What Does The Bible Say?

Question – What does the Bible say about taking drugs?

Answer – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” this passage teaches us that our physical bodies are given to us by God and that this flesh is the domain of our spiritual essence. We make our decisions about what we do in our physical shell. We have choice how we treat our bodies and God says we are not to abuse them in any way. We can be happier, healthier people if we take care of our physical bodies. However, our physical bodies are not as important as our spiritual bodies. We are to constantly be aware of where we stand before God. We do not want to pollute our spiritual bodies with sin, so we must make God-pleasing scriptural decisions and abide by His rules in order to go to Heaven eternally.

Galatians 5:19-21 says this about our physical bodies and the works of the flesh – “the works of the flesh are these – adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft…” The word for witchcraft is derived from a Greek word – ‘pharmakeia’ which is inclusive of all acts associated with witchcraft. That would include the taking of substances that seek to “get you out of your reality and give you a false sense of well-being.” This would be the most direct biblical passage dealing with drugs. Paul goes on to say in this passage that those who do the specific things mentioned in this section and things like them, “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Running from yourself to find yourself is never God’s solution. True peace comes only in Christ (Phil. 4:7).

1 Peter 4:3 says that drinking of alcohol is condemned by God. Alcohol is the most abused drug on the spectrum of drug-use. Homes are destroyed by the practice of taking drugs of any kind. Only sadness, broken marriages and broken homes can result from this type of lifestyle. 40 per cent of all violent crime in this country is associated wit alcohol and other drugs. God takes seriously how we care for our bodies and to knowingly abuse our bodies in any way (including gluttony) is not please to Him. He wants us to be as healthy as we can be so that we can do our best in the communities where we live and work. Our bodies were never meant to last forever, but that does not give us a license to shorten our lives by abusing drugs. Take care of yourself and abstain from every appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22-24). If your mind is clouded by drugs, you cannot practice the things the Spirit gives us to do revealed in the Bible. If you are using drugs of any kind, get the help you need to abstain from this destructive evil that will grow worse and worse. ---Stan Adams--- Adress all questions and comments to What the Bible Says c/o Maple St. Church of Christ, PO Box 3068, Liberty, Tx 77575.