Can We Be Silent?

In the early 19th Century abortions were allowed in the United States before “quickening”. Is that a surprise to you? When the AMA was first formed in 1847 it began to work toward outlawing abortions, along with (even more surprising) feminists groups until abortion became illegal everywhere in the U.S. by 1900.

The key reversal of this came on January 22, 1973 when the Supreme Court “found” a right, hidden deep within our constitution, to abortion in the U.S. Since then that right has been expanded and we have killed, on average, 1.5 million unborn children per year since then.

Physicians who can make a million dollars per year doing abortions are backing this. Politicians will support it as long as it gets them elected. Feminist groups seem to consider abortion a sacrament. And added to the noise and pressure in support of abortion are the many, some of them our brothers and sisters in Christ, who say they are personally opposed to abortion, but politically pro-choice. Does the Bible support that point of view?

Every generation of Christians has the prophetic task of bringing God’s truth to their culture. In the not so distant past, Christians have taken a stand when it came to slavery, anti-Semitism, materialism, racism. Today Christians have the task of confronting the violence against unborn children. For those who are pro-life AND pro-choice, I’d like to share Proverbs 24:11.

“Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”

This proverb is not addressed to the murderer but to those who are not involved in the crime but simply know that it’s taking place. God cares about life. He created it and places such a high value on life, that He commands people to defend it. That’s the kind of situation this passage is warning us about.

Perhaps you hear that someone placed a pipe bomb in the mall. You should warn someone. Perhaps you notice that there is a huge sinkhole in the middle of a highway that would swallow up several cars and lead to some horrific accidents resulting in death. You should warn other drivers.

It’s unlikely that you will encounter those situations, but we all know that a million unborn children will be killed in the next year. Keep in mind that this proverb was not given to the abortionist, or to the women who are considering an abortion, This is a command to those who stand by and watch.

The Bible commands us to rescue our neighbor who is being unjustly led away to death. Does an unborn child qualify as our neighbor? Consider the next verse.

“If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”

The lame excuse: “I didn’t know.” But he did know. He simply chose not to do anything to deliver the one in danger. The excuse implies that the planned murder may be cloaked or hidden enough to allow a person with knowledge to deny it. But God knows. He not only knows the truth, He knows your heart and how it works.

No one today could literally say that he doesn’t know that killing takes place in an abortion. In fact killing is what defines the procedure. If the child survives, it’s not an abortion – it’s his birthday. The problem is that Roe v. Wade has stripped unborn children of their humanity.

There are many more reasons for considering an unborn child as fully human than I can give you today, but here are four.

1. He has been conceived by two human beings.

2. The Bible teaches that in the womb God is forming a person. Psalm 139:13 says, "You formed my inward parts; You covered ME in my mother's womb:”

3. In the Bible the unborn are referred to in personal terms. For example, in Genesis 25:22 Rebekah's pregnancy is described like this: "The children (the ordinary word for children or sons outside the womb) struggled together within her."

4. Being tiny does not make them less human. We know this because we don't regard born infants as less human than adults even though they are humorously out of proportion with their big heads and short arms.

In other words the things that are unusual about the life of the unborn do not disqualify him or her from the human family. There is no scientific, medical, social, moral or religious reason for putting the unborn in a class where this text doesn’t apply to them. We can argue all day about when life begins or if an unborn child is truly human, but there is no doubt that the Bible treats the unborn exactly as it treats those who have been born.

And as a result God, knowing the truth about what we have done or not done, what we have said or not said, will judge us according to our actions. Christians may expect God to judge the killer, but this text makes it clear that God’s judgment will also be applied to those who passively allowed violence to happen.

So let me ask the question again. In the light of this text, can a Christian be “personally pro-life” and at the same time “politically pro-choice?”
Let’s summarize.

First, we need to be clear that unborn children are fully human and as a result when they are in danger it’s our Biblical duty to intervene and try to rescue them.

Second, we need to understand that murder can be camouflaged with medical and political terminology that may allow someone to make a case that they didn’t know what was happening. God knows the truth about what is in our hearts and what we have willfully determined not to know.

Third, God is just and must respond to those who passively allow the slaughter of more than a million unborn victims every year.

Is that clear enough for everyone? My brothers and sisters, let’s all take God’s side on this issue and help bring an end to the violence.

When Hope is Gone

A caller from Illinois wanted to know if there was no hope for someone whose conscience had been seared. It’s a question that is asked fairly often in various forms. Does that Bible really teach that there are people who are beyond hope?

You won’t find it in any up to date hymnals, but there’s an old hymn that says, “There’s a line that is crossed by rejecting the Lord, where the call of His Spirit is lost…” Is there really such a line?

The Apostle Paul thought that there was because he warned Titus about the apostates on Crete by saying that, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” Disqualified is the Greek word for reprobation. You might call it a technical term in the New Testament, and I wish translators were more consistent in using it, but the word refers to someone who is beyond hope.

Let me explain it this way. Imagine two extremes, God’s best on one side and the devils worst on the other. God’s original intention in Eden was to create human beings would know only His best. Adam and Eve were made with both a body and spirit. They were given a spirit that would be in touch with God’s Spirit. And that spirit would rule over their bodies.

Because we live in a fallen world, however, our tendency is to move away from God’s best – toward the devil’s worst - and give the physical side of our nature more control. In fact it’s even possible for God’s design to be reversed so that the body is in control over the spirit. The KJV term for that in the New Testament is concupiscence. There may be times when the Holy Spirit will call attention to sin and the conscience may be affected, but the flesh is still in control.

And yes, it’s even possible for a person to walk so far away from God’s best that a line is crossed. At some point, the spirit becomes a non-factor in that person’s life. It’s as if the spirit has disappeared and the result is a life that is only physical. All you see in that person is an appetite that can never be satisfied. God’s Spirit will no longer reprove that person. The conscience is hardened and has no effect. God is finished dealing with him or her. That’s what the Bible means when it uses the term reprobation. Can you see why this is such a serious matter?

When is that line crossed? Only God knows. Christians are to preach the gospel to everyone. It’s presumptuous to tell anyone he or she is beyond hope. The Lord said that He will separate the sheep from the goats in His perfect timing, and He hasn’t given that job to us. But the line is there and it is deadly, my friend.

I once explained the gospel to a young soldier who listened carefully and considered what Scripture taught and then said, “You know, I believe every thing you just said is true, but I’m young and have a lot of living to do before I become a Christian.” I’m not sure what it is he thought Christians are doing before they die, but apparently it wasn’t “living” as he defined it. The tragedy of his rejection of the gospel, however, is his assumption that he could walk away from God and still find his way back on his own terms. As the Bible says, “now is the day of salvation.”