Smoking?

[Faithful Son]

Atonement, I said I won't post here anymore, but I'll try to do it with a calmer tone, no, I'll actually commit to one of the forum rules and pray before I post.....

I'm a smoker. I'm addicted to nicotine and all the other nasties in the tobacco.

I'm not proud of being a smoker and I would like to quit. I have mentioned a few pages back that I have asked for support at TJ for my smoking habit. My friends including the moderators and even Chad prayed for me, I quit for 3 weeks in 2006.

I couldn't handle the cravings after those 3 weeks and I retook the smoking habit. It's 2008 and I still live with this. I don't have the will power, I do have the will to quit, but not the will power.

I'm not your average Joe. I ask God to help me with everything I do and this means everything. I don't expect Him to quit for me, on behalf of me, but I do "expect" Him to give me some strength and help me with it.

To be quite honest with you. I took everything in this discussion to heart. Every post I read I saw the Christian typing a message, but he/she was pointing fingers in my direction, which isn't so.

I'm not an intellectual, I'm no scholar, I'm no bright spark either. I'm just a normal person who commits some sin, which we all do, but which we aren't proud of.

The Holy Spirit is within me, as He is in you if you believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives me a conscious and my conscious says it's wrong to smoke. Actually having the strength, the courage to stop smoking is what I require, what I long for and ask for.

I apologize for my behaviour in this thread. Many of you know me for a few years and you know my attitude isn't always like this. I'm going through a rough time, which I mentioned in the mod room and I'm just not coping well.

I'd appreciate your prayers as brothers and sisters in Christ. I am sorry for hurting you with my words.

God bless you
Much love
Faithful Son (Jako)

 

[SpiritLedEd]

Re: Smoking

but if i think of certain times of the day where my cigarette cravings are dominant, as an example, my first thought, my morning cigarette or my morning prayer? Another modern day idol?

"Craving" is synonymous with "addiction" because when smoking reaches that stage, despite his/her best efforts, the smoker has no real defense against the first cigarette. I think that most people who say that they don't want to stop smoking are really admitting an addiction to the effect nicotine has on the brain.

A lot of people say that a) Smoking is a sin, and b) quitting is only a matter of willpower. I, personally, have never thought about whether or not smoking is a sin. After thinking about it, it seems to me that folks who proclaim that it is sinful are correct if the smoker has the willpower to resist the first cigarette..

Regarding smoking, Mark Twain once said, "Quittin's easy, I've done it a thousand times." Once the addiction is rooted, the smoker loses control of his/her will in the matter. They no longer control tobacco; tobacco controls them. If sin is involved at this stage, it would lie in refusal to seek effective help in combatting the addiction. Pointing a finger, either literally or figuratively, at an addicted smoker and drumming "You're sinning when you smoke!" into their brains is counterproductive.

If they've been smoking for any length of time, they're probably feeling some negative physiological (coughing and wheezing, etc.) as well as economic (over three American dollars per pack of cigarettes where I live) effects. Therefore, they're probably already at least somewhat depressed over the issue. Being told repeatedly that they are sinning only adds to the depression and drives them away from the people who supposedly have their wellbeing at heart.What is needed is an effort to help smoking addicts overcome the addiction in a loving, non-condemning way.

SLE

 

[cerebus]

The only thing that works is to enjoy the Lord. I'm sorry that I can't give you any better answer. The more you enjoy the Lord, the more you wouldn't care for smoking or any other thing.

 

[Coconut]

The more you enjoy the Lord, the more you wouldn't care for smoking or any other thing.

I`m truly groaning ...(Rom 8)

