Can A Person Be A Smoker & Still Be Saved

[MikeinAR]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

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

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.

[Michael Phelps]

Originally Posted by MikeinAR

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.

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!

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by MikeinAR

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.

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.

[Michael Phelps]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

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.

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?

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Michael Phelps

Do they reprove you, or destroy you?

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

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.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Michael Phelps

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.......

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

[Michael Phelps]

Originally Posted by Sam

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

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

[MikeinAR]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

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.

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.

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Michael Phelps

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?

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.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

What does Paul mean by "defile the temple"?

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