Christian Living
Essentials of Faith
Evidences for Faith
Applying Your Faith

Abortion and God's Gift

To cut through all the human emotion and partisan opinions we need answer the fundamental questions that lead us to the truth of this issue.  To obtain the knowledge of God we must search his Word and not lean on our own views and opinions:

 Is the unborn child a human person in God's image?

Personhood

We see in Gen 4:1 that a conceived and born child is a man.  Thus personhood of cain is made up of conception, birth, and adulthood.  Job 3:3 combines manhood and childhood as into one personhood in the word "man-child".  In Psalm 139:13-16, David was a person even before he was developed in the womb.  His "unformed substance" was still recognized by God has Him, a person, the person known as David.  Scripture even considers a baby in the womb as a person in the same way it considers an adult as a person (Gen. 25:22; Job 3:3; Isa. 44:2, 49:5; Hos. 12:3).   The unborn and unformed embryo is thus a person according to scripture.

Is an unborn embryo a person before conception?

In Jeremiah 1:5 God makes this extremely clear.  Even before an egg is fertilized by sperm; the personhood of that embryo already recognized by God.  God already sees and knows that fetus and grants him/her personhood before conception.  Embryos are more than an organism but a person because God recognizes them as a person before becoming an embryo.

Gift of Life

God directly commands Adam (mankind) to multiply (Genesis 1:28).  The Lord is directly involved in the formation and development of that embryo (Gen. 4:1).  Even though God uses Man's DNA and Woman's DNA to formulate the embryo's DNA; God is still involved in the reproductive and development process (Psalm 100:3).  Because God is directly involved and mankind is utterly depending on God (Genesis 21:1-2; 30:1-2, 22;1 Samuel 1:19; Job 31:15, 33:4); the result of his hand is a gift (Psalm 127:3). Children are a good thing; not burdens. 

Are unborn persons less valuable than born persons?

Sadly, some within the church despite the proof texts above, still advocate for abortion.  The text they use to attempt and defend abortion is Exodus 21:22-25.  The language used in verse 22 does not refer to "a child lacking recognizable human form, or to one incapable of existing outside the womb."  If the author was referring to this; there were specific words in that language to more clearly describe what is being said; instead the author did not use that language.  "There was the term golem (Ps. 139:16) which means "embryo, fetus." But in cases of the death of an unborn child, Scripture regularly designates him, not by yeled, not even by golem, but by nefel (Job 3:16; Psm. 58:8; Eccl. 6:3), "one untimely born." The use of yeled in verse 22, therefore, indicates that the child in view is not the product of a miscarriage"..." Verse 22 therefore describes a situation where neither mother or child is "harmed"-i.e where the mother is uninjured and the child is born alive. Verse 23 described a situation where some harm is done- either to mother or child or both .... An induced miscarriage could hardly be described as a situation where there is "no harm". Verse 22, therefore, describes, not an induced miscarriage, but an induced premature birth. "(1)

"In this light translations using the word "miscarriage" or its equivalent are both inaccurate and misleading. The intent of this passage appears in the following paraphrase: "And if men fight together and hurt a pregnant woman so that her child is born prematurely, yet neither mother or child is harmed, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if either mother or child is harmed, then thou shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, etc."  (1)

The Right Over Our Bodies

We also do not have sovereignty and complete freedom over our own bodies (1 Cor. 6:15, 7:7).

Unborn Experiences While In The Womb

The unborn are not only considered a person by God and protected by God's laws from mankind but they also personally experience Joy and even The Holy Spirit (Luke 1:24-56).

In Conclusion:

A person is known and recognized by God before conception, in an unborn state, and after birth for all eternity.  Because the person is loved by God, God takes direct involvement in the reproductive and development process and even protects the person in the womb in his laws and commands.  He declares our bodies are not our own and punishes those who harm the unborn.  The unborn are gifts of God and experience God himself in the womb. 

Given all scripture states about the unborn; abortion is not only disobedient to God but because of the unborn' declared personhood; abortion is murder of a person.  Thus abortion is nothing more than attempt to justify self-idolatry at the murderous cost of other persons (embryo). 

But even after this act; there is still forgiveness, Grace, and Healing.



1.  http://pcahistory.org/pca/2-015.html

No comments:

Post a Comment

What do you think?

Top Articles in the Last Month

Flag Counter