Rom 14:1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions.
Rom 14:2 Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables.
Rom 14:3 The person who will eat anything is not to despise the one who doesn't; while the one who eats only vegetables is not to pass judgment on the one who will eat anything; for God has accepted that person.
Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed.
Rom 14:5 Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while others think that all days are the same. We each should firmly make up our own minds.
Rom 14:6 Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God.
Rom 14:7 We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only.
Rom 14:8 If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
Rom 14:9 For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead.
Rom 14:10 You then, who eat only vegetables---why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything---why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him.
Rom 14:11 For the scripture says, "As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, and everyone will confess that I am God."
Rom 14:12 Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.
Rom 14:13 So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make others stumble or fall into sin.
Rom 14:14 My union with the Lord Jesus makes me certain that no food is of itself ritually unclean; but if you believe that some food is unclean, then it becomes unclean for you.
Rom 14:15 If you hurt others because of something you eat, then you are no longer acting from love. Do not let the food that you eat ruin the person for whom Christ died!
Rom 14:16 Do not let what you regard as good get a bad name.
Rom 14:17 For God's Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives.
Rom 14:18 And when you serve Christ in this way, you please God and are approved by others.
Rom 14:19 So then, we must always aim at those things that bring peace and that help strengthen one another.
Rom 14:20 Do not, because of food, destroy what God has done. All foods may be eaten, but it is wrong to eat anything that will cause someone else to fall into sin.
Rom 14:21 The right thing to do is to keep from eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that will make other believers fall.
Rom 14:22 Keep what you believe about this matter, then, between yourself and God. Happy are those who do not feel guilty when they do something they judge is right!
Rom 14:23 But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.

 

[cerebus]

sorry?

 

[tooth and nail]

Wow, Faithful Son, sorry to hear you're going through all that - I will keep you in my prayers.

On topic, I don't necessarily view smoking cigarettes as a sin, guess it is if you overdo it, but it is a legal product. I don't smoke myself because of asthma.:wink:

 

[Coconut]

lol cerebus...thats quite alright, but you do realize you just told the entire kingdom of christiandom (including yourself) that they dont enjoy the Lord (except the already dead ones that is) Of course, as already quoted, Christ is Lord of them too.

The subject of what christians consume always attempts to glorify the flesh, as if the (healthy or unhealthy) condition of a mans carcass can somehow have some influence or impact on the Spirit, or make the "temple of God" more holy. This is fleshly wisdom and does not profit the spiritual man one iota.

Col 2:20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations--
Col 2:21 "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch"
Col 2:22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)--according to human precepts and teachings?
Col 2:23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (indulgences of the flesh meaning -sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry- as listed in Col 3:5)

These things are what Paul was referring to when he said you are the temple of God, and you must glorify God in your body, he was aiming straight at the heart. He certainly (by proof of scriptural text) wasnt referring to the condition of the clay, or what we consume, thats talking Judism, not Jesus.

If any man thinks he has reason to boast of conquering his flesh (spiritually speaking)...I`ve yet to meet him...not even the Dalai Lama. Doesnt scripture say "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh." Then who will tell me they have made thier vessel fit for God to dwell in? You`ve given up one human vice, but pray tell, do you have no other? Not one? Then you are just the person to write a new chapter in the Holy Bible, beginning with a list of 'health' reasons why Jesus should not have drank wine.


As Chad says, this is about GODS view, and so the scripture must be the final authority pertaining to Godliness.

On that note...smoking isnt the smartest thing I do...but then I never claimed to be smart...

Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

[michael74]

I'm not an intellectual, I'm no scholar, I'm no bright spark either. I'm just a normal person who commits some sin, which we all do, but which we aren't proud of.

right mate dont give up smoking. if you cant then you cant, im not gonna condem you for smoking and jesus wont either, because he came to save us not condem us. its not like your smoking to invoke the devil or somthing stupid like that. its just wired into your thought patterns. if you are still doing all the other christian things then by smoking you are only doing what we all do, we are all sinners, no one isnt, so no one can condem you. if god wants you to stop then you know that you would. i think you should cut yourself some slack.
whats the point of telling someone "your body is a temple look how healthy mine is" but that person will have something wrong with them somewere along the line, because thats how we are.
good luck friend.
p.s. just wanted to add this for the scripture addicts.
1 corinthians 6 v18
"avoid immorality. any other sin a man commits does not affect his body, but the man who is guilty of sexual immorality sins against his own body"
nuff said.

 

[sonnyd]

Mt 7:1
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mt 7:2
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Jas 2:10
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Matthew here states that with what measure we judge or condemn someone by that we will be judged by that same wrong or sin. If we do not smoke and condemn someone for smoking we will be judged for smoking instead of a sin that we have committed.

James was very emphatic in verse 2:10 in the fact that if we offend in 1 point (1 sin) then we become guilty of all sin. Sin is sin in God’s sight and so we will be condemned by the sin we accuse others of.

We can love one another and pray for the ones that feel condemned for the things they are doing.
If necessary we need to encourage the ones who need it and not beat them with Gods word.

