Will one go to for using tobacco? I know tobacco use can lead to death. I know we are the temple of the Holy Spirit & we are to take care of it. I have known some good Christians who used tobacco. I remember my original home congregation taking 5 or 10 minutes between Bible Study & Worship for some to have their tobacco. Are those men going to for that? ~ Lemoyne D. Dotson
The passage of Scripture to which reference above is made is:
“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 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” (1 Corinthians 6:15-20).
In this context, the apostle Paul refers to the sin of fornication (1 Corinthians 6:9) and gives the additional reason not to commit fornication that it harms the body, in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Whereas the Bible categorically defines fornication as a sin, in both testaments and in numerous passages, what this context says about harming one’s body, if lifted from the passage and disassociated with a specific sin such as fornication, amounts to a principle. In other words, the Bible teaches in so many words that fornication is a sin, but this passage does not say in so many words that harming one’s body is a sin (Romans 6:23). If the principle respecting harming one’s body teaches that it is a sin (i.e., comparable to fornication), it is a teaching from that principle that must be deduced and applied. Saying that fornication is sinful because the Bible so teaches in so many words is a stronger statement, obviously based on Scripture, than saying that some activity which may harm the body is definitely sinful, based on a principle, owing to deduction and contemporary application.
Personally, I do not use tobacco and do not like to be in the presence of anyone using it. Further, I believe that it is a poor monetary investment as well as posing potential health hazards. Also, in view of the principle about knowingly harming one’s body (at least inspired advice), I discourage the use of tobacco. However, my preferences are not germane to determining if the use of tobacco is sinful.
While there is sufficient medical evidence to be sure that the use of tobacco poses certain health hazards, there are also many people who live long lives with no apparent ill affect from its use. How, then, ought one to apply the principle above to persons who use tobacco and observe no harm? Further, tobacco is not the only way in which one may harm his body, and are we prepared to apply the principle to a wide array of circumstances (e.g., eating, not getting enough rest, etc.) in such a way that relies less on subjectivity and more on biblical authority? If the use of tobacco is sinful, based on the principle under consideration, does that mean the countless souls who used tobacco (and even suffered health problems from it) before it was commonly known that tobacco has health risks sinned and will spend eternity in?
Though deduction from valid implications is a proper use of biblical hermeneutics (e.g., Hebrews 7:12-17; 8:4), we must be careful that we do not categorize new sins that are conspicuously absent from the several lists of sins throughout the New Testament (Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:5-6; Revelation 20:8). Second, we must be careful not to make ourselves judges, in the place of God, who pass sentence on our fellowmen respecting where they certainly will spend eternity (James 4:11-12). We are to practice righteous judgment (Matthew 7:1-5) and discern (judge) between righteousness and unrighteousness (Matthew 7:15-20; 1 John 4:1), but the awful prerogative of deciding where anyone will spend eternity has not been abdicated by God and given to mankind.
