ABORTION: Outline for 48th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

 

ABORTION

In Light of the Clear Teaching of Scripture

(Pastor Terry Reese; Valley GBC, Armagh, PA; revision, 1/31/21)

 

I. God has a plan for every human life.

Isa. 49:1: Listen to Me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

Isa. 49:5: And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant...

Jer. 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Gal. 1:15: “But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace...”

 

II. GOD—not man—is the Author & Sustainer of all Life.

Gen. 2:7: Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Job 12:9-10: "Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?”

Ps. 66:8-9: Bless our God, O peoples, and sound His praise abroad,

Who keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slip.

Isa. 42:5: Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it...

Dan. 5:23b: But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.

Acts 17:25b, 28a: ²⁵“He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things...”;  ²⁸“...for in Him we live and move and exist...”

 

III. God reserves unto Himself exclusive prerogatives in determining matters of

life & death...

Ps. 31:15a: “My times are in Your hand...”

Ex. 20:13: "You shall not murder.”

 

[Note the exception—when God explicitly delegates unto men the duty to perform capital punishment (Gen. 9:6) or the right to engage in self-defense (Ex. 22:2).]

 

IV. We are OWNED by God Almighty, who has exclusive rights over us—and

OUR BODIES!

Ps. 100:3: Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Ezek. 18:4: "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.”

1 Cor. 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

 

V. How does God characterize life within the womb, and WHEN, thus, does an

individual human life BEGIN?

    

1.     Gen. 25:22a: But the children struggled together within her...

2.     Hosea 12:3a: In the womb he took his brother by the heel...

 

Note the status of Jacob & Esau within Rebekah’s womb; they were children, spoken of in personal terms—not simply blobs of tissue! Jacob was a he—not an it! And they did things consistent with personhood—such as struggle!

 

 

3.     Ps. 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”

 

Note David had a sin-nature at conception—something a “non-person” cannot have!

 

 

4.     Luke 1:15: "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb.”

 

John the Baptist was endowed with the Holy Spirit while yet in the womb—hardly characteristic of a “non-person!”

5.     Luke 1:41: When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb...

6.     Luke 1:44: "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”

 

John the Baptist was endowed with the Holy Spirit while yet in the womb—hardly characteristic of a “non-person!”

John the Baptist—who was six months inside his mother’s womb—experienced the human emotion of joy (!) in encountering the unborn Person of Jesus (who probably would have only been conceived 8-to-10 days prior)!

7.     Luke 1:36: "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age...”

 

WHAT did the Angel Gabriel tell Mary that Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, had conceived? A “potential-life?” An impersonal blob of tissue? A mere “fetus?” Or… a SON? Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth had conceived a SON!

8.     Matt. 1:18: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

9.     Matt. 1:20: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

 

WHAT was our Lord when He was conceived  and within His mother’s womb? Merely a “potential human?” Or...a CHILD?

10.  Luke 1:35: The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

11.  John 1:14a: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us...”

 

WHEN did the Word become Flesh? Historic Christian theology has always affirmed that God became incarnate when Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost—and not at some later time-period! He became a genuine human being at the point of conception—like other men, whom He came to save!

12.  Ex. 21:22-25: "If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

 

In the Law of Moses, God regarded prenatal life as genuine and utterly sacred—entitled to FULL LEGAL PROTECTION! Note: if a man, through an act of violence, caused the death of an unborn child, he was to be put to DEATH!

VI. Does Jesus have concern for babies & little children?

Ps. 127:3: Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Luke 18:15-16 & Mark 10:13-14: "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them...”

VII. How does God regard the shedding of innocent blood?

Lev. 18:21: “You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.”

2 Kings 24:3-4: “Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive.

Prov. 6:16-17: “There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood...”

Ps. 106:38: And [they] shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with the blood.

Ezek. 35:6: “...therefore as I live," declares the Lord GOD, ‘I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.’”

 VIII. How does God regard indifference amongst His people to the shedding of innocent blood? Are there consequences?

Prov. 24:11-12:  Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter! If you say, "Behold, we didn't know this;" Doesn't He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn't He know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

 Lev. 20:4-5:  If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person, when he gives of his seed to Molech, and don't put him to death; then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him, to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people.

IX. Is ignorance of God’s will a legitimate excuse for sin?

Lev 5:17-18: "If a person sins and does what the LORD commanded is not to be done, and if he didn't know that he had sinned, then he will be guilty nevertheless. He is to bring to the priest from the flock a ram without defect… as a guilt offering. Then the priest is to make atonement for him concerning his inadvertent act that he committed through ignorance, and it will be forgiven him.”

In the Law, even unintended sin required atonement & forgiveness.

X. Can God forgive someone who had an abortion—or even an abortion provider?

1 John 1:7: “and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Isa. 1:18: “…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

 

Note: Even the greatest sinner in the Bible, King Manasseh, who murdered some of his own children (2 Chron. 33:6), experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness when he repented (2 Chron. 33:12-13)!