Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Put more plainly, is it possible for a person who smokes/uses tobacco products to truly be a Christian? Is it possible for that person to be saved while still smoking/chewing/dipping? Why or why not?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Yes.

While they might be committing a sin against their health they can still be a child of God. However, I don't think it is God's will that any should remain in bondage and any addiction IMO keeps us in bondage.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Of course not.

Just send me a list and I'll write "yes" or "no" next to every single activity.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

1 Cor 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.


Does destroy mean lost because tobacco products defile the temple of God.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Are you sure the word "defile" refers to a physical defilement, or a spiritual defilement?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

If smoking tobacco is an eternal sin because it defiles the body, then so is drinking soda, most fast and fried foods, NOT exercising, etc.....
Disgusting as it is, I have always wondered why smoking is singled out. (Probably because it IS disgusting and thus easy to be.)

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

is it either/or or both?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Well, if it refers to physical defilement, we have a lot more to worry about than tobacco. Stuff like artificial sweeteners, preservatives, red meat, excess food intake, carbonated sodas, caffeine, and the list goes on.......

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

I've kinda wondered the same thing. . . I also think it is a disgusting habit, but I also think we tend to categorize sin and I really don't think God does. Sin is sin, and all sin can be remitted through the blood of Jesus!

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

physical defilement................our body is the temple.


1 Cor 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

RW, this is the post of the day!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Well, if that's the case, most of us have greater issues than tobacco.

If physical defilement of the body is a sin that will destroy us, there are many in our ranks who don't stand a chance of making it to heaven.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Awww...good point Randy. You've stumbled upon one of my huge pet peeves. First of all, I've never took a drag of a cigarette and don't plan on it anytime soon. The nasty habit doesn't appeal to me in the least.

However, I find it comical and absurd for a 300 pound preacher who hasn't reverenced the temple of the Holy Ghost(his body) and hasn't taken his health into consideration at lunch and dinner, to tell a congregation of people that people who inhale smoke in their lungs are in sin.

That may be the case, but the sin of glutony, of which I and a lot of others in the church are sometimes guilty, goes unpreached on?? I guess it's easy to classify sin for some of those guys.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Lots of Apostolics not saved because of gluttony in regard to over-eating:):whistle

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Incidentally I've always wondered the same thing about gambling and why IT is singled out. There are certainly many other things people do with their money which are equally 'unwise'..... :)

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

I didn't read this until I had posted but it is right on:friend

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

You don't think smoking defiles your body?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Sure. So does too much soda, overeating, caffeine, processed sugar, etc.

Here's one for you - if a person is a diabetic, and their doctor has told them they need to lose weight or they'll die prematurely, and they continue to eat themselves sick, are they defiling their body?

Should they pray for healing?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

What does Paul mean by "defile the temple"?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Thanks for the Amen Sista!!:hanky

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

What is your interpretation?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Here are my thoughts. I don't smoke (and never have) because it IS bad for you, an 'unwise' use of your money (just like gambling!), and disrespectful of the people around you. That LAST point may be the one thing that smoking has going for it to make it worthy of being singled out as a sin.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Is there a smoking section in heaven??

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

What do you think, Michael? Do the scriptures mean what they say? Our body is the temple of God. If any man defile the body, him will God destroy. What does that mean to you?


I'm not trying to be harsh. I have my own vices that I fight against. So those verses reprove me as well.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Nor is there a McDonald's Playland.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Here's Strongs: to corrupt, to destroy
in the opinion of the Jews, the temple was corrupted or "destroyed" when anyone defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if its guardians neglected their duties
to lead away a Christian church from that state of knowledge and holiness in which it ought to abide
to be destroyed, to perish
in an ethical sense, to corrupt, deprave

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

I tell you what amazes me is the big, fat UPC preachers that get up and preach against smoking but over eat themselves to death. I think they take that scripture about gluttony out of the Bible.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Three easy steps necessary for salvation.


1. No nose, ear, hair.- eyebrows no longer that 1/4 centimeter. --Must be verified by at least a pastor or Sunday School Superintendent using the international metric measurements system.
2. No yellow teeth allowed. Coffee and Tea drinkers, it is suggested you have immediate teeth whitening. Your shade of white is measured by standard dental charts and must be at least two shades whiter than the standard median tone.
3. Every event you plan to attend and every habit you have (including consumption of your favorite snacks--especially those high in sugar--) must be pre approved by the deacon board. Applications must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event and must be signed by all parties and notarized by a legal authority. Any deviations to this policy will immediately suspend your rights as a Christian and doom your soul to hell. If you decide to repent--crawling in the front door of church while wearing burlap and ashes will not be accepted (unless accompanied by $1000 donation). Those seeking restoration must submit the standard repentance form approved by the deacon board, applications are considered on the first Sunday of each five Sunday month.

Any questions regarding our salvation policy please direct to the pastor the week following his annual vacation. (His vacation application is still pending with the board. There will be a meeting soon to address the possibility of a meeting to approve this action).

All other salvation requests should be directed to the General Secretary who will forward to the quarterly board meeting of the general council. Their decision is final and cannot be questioned.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Do they reprove you, or destroy you?

That's my point.......

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

I'm not arguing that point, I guess my question to you is this - is it ONLY tobacco that defiles our bodies?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

So, for the idea of sound doctrine, we could include those old saints that worry too much and cause unneccesary stress on their body. We could include any diabetic that doesn't conform to a strict sugar free diet. We could include any person at risk of heart disease who splurges on the occasional red meat. We could include those of us who drink soda which will literally remove varnish from a wood floor if it's left on it. And we'd most definitely, have to clean out the Pizza Parlours on Sunday night across the south and mid-west full of saint's filling their bodies with defiling food leaving them at risk for obesity and all of the infirmities and diseases that appertain.

Well at least we got that all cleared up. I'll go have some H20 and lettuce.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Thank you, my goatee-d friend! You have stated my own thoughts much more eloquently than I could......

oh, by the way, make sure it's purified water, not from the tap.....and make sure the lettuce has no pesticides!

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Work out your own salvation with God.

If you think smoking is okay and that you're not defiling your body, God's temple, then do what pleases you and what you feel pleases the Holy Spirit.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Miz, this is not like you.

You're avoiding the question.

Here's my question - do you feel that the edict to defile not the temple ONLY applies to smoking?

Or, do you feel that the same unhealthy habits that so many have mentioned on here, like overeating, fall into the same category - the one that will send you to hell?

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Those scriptures? they reprove me and cause me to seek God and His grace and strength to show me the ways that I may glorify Him in my body and my spirit which belong to Him. I'm not my own, I've been bought with a price.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

14 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: 15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
17 When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 18 So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” 20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Mark 7:14-23 NKJV

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

Ruh roh, now you've opened a can of worms!!!!!!!:club

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

I never implied that I believed inhaling tar filled smoke into lungs didn't defile the body. It most certainly does.

What I can't do, according to scripture, is say that a person who smokes cigarettes is somehow in worse spiritual condition than others who defile their bodies through any number of other means.

Your point about Phillipians 2:12, someone working out their own salvation with fear and trembling, is key.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

No, these verses, IMHO, apply to all unhealthy habits.

Taking the verses literally, which I tend to do, then I find fault even with myself.

Do we give ourselves a pass and say these verses don't really mean what they say? Do we gloss over them? What does defiling the temple, our bodies, mean? If they mean harming the body, then we are answerable to God for what we do to His temple. It's as simple as that and as hard as that.

Re: Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved
 

THEREFORE, SINCE these [great] promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the [reverential] fear of God.
2 Cor 7:1 Amplified Bible