We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins...the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.
But first I'm going to make a bold claim and ask you to keep reading.
Here is the claim: If you consider yourself a Christian and "Pro-Choice" in regard to abortion, then either (a) you do not know what the Scriptures teach regarding human life (including the life of the unborn), (b) you do not understand what abortion is, or (c) you are not really a Christian. Bold I know...but please, I urge you to keep reading. Refute the argument if necessary and able. But please keep reading at least to see the argument.
First, if you are a Christian, then I assume you believe the Bible to be without error in all that it asserts. Whether it is speaking about when life begins, or how to be saved, you would have to hold that it does not have errors. Otherwise, if it's wrong on anything (like say, when life begins), how can you have any confidence that it's right on how to escape the just, eternal wrath that is due rebellious sinners (i.e. how to be saved)?
So I'm beginning with that assumption in your understanding of what being a Christian is - at base it's agreeing with the One whom you claim saves you, that "the Scripture cannot be broken" (Jn. 10:35). But moving on toward the bold claim, before I go through each of the possible conclusions, I think it's good for us to consider the following things the Bible has to say regarding "man's knowledge." For as the above indicates, that is precisely where the current legal battle is regarding abortion. The National Pro-Life Alliance points out, in their overview of the Life At Conception Act, that while the justices asserted that they need not resolve the "difficult" question of when life begins: The Court then admitted: This idea of when personhood is established is not beyond the purview of man's knowledge; for God has clearly revealed it to us (more on that later). But what does God say about man's knowledge when he does not begin his thinking with the fear of the Lord (Prv. 1:7), but rather begins it with his own self? And remember, if you are a Christian, then it's important you recognize that what God says about something (including our own hearts and minds) is true in what it asserts... So let's see what God has to say about man's "knowledge" apart from Him... God's Knowledge versus Man's "Knowledge"It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them? For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ... For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. And this is just a small sampling. The Bible speaks of the unbelievers as being suppressors of truth (Rom. 1:18), futile in their thinking (Rom. 1:21; Eph. 4:17), darkened in their understanding (Eph. 4:18), and hardened and darkened in their hearts (Rom. 1:21; Eph. 4:18). Furthermore, they are (as we were apart from Christ) foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless (Rom. 1:22, 31), unable to submit to God (Rom. 8:7) and unable to please Him (Rom. 8:8). They are disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing their days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another (Ti. 3:3). Having hearts that are deceitful and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9), every intention of the thoughts of their hearts are only evil continually (Gen. 6:5), even from their youth (Gen. 8:21). This is man and his "knowledge" apart from the grace of God. No wonder the warnings above tell us so strongly not to trust in man! (Ps. 118:8; Isa. 2:22) Yet man's "knowledge" (or lack thereof) is precisely the foundation of the Justices' ruling. For they claim, it is not for "us" to resolve the "difficult" question of when life begins. Well, they're right in that it's not for us to resolve it. God already has. Perhaps if you start with man it is a difficult question (though the research behind the Life at Conception Act shows that with what we know now through technology, it's even more clear to even the unbeliever that life begins at conception). But if you start your thinking with God and what He has revealed it's not a difficult question at all. It's an easy question with a very clear answer. So let's examine the claim again, and this time view it through what God, who knows all things (Job 21:22; Jer. 23:24), says, rather than man, in whose nostrils is but a breath - of what account is he? (Isa. 2:22). Examining the Claim
Here is the claim:
If you consider yourself a Christian and "Pro-Choice" in regard to abortion, then either (a) you do not know what the Scriptures teach regarding human life (including the life of the unborn), (b) you do not understand what abortion is, or (c) you are not really a Christian. And here is what God says about it...
What the Scriptures Teach Regarding Human Life
(Including the Life of the Unborn) The Word of God is clear that every person is made in the image of God: So God created man in his own image, There is great theological significance in this verse for which we don't have the time to get into right now. Suffice it to say, man is the very image-bearer of God. It is for this reason God forbids any other images of Himself being made (Ex. 20:4), and it is for this reason that when someone takes the innocent life of a fellow image-bearer, justice requires that his life be taken as well. Whoever sheds the blood of man, This much is surely clear. But does the Bible speak with such clarity on when life begins? It certainly does. Under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David emphatically teaches that is in the womb of his mother - at conception - that he came to life for the first time as an image-bearer of God: For you formed my inward parts; Through the natural work of conception God begins the work of forming even our inward parts, as He knits us together. Even our unformed substance is considered personal - "my" unformed substance. Similarly, in another Psalm David likewise says: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, Surely this verse has much to tell us about the depravity of man. But it just as clearly speaks to us regarding the sanctity of life at conception. "My mother conceived me" - not "My mother conceived an impersonal fetus that at some [undetermined and indeterminable] point along the developmental stage turned into me." So much regard are we to have for human life - even life in the womb - that the same death penalty that is required for taking an innocent life outside the womb applies to life inside the womb as well (Ex. 21:22-25). God's Word (and let us remember how much better it is for us to trust Him than man) is very clear. Human life is created as the very image of God; and human life begins at conception. The just penalty for taking that life is death. But is that what abortion is? Let's examine it.
