preembargo
Sleeping not so peacefully
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2005
- Messages
- 2,686
I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me.
Philippians 3:9 NLT
________________________________________
Some time ago I was asked what my thoughts are concerning smoking and religion; I’ve interpreted that question as “Is smoking a sin?” Let me begin by saying I have no intention or desire to become involved in a debate, but I will give every effort to honor God and let His Holy Spirit reveal His truth.
The answer is...
Yes.
And No.
The argument against cigarettes is compelling but if you can separate cigars from cigarettes then that is a different matter altogether.
I’m not being noncommittal or wishy-washy. Certainly no one can dispute the potential health consequences of smoking but cigars are enjoyed in much the same way as fine wine is appreciated, while cigarettes are more often than not, all about the nicotine addiction. The process and purpose of smoking a cigar is far different than that of smoking a cigarette. The main differences in respect to health concerns is the fact that most cigar smokers do not inhale and smoke far less frequently than cigarette smokers.
In order to justify the apparent duality of this question, we must ask two questions, the first being “What is sin?” Sin can best be defined as the willful disobedience of God’s Law. Obviously tobacco is not ever directly mentioned in the Bible so we must ask; “In what way (if any) does God’s Word prohibit smoking?”
The most common concern regarding the perceived sinful nature of smoking is it’s affect on ones health. The argument is that our bodies are God’s Temple and by smoking we are defiling God’s Temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
I believe Jesus answers the question this way.
In Christ’s own words:
Matthew 15:16-20
16"…Don't you understand yet?" Jesus asked them. 17"Don't you see? Everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. Those are the things that make you 'unclean.' 19Evil thoughts come out of the heart. So do murder, adultery, and other sexual sins. And so do stealing, false witness, and telling lies about others. 20Those are the things that make you 'unclean."…
Christ is telling us that sin has nothing to do with what goes into our bodies, our Temples, but has everything to do with what is already in our hearts.
________________________________________
What do you do if your conscience tells you it is sinful?
The apostle Paul faces similar concerns in his first letter to the Corinthian church. The question was “is it a sin to eat meat that has been used in pagan rituals. The situation was such that if you went out to buy meat in Corinth, it probably was meat that had been offered in a pagan ceremony and some of it may have been reserved for the pagan priest but other parts of it were sold to people in the marketplace. That sacrificial meat was most likely cheaper than other cuts of meat, and that made it more attractive for poorer Christians to be able to purchase it. But there was a problem; there were those in the church who believed that it would be a sin to eat meat that had been offered to false gods because it would essentially be a slap in the one true Gods face while others believed there was no sin in eating such meat whatsoever.
To those embroiled in this debate Paul sends this admonition, that arguing because “you have all the answers” is not about truth at all, but pride and ego:
1 Corinthians 8
1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.[a] Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.
Here he explains that the debate is really a non issue:
4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
Here Paul puts it all into perspective. He shows that even if God does not view a particular behavior as sinful, if your own conscience tells you it is and you continue in that behavior anyway, you have in fact committed an act of sin after all. He goes on to warn us that if we encourage someone because we believe a behavior to be righteous to violate their own conscience regarding that behavior then we have sinned in that we have caused them to stumble in their own faith:
7But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
Essentially Paul is telling us that if your conscience causes you to believe that a particular behavior sinful, then it’s sinful.
________________________________________
One morning, The famous evangelist C.H. Spurgeon climbed onto a carriage with some of his young students at seminary. These students were all smoking their pipes. Spurgeon asked, "Gentlemen, are you not ashamed to be smoking at this early an hour?" Shamefully, the students put away their pipes. Within a few minutes, Spurgeon pulled out his own and began to enjoy a good smoke. One of the students asked, "Sir, did you not just tell us not to smoke so early?" Spurgeon replies, "I said nothing of the sort. I merely asked you if you are ashamed to smoke or not. And since you put your pipes away, I assumed you were ashamed."
Philippians 3:9 NLT
________________________________________
Some time ago I was asked what my thoughts are concerning smoking and religion; I’ve interpreted that question as “Is smoking a sin?” Let me begin by saying I have no intention or desire to become involved in a debate, but I will give every effort to honor God and let His Holy Spirit reveal His truth.
The answer is...
Yes.
And No.
The argument against cigarettes is compelling but if you can separate cigars from cigarettes then that is a different matter altogether.
I’m not being noncommittal or wishy-washy. Certainly no one can dispute the potential health consequences of smoking but cigars are enjoyed in much the same way as fine wine is appreciated, while cigarettes are more often than not, all about the nicotine addiction. The process and purpose of smoking a cigar is far different than that of smoking a cigarette. The main differences in respect to health concerns is the fact that most cigar smokers do not inhale and smoke far less frequently than cigarette smokers.
In order to justify the apparent duality of this question, we must ask two questions, the first being “What is sin?” Sin can best be defined as the willful disobedience of God’s Law. Obviously tobacco is not ever directly mentioned in the Bible so we must ask; “In what way (if any) does God’s Word prohibit smoking?”
The most common concern regarding the perceived sinful nature of smoking is it’s affect on ones health. The argument is that our bodies are God’s Temple and by smoking we are defiling God’s Temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
I believe Jesus answers the question this way.
In Christ’s own words:
Matthew 15:16-20
16"…Don't you understand yet?" Jesus asked them. 17"Don't you see? Everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. Those are the things that make you 'unclean.' 19Evil thoughts come out of the heart. So do murder, adultery, and other sexual sins. And so do stealing, false witness, and telling lies about others. 20Those are the things that make you 'unclean."…
Christ is telling us that sin has nothing to do with what goes into our bodies, our Temples, but has everything to do with what is already in our hearts.
________________________________________
What do you do if your conscience tells you it is sinful?
The apostle Paul faces similar concerns in his first letter to the Corinthian church. The question was “is it a sin to eat meat that has been used in pagan rituals. The situation was such that if you went out to buy meat in Corinth, it probably was meat that had been offered in a pagan ceremony and some of it may have been reserved for the pagan priest but other parts of it were sold to people in the marketplace. That sacrificial meat was most likely cheaper than other cuts of meat, and that made it more attractive for poorer Christians to be able to purchase it. But there was a problem; there were those in the church who believed that it would be a sin to eat meat that had been offered to false gods because it would essentially be a slap in the one true Gods face while others believed there was no sin in eating such meat whatsoever.
To those embroiled in this debate Paul sends this admonition, that arguing because “you have all the answers” is not about truth at all, but pride and ego:
1 Corinthians 8
1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.[a] Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.
Here he explains that the debate is really a non issue:
4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
Here Paul puts it all into perspective. He shows that even if God does not view a particular behavior as sinful, if your own conscience tells you it is and you continue in that behavior anyway, you have in fact committed an act of sin after all. He goes on to warn us that if we encourage someone because we believe a behavior to be righteous to violate their own conscience regarding that behavior then we have sinned in that we have caused them to stumble in their own faith:
7But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
Essentially Paul is telling us that if your conscience causes you to believe that a particular behavior sinful, then it’s sinful.
________________________________________
One morning, The famous evangelist C.H. Spurgeon climbed onto a carriage with some of his young students at seminary. These students were all smoking their pipes. Spurgeon asked, "Gentlemen, are you not ashamed to be smoking at this early an hour?" Shamefully, the students put away their pipes. Within a few minutes, Spurgeon pulled out his own and began to enjoy a good smoke. One of the students asked, "Sir, did you not just tell us not to smoke so early?" Spurgeon replies, "I said nothing of the sort. I merely asked you if you are ashamed to smoke or not. And since you put your pipes away, I assumed you were ashamed."
