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)!