Re 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come.
And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

 

[Atonement]

Everyone turns this into some type of judgment. So let's talk about this. Is it a good thing to smoke?? Let's be honest with this question.. Is it a good thing??

Think for a moment is it a good thing to smoke?

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

As a brother in the Lord, can you tell me why I can not point this out to that person who smokes, with out that person thinking I'm judging them? Because after all it's a good thing to tell someone not to smoke, and yet if I say nothing. I am sinning..

 

[Chad]

Everyone turns this into some type of judgment. So let's talk about this. Is it a good thing to smoke?? Let's be honest with this question.. Is it a good thing??

Think for a moment is it a good thing to smoke?

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

As a brother in the Lord, can you tell me why I can not point this out to that person who smokes, with out that person thinking I'm judging them? Because after all it's a good thing to tell someone not to smoke, and yet if I say nothing. I am sinning..

In agreement. I lost two uncles to lung cancer. Yes, cancer from smoking. So no, its not a good thing. NOR is there an excuse that its ok if done in moderation.

For all those who justify their sins, you face severe consequences in the end both in your physical and spiritual health. Don't forget the consequence of justifying your sins on Judgment Day.

You have victory in Jesus Christ only if you let it go.

 

[michael74]

For all those who justify their sins, you face severe consequences in the end both in your physical and spiritual health. Don't forget the consequence of justifying your sins on Judgment Day

.


yes mate i agree 100% but this person does not sound severe to me, he describes himself as a sinner and he knows his place with his fellow man, if this is the total (smoking) of the things that are nudging his god fearing side, then iam only worthy to be his servant. i could learn more from him than i could teach him.

 

[Chad]

Michael, my comment was not directed at any specific person here. It was in general to all regarding any bondage of sin, not just smoking in particular.

 

[michael74]

Atonement, I said I won't post here anymore, but I'll try to do it with a calmer tone, no, I'll actually commit to one of the forum rules and pray before I post.....

I'm a smoker. I'm addicted to nicotine and all the other nasties in the tobacco.

I'm not proud of being a smoker and I would like to quit. I have mentioned a few pages back that I have asked for support at TJ for my smoking habit. My friends including the moderators and even Chad prayed for me, I quit for 3 weeks in 2006.

I couldn't handle the cravings after those 3 weeks and I retook the smoking habit. It's 2008 and I still live with this. I don't have the will power, I do have the will to quit, but not the will power.

I'm not your average Joe. I ask God to help me with everything I do and this means everything. I don't expect Him to quit for me, on behalf of me, but I do "expect" Him to give me some strength and help me with it.

To be quite honest with you. I took everything in this discussion to heart. Every post I read I saw the Christian typing a message, but he/she was pointing fingers in my direction, which isn't so.

I'm not an intellectual, I'm no scholar, I'm no bright spark either. I'm just a normal person who commits some sin, which we all do, but which we aren't proud of.

The Holy Spirit is within me, as He is in you if you believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives me a conscious and my conscious says it's wrong to smoke. Actually having the strength, the courage to stop smoking is what I require, what I long for and ask for.

I apologize for my behaviour in this thread. Many of you know me for a few years and you know my attitude isn't always like this. I'm going through a rough time, which I mentioned in the mod room and I'm just not coping well.

I'd appreciate your prayers as brothers and sisters in Christ. I am sorry for hurting you with my words.

God bless you
Much love
Faithful

Son (Jako)

yep no problem at all its just this person seems to be calling out for some moral support, there is alot going on here thats for sure.

 

[Atonement]

I chose to deal with the issue of smoking as a "little fox" because most people that indulge in this practice do not realize the toll it takes on the longivity of their lives until it is too late. I read a shocking statistic that stated "the heavy smoker pays with 34.6 minutes of life for each cigarette he smokes. The pack-a-day smoker pays with 11.5 hours for each pack he smokes." This would equate to someone's life span being cut almost in half due to the evil of smoking. The Lord promises us long life in the Bible but those who violate His commandments are choosing to shorten their own lives.