What Abortion Really Is
You can't live in the 21st century in America and believe that abortion is somehow not the killing of an innocent life. Unless you're engaging in serious self-deception you have to realize that even the abortionists will often admit this much. But just to be sure, watch any of the following videos (or all of them, to be absolutely certain), and you'll see that abortion is simply the murder of a very young image-bearer of God:
No matter how much we might wish to escape the horror associated with abortion, we cannot. It is absolutely, irrefutably nothing but the murder of an innocent image-bearer of God. God Himself tells us as much in His Word; and it is clearly the case even from the mouths of abortionists. So now the question remains... Are You a Christian? A Christian, by definition, is one who knows that he or she is a sinner and in need of a perfect Savior, and that the only One who can save him or her is the Lord Jesus Christ - that by trusting in His personal substitutionary death on the cross in place of the sinner, and in His resurrection to life as the guarantee of victory over death, the believer is given Christ's righteousness as a gift so that those with His righteousness will have an everlasting relationship of bliss with their Creator and Redeeming God. The question is, can you have this kind of saving faith in Jesus Christ and yet actively believe it is OK to murder an innocent, defenseless child who bears His image? The answer is no. How can I say this? Does the Bible say that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, plus affirming abortion is wrong? No. But it does say that those who are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone will not then turn around and put darkness for light and light for darkness (Isa. 5:20), but will rather call darkness for what it is and expose it (Eph. 5:11). This may sound harsh, but it has Biblical severity to it. The Bible is replete with examples and warnings of those who call themselves believers and yet do not truly belong to Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote, "For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness" (2 Cor. 11:14, 15). And it is in this very same letter that he said to the Corinthian church: Test yourselves; see whether you are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Lest you miss the point in all this, do not think to yourself, "I wouldn't get an abortion; but I still think it's the right of the pregnant mother to choose" as if that is somehow acceptable in God's eyes. Think about what you're saying: "I wouldn't murder someone; but I still think it's the right for someone else to choose whether or not to murder someone." Tell me, when you read the end of Romans chapter 1, which act do you think is receiving the greater condemnation? Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Refraining personally from a particular evil but giving approval to those who commit it is just as wrong (if not more so) in God's eyes as committing the evil yourself. Christians are never permitted to give approval to works of darkness but rather are called to expose the works of darkness (Eph. 5:11), calling it for what it is - sin that leads to death (Rom. 6:20ff). And even more than that, as those who have been ransomed from our sinful ways, we not only have the moral duty to expose the works of darkness, but also the obligation to do what we can to save the weak and innocent: Open your mouth for the mute, And all the more for those who are about to be unjustly killed: Rescue those who are being taken away to death; The conclusion is simple. If you didn't know what the Bible says about human life (including the life of the unborn), now you do. And now, in Christ's power, you can stand up for the unborn. If you didn't know what abortion was, now you do. And now, in Christ's power, you can stand up for the unborn. If you didn't really know what a Christian was, then now you've seen that you cannot claim the righteousness of Christ as being your own (as the true gift that it is) but then turn around and approve of murder. As Paul wrote in some of his last words to Timothy: "God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are his,' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity'" (2 Tim. 2:19; cf. Isa. 29:13; Mt. 7:21-23; Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14). If you truly have the saving faith spoken of in Scripture, you will not approve of the murder of unborn children - period. But let me be clear. The conclusion of this is not to say that if you've failed the test and don't appear to be a Christian, then you need to stand up for the unborn - and that that will somehow merit eternal life for you - that that's somehow the missing ingredient to your eternal salvation. Not at all. Not only would you still be missing out on salvation, but you would be engaging in a war for which you're not adequately equipped; because you'd be engaging in it with only your own strength. The conclusion that I hope you will consider is that if you have failed the test...if you have thus far been seeing yourself as a Christian and yet approving of abortion as somehow being OK (knowing that it's murder), then don't stand up at all. Dear friend, fall down! Fall down in repentance at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in Him and in Him alone to be your righteousness before God (Phil. 3:8-9). Receive His mercy and grace and righteousness...and receive His loving and gracious power to enable you to stand up for the lives of our innocent, unborn neighbors. Once you have His righteousness and you know you belong to Him, then I beseech you to stand with your brothers in sisters in Christ against the spiritual forces of darkness. Then, stand up for your unborn neighbors, standing in His power with His mighty armor (Eph. 6:10-18). Only in His strength will you truly be able to expose the works of darkness (Eph. 5:11) and rescue those who are being taken away to death (Pr. 24:11). |
