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What does the Bible say about tobacco use?

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The Bible does not mention tobacco by name, but it calls Christians to honor God with their bodies, resist enslaving habits, and pursue sober, self-controlled living. First Corinthians 6:19-20 teaches that believers belong to God and should glorify him bodily, while 1 Corinthians 6:12 warns against being mastered by anything. Romans 12:1 likewise urges the offering of our bodies as living sacrifices. Since tobacco can foster addiction and harm health, wisdom and love for God and neighbor ordinarily commend avoiding it or seeking freedom from it. Yet believers should respond with humility and patience, remembering that sanctification is God’s gracious work in his people.

Top passages, ranked by readers

Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible

  • 1 Corinthians 6:19

    Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own,

  • 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

    [19] Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own, [20] for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

  • 1 John 2:16

    For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn't the Father's, but is the world's.

  • Galatians 5:19-21

    [19] Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, [20] idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, [21] envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

  • Romans 12:1

    Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

  • 1 Peter 5:8

    Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

  • 3 John 1:2

    Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers.

  • 1 Corinthians 6:12

    "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are expedient. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be brought under the power of anything.

  • 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

    [16] Don't you know that you are a temple of God, and that God's Spirit lives in you? [17] If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, which you are.

  • Ephesians 5:18

    Don't be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

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