| Question: Is abortion always wrong? what about in the case of an unmarried teenager? This is a difficult question, but the Bible has answers to every human problem, no matter how difficult or complex. First of all, abortion is sin, absolutely and without question. It is the moral equivalent of murder - in this instance the murder of an unborn infant. for many centuries no decent person, and certainly no respected Christian, has advocated killing unborn babies. the church has, from its earliest days, stood against this heinous sin. Like any other act of premeditated killing, it is murder. This has always been the law of civilized nations, and more importantly, it has always been the Law of God. recently, however, Godless people are encouraging women caught in a crisis pregnancy to kill their babies. This is done (supposedly) for the sake of the mother's mental health. After all, surely she doesn't want the child. Perhaps she simply can't afford to feed, clothes, or rear the child. The mother is then told that the best thing she can do is to get rid of the baby. As a result of this kind of counsel, every day thousands of women go to "doctors" (and I use the term loosely) and pay them exorbitant sums to kill their unwanted childre, hoping that somehow convenience will still their consciences. abortion is not just a minor sin - it is murder. the bible says that murderers can not inherit the kingdom of God. They are kept outside the heavenly Jerusalem. all murder is wrong. in the old testament, even before the law was given on sinai, God said, "whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man" under the mosaic law, God plainly commanded, "he that smieth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death" the death penalty for murder is also clearly implied in the new testament: the ruler of a nation is "the minister of God for he beareth not the sword in vain," To God, killing an unborn child is murder. The person guilty of that murder is subject to the same conviction and deserving of the same punishment as the person who pulls the trigger of a gun in a homicide case. Second, the unborn child, the fetus is a human being- a person made in the image of God- from the time of conception. Some persons have foolishly said that an unborn child, up to the sixth or seventh mont, is little more than a "blob" of flesh; but that is simply not true. The little unborn baby is not just a part of the mother's body, he has a separate life altogether. All of the child's particular traits have already been encoded in his genes. the sex of the child, the color of the eyes and har, his physical features, his special talents and gifts are all determined at the time of conception. at this point, the mother and the father have already passed on to their baby every genetic characteristic they will contribute. the Bible also eaches that from the conception the fetus is a person and, consequently, a living soul. David was inspired to say, "behold, i was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" when david said "I was shape," he was inferring that from the moment of conception, he was already the person who would later be known ad david, the great king of israel. again, the psalmist david was inspired to write " thou hast convered me in my mother's womb. i will praise thee; for i am fearfully and wonderfully made: from the moment of conception. david was, indeed, a person uniquely made in the image of God. it was david's body, his very substance, in the womb of his mother. we have the same kind of teaching concerning jeremiah, who said, " The the word of the Lord Camer unto me, saying, 'before i formed thee in the belly, i knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb i sanctified thee, and i ordained thee a prophet unto the nations'" Gode knew the prophet jeremiah before he was born. if, by abortion, the fetus had been murdered, it would have been jeremiah who died. the mother would not have known his name, but god would have. the mother might not have known that this was to be a mighty prophet of God, but God would have. yes, a fetus is a person, a living soul, from the time of conception. john the baptist was "filled with the holy ghost, even from his mother's womb" mary, the mother of jesus, came to greet elisabeth. "and it came to pass, that, when elisabeth heard the salutation of mary, the babe leaped in her womb." the fetus of john the baptist, in the womb of his mother, may not have understood clearly why he leaped at the sound of the voice of mary, but God knew. It is interesting to note the words of Jesus, "suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God" the term used for "little children" in the greek is brephos, which young's analytical concordance defines as "a child born or unborn." clearly, Jesus was showing that all children, born or unborn, have an immortal soul. like the fetus of john the baptist, they are precious and sacred in God's sight. third, the psychological pain of abortion is never quite erased from teh mother's heart and mind. murder is not easily forgotten. the psychic trauma and the sense of loss regarding peersonal morality will persist throughout life. many times the mother becomes so troubled and consumed with guilt that she develops significant psychiatric problems following, and as a direct result of, abortion. i believe it can be stated with certainty that abortion causes more deep-seaterd gulit, depression, and mental illness than it could ever cure. the mother will always wonder: what would the baby have looked like? would he have had curly hair? what color would his eyes have been? would he have been a boy or a girl? fourth, some have said that if a baby is illegitimate, then he should be aborted. the problem is, you cannot earse, correct, or justify one sin by committing another. the only real answer to sin is repentance. sinners can solve their problems only as they trust the savidior for forgiveness and allow him to rearrange their soiled lives. to add sin to sin is never the way to peace or mental health. of course, some may ask, " what about a case involving life or health of the mother? surely abortion is permissible in these situations?" but modern health care technologies have made that question almost totally irrelevant. proper fetal monitoring and prenatal care has almost completely eliminated the possibility that a doctor would have to choose between mother and child. to reiterate, abortion is sin. the killing of an unborn child is a terrible sin; it also has serious moral implications. lotically, it is no different from killing any unwanted person - the incompetent, the retarded, the handicapped, and the aged or senile.if we are going to kill the unwanted, possibly there are many one, two, five, ten even fifty-year-olds who are unwanted. why not just kill the, too? you see how horrendous this terrible crime becomes when carried to its ultimate conclusion. the scripture says, "be sure your sin will find you out" there is a god who cares for the weak, the unloved, and the unprotected. he will bring judgment upon those who oppress them. "God's mill grinds slowly but surely" if the abortionists continue to prevail in this country, what abomination will we accept next? if you'll remember, nazi germany enacted a law permitting the elimination of "useless" members of society. consequently, eighteen million people were slaughtered (including six million jews) because they were considered 'useless' the same pattern is appearing before us in america today. a whole category of human beings - unborn children who cannot yet speak for themselves - can be slaughtered at the whim of a mother or a doctor who decides that the mother is somehow unable or unwilling to have a baby. where do we go from here? what is the next class of humanity to be destroyed on teh altars of convenience, lust, and greed? no, abortion is not of god. it is totally ungodly, a terrible case of man's inhumanity to man, and one day man will answer to God for this terrible sin. |
