Q~My husband became a Christian about 4 years ago. He is a good man and quit drinking about 2 years ago. I’m just not clear about something. From what I understand, when someone becomes a Christian, not that sin is eliminated, but repeated sin should probably not take place because I know there needs to be repentance. He partakes in using marijuana. And I know he’s convicted on it, but…
Answered on 03/09/06:
So, you are you wondering if he’s really a Christian and wondering how he can be free from the marijuana. The first thing is to address your concern that when a person becomes born again, shouldn’t they stop repeating sin? Sin doesn’t emerge from our spirit when we’re born again; sin emerges from our mind, our emotions and our body. So, when we’re saved or born again, our spirit, our heart is brand new, but our mind remains the same. Until our mind is brought in subjection to the Word of God and is changed, until our thoughts are replaced with God’s thoughts and we begin to think the way God thinks, you’re never going to be able to change the bad behavior in a person until they change the way they think.
When your husband changes the way he thinks, that will begin to change his behavior. You can’t get somebody to stop smoking just by telling them to “stop smoking because that’s sin and you’re going to hell and it’s going to destroy your life.” They already knew that it was sin. They already knew that it was hurting them and destroying their life. But what has to happen is that when they change the way they think about God, about themselves, and about what truly satisfies them, then they will change their behavior. So the answer to your question, “Can your husband still be a Christian even though he’s still smoking marijuana?” The answer is yes.
After I became a Christian, I kept smoking marijuana and kept drinking alcohol. But as I read my Bible and as I went to church and as I heard the Word of God and started to change the way that I thought, the habits began to break off of my life and they will do that for your husband as well. You can’t just stop something. You’ve got to fill up on the good and then you won’t be open to the bad any more. You’ve got to fill your body up or fill your mind up with the Word of God and then it’ll flush out the bad behavior of smoking and drinking and any other bad behavior that’s there. But as we feed on the Word of God, the Bible, that’s what produces the power to change our lives.
We hear people say, “Well, if he were a Christian, that wouldn’t happen because it’s repeated sin.” And if you were a Christian, you wouldn’t get mad at your husband sometimes. If you were a Christian, you wouldn’t yell sometimes. If you were a Christian, you wouldn’t yell at your children. I mean, we could go down the list of things we’re all guilty of. For your husband, it’s marijuana. For somebody else, it might be anger or a lustful thought that they keep having. But that doesn’t send us to hell. What sends us to hell is when we reject Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and we say, “I don’t need the blood of Jesus. I can make it on my own.” That’s the thing that’s going to send people to hell, not the habits in our lives.
Now, I’m not saying that it’s good for him to continue to smoke marijuana. I’m not saying that. He’s going to reap what he sows. Obviously, that’s going to hurt his body, his mind, his family. That’s a harvest. He’s going to get a harvest from the seeds that he’s sowing. But he’s still saved if he believes that Jesus died for his sins and rose from the dead. But now, he needs to be changed and it starts by changing the way that he thinks. You guys got to continue to feed on the Word of God and get in a good church that teaches you the Word of God and then you’ll begin to see some things begin to change in his life. Encourage him and let him know you’re praying for him and let him know that we’re standing with him here as well.
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