Did you know smoking was started way back in Genesis 24:64? Isaac was in a field and “Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.” As soon as Rebekah saw her future husband, she lit up a cigarette-not! All puns aside, is SMOKING a Christian activity and legitimate pastime? Or is smoking a sin?
First, we must look at what God wants for us, His children. He wants us to be a part of His spiritual family, perfect in everyway (Rom. 8:14-17). God can not sin and once humans are “born of God” they can not sin either (I John 3:9). God is “undefiled” as our inheritance is also “undefiled” (Heb. 7:26; I Pet. 1:4). It behooves us then to live our lives as undefiled as humanly possible.
Second, our bodies are a “temple” and are “bought with a price”, we should therefore “glorify God” in our body (I Cor. 6:19-20). Our bodies are the “temple of God” (I Cor. 3:16). It is clear we should do what we can to take care of our bodies for the glory of God. Smoking is harmful to our bodies and therefore defiles our bodies. We should be glorifying God in our bodies and not defiling our bodies.
Third, God gives us healthy principles to live by. God does not want us to harm our bodies. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 God outlines what we should and should not eat. These are the basic health laws of the Bible. God calls what we should not eat an “abomination” (Lev. 11:10,11,12,13,20,23: Deut. 14:3 etc.). The “abomination” defiles our bodies. Smoking is therefore an “abomination.”
Forth, does smoking (tobacco use of any kind) uplift a person or degrade a person physically? When one smokes one is injecting over 2,000 known poisons into one’s system with each puff of a cigarette. Prolonged smoking is now factually known to cause lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and a myriad of other significant health problems. Smoking is self-destruction of our own bodies. This self-destruction “defiles” our bodies and goes against God’s command for us to “glorify” Him in our bodies.
Fifth, nicotine addiction is considered to be the most difficult drug to wean oneself off of. Nicotine creates a deep craving for more nicotine. It is a poisonous drug which smokers self-administer and over time they become so reliant upon the nicotine that the ability to quit smoking is almost impossible. Heb. 10:26 says, “…if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for us.” Smoking and tobacco use can become a “willful” sin against our body.
Sixth, one of the marks of an addicted smoker is the lust and coveting for another cigarette. We should not participate in the “uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts” (Rom.1:24), nor should we let sin reign in our “mortal” bodies and the lusts of our hearts (Rom. 6:12). Because of nicotine addiction one will lust after the tobacco. Exodus 20:17 “Thou shalt not covet.” Put down the tobacco. Do not smoke for it defiles our bodies and breaks the tenth commandment to not covet.