Psa 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Prov 4:10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

What does the Bible say about smoking? You will find no text that says, "Thou shalt not smoke." Tobacco is not mentioned in the Bible for a very good reason; its use is of comparatively recent origin and was not known in Bible times. In fact, Western Europe was introduced to it from the Americas in the sixteen century.
In 1613 John Rolfe sent the first shipment of Virginia tobacco from Jamestown to England. Sir Walter Raleigh also imported it from the island of Tobago (West Indies) during the later half of the sixteenth century. The practice of smoking tobacco came from the native American Indians and the Carib Indians of Tobago. These practices were done as part of their religious rites. It is interesting to find that the root of smoking tobacco came from heathen religions. Columbus was amazed when he saw the Indians of the Caribbean drawing smoke through their nostrils with a Y-shaped pipe called a "tabaca", hence the name tobacco.
Satan is always trying to destroy God's crowning creation "man", anyway that he can, and addicting people to tobacco is one of those ways. If Satan cannot destroy us other ways he uses this "little nasty habit" to slowly kill us over the years. Young people are the most vulnerable as many movie and television productions glamorize drinking and smoking. They never show the long term effects this habit has on people.
Coming from a background as a medical technologist I saw so many people in the hospital, suffering needlessly, as the result of their smoking. Most people are aware of the major list of diseases caused by the longterm use of tobacco which are lung, throat and mouth cancer, heart disease and emphezema. However, Satan deceives them into thinking it won't happen to them. Young people just don't think about their latter years, and this "little habit" finally becomes so enslaving it becomes a"big monster" and is very difficult to get free from without Christ.
I have known of a lot of Christians who smoked and really just did not want to give this pleasure up. The Bible does say there is pleasure in sin for a season but in the end we shall reap the result of that sin. The Bible says Moses chose to turn against the pleasures he could have enjoyed to follow God.

Hebrews 11:24-25 says "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."

Galatians 6:7-8tells us that in time we shall reap corruption from our sinful habits

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Tobacco is considered physically harmful because it contains nicotine, a drug which in its pure state is highly poisonous.It definitely is not only habit forming but addictive as well. It is ludicrous to hear the tobacco company executives state otherwise. We all know that their statements were made only because it would produce huge monetary losses for them to state otherwise. They need only ask someone who has tried to get free of this evil if they think it is addicting or just merely a bad habit.
The Bible teaches us as Christians that we are to be clean and holy -- spirit, soul and body. Our bodies are called the "temple of the Holy Spirit". Every Christian is accountable to God for the condition of his body.

1 Cor 6:19 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?

1 Cor 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Someone might ask, "Why did God make tobacco since it is responsible for so many deaths?" Not onlydoes it destroy the lives of those that smoke but we know also from research that "second hand smoke" is also a leading cause of sickness that leads to deaths, especially in small children. Pregnant mothers also endanger the lives of their unborn with this evil habit. We should also mention the many lives and property that are lost to fires caused by a careless smoker.
It is never God who is to blame for evil, as the tobacco plant has its virtues. There are useful chemical products made from tobacco which include those which kill insects and fungi.If man would spend the time and research for the good use of tobacco, I believe he would discover some healing properties in this plant, outside of smoking it. Satan always perverts the things in this world for evil use, while God has plans for them to bless mankind.

As Christians there should be no place in our lives for this evil habit. This "little fox" is a killer and we should pray for those to be free whom we know have this problem. If you are in this trap, there is a way out. If you sincerely want to be free, tell God about your desire and your resolve. Ask others to pray for you too. Open the door of your heart heavenward and the Holy Spirit, will bring you both strength and victory.

Bibledotcom

 

[abigya]

I tried to see this matter from different angle,

Who is our Lord/master in our life?

When we agree to obey to something/ some one, we become that thing slave. Our conversion is our agreement to be God’s slave. As slaves, we are under an obligation to obey God (our new master) and never again to follow our old desires (old master). We can serve only one master


Mathew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Romans 6:16
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

John 8:34
34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
35 "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
36 "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

And, by our voluntary conversion, that master is God now.

Our God is a jealous God


Deuteronomy 5:9
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Exodus 34:14

for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God,



It’s all about Jesus not Us
I don’t know where this discussion could lead us or where dose it fit? Because the bible teaches us life is not about us but it’s all about JESUS.

So I think its time to remind our selves’ life is not about us it is all about Jesus.

Romans 11:36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?"
35 "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?"
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.


1 Corinthians 7:29 - 31
But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none,
those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,
and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.

Romans 6:5
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

1 Corinthians 3:4-6
And we have such trust through Christ toward God.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 6:4-10
4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,
5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;
10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

The Holy Spirit is given to us/ the promise for our every need

Usually people who smoke are driven by the need of nicotine to relive from stress and from other emotional feelings.

