become sinless. But listen carefully....born again Christians begin to think differently. And if someone is still putting alcohol or drugs or smokes into their bodies, and they don't see anything wrong with it, that is sign they are not born again.

Let me tell you what happened to me... When I was lost and before I knew Jesus, I would sin, sleep around with many different women, lie and deceive people, and not care, it never bothered me. But once I invited Jesus into my heart, all of a sudden, I hated sin and hated what I was doing, and what I wanted to do that I was not doing. All of a sudden I had a conscience. That is evidence of a true and sincere conversion and salvation experience. The same applied to Paul, he said he now hated what he was doing. But before that he was killing Christians.

So if someone is still smoking and has no conscience towards it whatsoever and doesn't see anything wrong with it and doesn't care about polluting the temple of God....then they do not have the mind and thoughts off God and are not born again.

And you are very presumptive that because a person is young his statements are somehow inferior. Believe me I do not need you, nor anyone else to tell me about life as I have already experienced a great many of its sorrows. Perhaps you would have something to teach me of joy, however, as there has been little that I have experienced in my time. I would believe that my 'life experience' in some areas would rival yours and many people on this forum's but that isn't what this is about.

Regarding the "Body is a temple" quote from the Bible, it is referring to sexual immorality in context. That is not to say that it cannot be interpolated onto something else, but it does say that NO ONE here can say for sure.

I know plenty about moral gray area that waxes and wanes with the hour before salvation, that does NOT mean that upon being saved everything becomes black and white. The answers do not automatically come to a person who is born again via some magical space-time telephone called the Holy Spirit.

Instead, as we delve into a relationship with Christ the Holy Spirit convicts us about our sin (amongst other things). We must still discover these things as sin, and the only way to do that is through God speaking to the believer. The most common way God speaks is through His Word and the Word is quite ambiguous on this matter as cigarettes didn't exist when it was written.

It is much more clear on addiction, however and that is one thing we, as Christians, should make all precautions to avoid. On the same token, remaining addicted does not veto your salvation.

You seem to think that these things happen all at once or you are an unbeliever. I sincerely doubt many people would agree with that assessment of their faith.

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

And you are very presumptive that because a person is young his statements are somehow inferior. Believe me I do not need you, nor anyone else to tell me about life

I rest my case

Full of pride....the pride that began in Satan...has infected majority of mankind and it will cause them to be lost and deceived.

No wonder Bible says unless you convert to become like little children, and humble yourself, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

[lhermann3]

I rest my case

Full of pride....the pride that began in Satan...has infected majority of mankind and it will cause them to be lost and deceived.

No wonder Bible says unless you convert to become like little children, and humble yourself, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

I will not drop to your level and turn what was a meaningful discussion into a flame war because you somehow feel superior to me. Keep in mind the Pharisees whom Jesus rebuked time and time again had that same attitude. If you have anything else to post related to the thread go ahead and post it here.

For your petty personal attacks against my character please refer them to my PM inbox, or better yet, their own thread; that way they can be relevant AND I can debate you in an open forum.

 

[RevRo]

I rest my case

Full of pride....the pride that began in Satan...has infected majority of mankind and it will cause them to be lost and deceived.

No wonder Bible says unless you convert to become like little children, and humble yourself, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Pride? I see nothing but pride in all your posts. satan is the accuser of the brethren ad you seem to be doing his job for him.
Oh, well, another one added to my ignore list.

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

I will not drop to your level.

Matthew 7:20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

Pride? I see nothing but pride in all your posts. satan is the accuser of the brethren ad you seem to be doing his job for him.
Oh, well, another one added to my ignore list.

Matthew 7:1-4 (New International Version)

Matthew 7

Judging Others

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

 

[ILoveTheTruthJC]

Pride? I see nothing but pride in all your posts. satan is the accuser of the brethren ad you seem to be doing his job for him.
Oh, well, another one added to my ignore list.

You suggested I am working with Satan which means you suggest I have an evil spirit. You just committed the eternal sin and each day that goes by your heart will become harder and harder because you committed the eternal sin.

Mark 3:28-30 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

 

[Aibrean]

If you walked past a car and saw a person sucking on the car's exhaust pipe and inhaling the smoke from the car's exhaust pipe, what would you think?

I'm not sure what the point of this question is.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

I repeat.... if someone doesn't see anything wrong with smoking and wants to continue smoking...that is evidence and a sign they have never been sincerely Born Again of the Holy Spirit.

John 1:12-13

12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.


Honestly, what does "sincerity" have to do with it? If they are born of God through trusting him .. then they have the right to be children of God regardless of how they measure on your "Good-O-Meter"

 

[dies-l]

No. But if a Christian is stuffing their faces with McDonalds poison they need to stop that too.

God does indeed convict a born again Christian to make changes in respect to the temple of God.. e.g stop alcohol, drugs, smoking etc.

God does convict people about such things. I agree with you on that. But, to suggest that lack of conviction about any specific moral or health issue shows a lack of understanding of the difference between justification by faith and sanctification.