Turning Away from What God Created in Us

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newton3003

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2017
437
42
28
#1
Some have said that assertions cannot be made by just quoting isolated verses from the Bible, which, in and of themselves, can be easily taken out of context. There is some basis in this since 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” And yes, I just took one isolated verse and made a statement around it!

But it would not be practical to quote the entire Bible for every assertion one makes. If I were to attempt that, I imagine I would lose most people by the time I got to Abraham. So, I pick out verses instead of the whole Bible, with the understanding that, in line with 2 Timothy 3:16, each verse is a part of the whole. So…

Is it a sin to destroy what God creates? And if so, how serious a sin is it? For 1 John 5:17 says, “All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.” What sin would that be?

First, I tell you that all sin is a turning away from God for to do evil is sin. Evil is the opposite of good. Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Well then, if what God made is destroyed to any extent, except perhaps to fulfill a larger cause in God’s name, then we are turning away from God. This is a sin, therefore it is evil.

Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” It therefore is a sin if we personally destroy at least parts of ourselves, since we would be undoing what God created in us. This includes the organs that are in our bodies.

Things like smoking will undo what God created in us. This is a sin. What larger cause would we be serving if we were smoking? How would it add to the world that god created? Id there any mitigating circumstance in which smoking would be acceptable to God?

Some people say that smoking helps them to think, and to write. Well, I hope that whatever they think and write about would make a contribution to mankind, however small. But if a person passes away because of smoking in order that contributions to mankind be conveyed, is that person laying down his life for his friends? Maybe, if what he contributes to mankind outweighs his destroying himself.

Would his sin of smoking lead to death, if the smoking itself doesn’t? Well, that person can make two attempts to salvage himself. He can ask for forgiveness and hope that God forgives him, or, if he never saw the light of God to begin with, he can accept God like the condemned man on the cross next to Jesus did.

As to the first way, God’s forgiveness can be fleeting. Hebrews 10:26 says, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…” The fact that we would ask for forgiveness for a sin implies that we have knowledge of the sin we committed.

So, ultimately, what sin would not lead to death? It seems that that is God’s call, but it would be best that we don’t commit a particular sin to begin with, and if we have, we should stop that sin, ask for forgiveness, and hope for the best.
 

TM19782017

Active member
Dec 15, 2018
256
158
43
#2
Hmmmm.... got a lot of thoughts bouncing around huh?

You state a lot of useful information but, none of it will make complete sense until the magic ingredient is involved.

TIMING!
 

p_rehbein

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2013
30,097
6,480
113
#3
......and, yet, another smoking thread.......

funny how the only thing people do that destroys what God created is smoking.......I mean, given, ALL the things that people do that destroys the physical body people seem to hold up to such a high esteem.

I love it when someone starts railing about people who smoke, and they themselves daily consume and/or do things that do as much destruction to their physical body as those who smoke.
 
7

7seasrekeyed

Guest
#4
?????????????? :whistle::unsure:
 
G

Godsgirl83

Guest
#5
I once had a friend who was trying to witness something similar to this to an alcoholic co-worker. This friend was a Christian, didn't smoke or drink etc, yet was a HUGE soda drinker, at least 1 12-pack daily. He brought up the subject one day to his alcoholic co-worker who looked him dead in the eyes and said "When you stop being addicted to and drinking all that pop like you do THEN you can talk to me about my drinking......................."
 

newton3003

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2017
437
42
28
#6
......and, yet, another smoking thread.......

funny how the only thing people do that destroys what God created is smoking.......I mean, given, ALL the things that people do that destroys the physical body people seem to hold up to such a high esteem.
***Right. But my OP focused on smoking as but one example. It can apply to anything that destroys our bodies while giving nothing beneficial to it in return. Oxygen is an example of something that destroys us, but we need it in order to live. Unlike oxygen, you won't die if you quit smoking. And, God created oxygen; He didn't create cigarettes, cigars, etc.

To those who rationalize their smoking habits, I'll tell you the same thing a physician told me when I smoked everything in sight almost 20 years ago: Smoking can kill you. That sounds to me like suicide, which violates the Commandment "Thou shalt not murder," never mind the sins smoking conjures up.

BTW, I stopped smoking the day after that physician warned me. And this was BEFORE I found God through Jesus.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,173
113
#7
Smoking contributes to air pollution, they say never to smoke around babies and children as they breathe it in and dont ask to be in a smoke filled environment.

I remmeber when people used to smoke inside esepcially in restaurants and they would have smoking and non smoking sections. Well the thing the smokers dont realise is their smoke just wafts over to the non smoking section.

Another thing is breathing in carcinogens...a lot of tobacco grown is sprayed with nasty chemicals to kill bugs so when people smoke tobacco they also breathing in pesticide residues. Its probably that thats killing people more so than the tobacco.