John 7:37
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.


God gives second chance


2 Timothy 2:21
If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Hebrews 10:2
If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

Romans 6:1
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

 

[spitnot]

i really do believe i have to reply. fairness sake, let me react to your comment.

I agree with you Chad. I just sensed a tone in spitnot's reply which reminds me so much of other Christians.

- first and foremost, if you noticed, i didn't qoute anybody's comments but i addressed it to everyone by saying "brothers". when i posted my statement, i honestly never even thought of targeting you but i wrote only in response to "Christians" who are into smoking. i never judged, far be it. but look who's judging now. "just sensed a tone in spitnot's reply...." how could you possibly write that? can you sense my emotion like you say i'm judging by way through reading texts? can you say i'm angry? happy? mad? sad?


Chad, I have told you privately that I believe smoking is wrong, I am in no way saying it is right and I am in no way "justifying" my actions. But what I would appreciate in this lifetime is Christians who actually act like Christians.

- "Christians who actually act like Christians" im telling you right now that i myself do hate hypocrisy. but the way your statement goes (i can only guess),are you trying to throw a concept or perhaps accusing me of hypocrisy? again, i'll return to you the question, "who's judging now?"

I'm tired of people making me file like a piece of rubbish, a stupid brainless person or someone who doesn't deserve the love of Christ. This is what I feel, this is what I sense.

- i never posted about you being rubbish or stupid. did i? i never either posted that you don't deserve the love of Christ. you see my "bother", i even gave my testimony about when i used to smoke before and that Christians in my church never judged me but rather gave me even more attention of love and care. i gave that testimony so that the readers in this forum, by God's grace will act more of love and not of criticism or condemnation.

you wish to see me personally? i wonder why.
why are you so indignant by the way? i can say indignant because that's pretty clear. did the words hurt you? why?

"I posted in this thread today because I felt singled out by spitnot's post."

- what in the world is this? blame game?

I'm officially retired from this discussion, go speak your truths!

what i posted is not my truth, it's what the bible is saying.

:lightbulb i pray that everyone will shine brighter as we know Christ deeper! walk the talk, i say that to everyone!

 

[Atonement]

I think this thread has gone off topic.

 

[sonnyd]

Everyone turns this into some type of judgment. So let's talk about this. Is it a good thing to smoke?? Let's be honest with this question.. Is it a good thing??

[Think for a moment is it a good thing to smoke?]

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

[As a brother in the Lord, can you tell me why I can not point this out to that person who smokes, with out that person thinking I'm judging them? Because after all it's a good thing to tell someone not to smoke, and yet if I say nothing. I am sinning.. ]

One's opinion does not always agree with the one we direct the statement
at. Some of our fellow christians have confessed that they smoke but find no fault with it. If we direct a statement to them that it is wrong or it is a sin or stop smoking, are we not condemning them and placing our personnel conviction on them. Is this not a form of judging?

The original thread post was " is it a sin to smoke" etc. We should post our opinions on the subject and then let each individual decide by prayer asking our Lord Jesus for guidance.

To tell someone not to smoke. I think again we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit:
Joh 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Did our Lord not say that the Holy Ghost would teach us all things. It will also condemn us for the things we are doing wrong if we the spirit

Our duty is to live a life pleasing to Him.
Mt 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

In my previous post I didn't judge anyone but I posted the penalty for judging people.

 

[Atonement]

One's opinion does not always agree with the one we direct the statement
at. Some of our fellow christians have confessed that they smoke but find no fault with it. If we direct a statement to them that it is wrong or it is a sin or stop smoking, are we not condemning them and placing our personnel conviction on them. Is this not a form of judging?

The original thread post was " is it a sin to smoke" etc. We should post our opinions on the subject and then let each individual decide by prayer asking our Lord Jesus for guidance.

To tell someone not to smoke. I think again we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit:
Joh 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Did our Lord not say that the Holy Ghost would teach us all things. It will also condemn us for the things we are doing wrong if we the spirit

Our duty is to live a life pleasing to Him.
Mt 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

In my previous post I didn't judge anyone but I posted the penalty for judging people.

I never said you judged anyone. If you are feeling convicted at all, I ask that you seek prayer. My post had nothing to do with your previous post *shrugs*

Good post though
God Bless