 The
Proclaimer
An Abomination To God
A college professor posed the following problem
to his class for their resolution.
“A young girl has gotten pregnant out of
wedlock. She has a fiancée, but he is not the father. She did nothing to
plan or provoke what happened; she was simply overpowered. Her fiancée, whom
she loves very much, is a very scrupulous man and will probably reject her
when he finds out. Her culture is also severely strict in its views about
these things, so she will be subjected to very sharp public criticism and,
perhaps, even punitive legal proceedings if her condition becomes known.
Indeed, it is fair to say that her entire life will be permanently ruined by
this pregnancy. Even if her fiancée were to take her, an early child would
greatly complicate their new marriage. Both of them are already below the
poverty level and will have to move away from their hometown at the height
of the pregnancy. What would you recommend for this girl?”
The class unanimously recommended that she have
an abortion.
“Congratulations,” stated the professor, “you have just
aborted Jesus.”
The above story
may be shocking to us, but so are the following statistics. More than 4,500
babies are aborted in this country every day. Every year more than 1.6
million are killed by abortion with more than 31 million babies slaughtered
since 1973 when the Supreme Court legalized this abominable practice. In
fact, thirty percent of all babies conceived in this country are murdered
every year before they are born. Unbelievable! And what’s more
unbelievable is that a significant number of Americans consider abortion to
be a viable option. While considerable social, political and medical
arguments can be made in opposition to abortion, what does God have to say
about the matter?
Current disputes
on the subject center around when “life” actually begins. The issue is
whether, or when, an unborn fetus is simply human tissue or actually a
person. The participants of this controversy argue about the beginning of
physical life, considering such “life” to be no different than any
other animal upon earth. But man is not just an animal. He has been made
“in the image of God” (Gen. 1:27). It is this spiritual life that
distinguishes man from all other creatures on earth. The real question is
when does this spiritual life begin?
To be sure, God
determines when the spirit of man is formed. Zechariah says Jehovah
“formeth the spirit of man within him” (Zech. 12:1). But does God place the
human spirit within man at birth or prior to birth? Several passages
clearly attribute fetal development and pre-birth growth to God.
Ecclesiastes 11:5; Job 10:11-12; Psalm 139:13-16 all indicate that
development as a human being is achieved by God prior to birth. They
show that a pre-born infant is a person – a human baby.
To further
illustrate this fact, consider the time Mary, the mother of Jesus, went to
visit Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Both women were pregnant at
the time.
“AndMary arose in those days and went into the hill
country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias
and greeted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, when Elizabeth heard the
greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit. And she spoke out with a loud voice and said,
‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And
why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the
babe leaped in my womb for joy’” (Luke 1:39-44).
Notice the use of
the word “babe” (brefos) in verses forty-one and forty-four. The
same word is used in Luke 2:12 and 16 to refer to Jesus as He lay in the
manger after his birth. What’s the significance of this observation? It’s
clear that in God’s sight it matters not whether a person is in the
pre-birth developmental state in their mother’s womb or in a post-birth
developmental state, that person is a baby! Furthermore, whether that
person is killed in its crib or in its mother’s womb, it’s still murder!
Proverbs 6:16-19
lists six things God hates. Within that list we find that God hates “hands
that shed innocent blood” (v. 17). Exodus 23:7 says, “do not kill the
innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.” Our nation is
being torn asunder by such unethical and immoral practices as abortion. The
subject of abortion has become a political “football” tossed about in such a
philosophical way that little concern is given for the true consequences of
the practice – the slaughter of innocent lives.
Abortion is a
serious matter with God and ought to be with us. As Christians we must
guard against being unduly influenced by the political and philosophical
debates of the day. “Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh
spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of
men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).
Whatever arguments are made in favor of abortion, those arguments do not
change what God thinks of the practice. It matters not whether the
conception of the baby is the result of rape or the baby is severely
deformed or mentally handicapped, it’s still murder.
When
a mother drowns her five children in a bathtub, society is outraged. But
when 4500 mothers murder their unborn children in abortion clinics every
day, society protects their right to do so. While civil law may continue to
grant and protect this “right”, God never will. The taking of innocent life
will always be an abomination to Him regardless of political or
philosophical arguments to the contrary. As God’s people, our stand must be
with Him. If it’s an abomination to Him, it ought to be an abomination to
us. “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to
that which is good” (Romans 12:9).
--
Clark Dugger
The Proclaimer
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