How Should Christians View Abortion

Shownotes:

Honestly, it seems weird to me that this is part of our hot topics series.  How far have we fallen away from God’s principles so that we’re in a place where we’re debating if it’s Ok to take a life?  It’s just crazy to me how so many people who profess to be Christian say they’re pro-choice.  That’s how the devil likes to twist this argument.  If it was labeled “pro baby killer” hardly anyone would be on that side of the debate. I wanted to say no one would be, but when you watch some of these interactions between pro life and pro choice demonstrators there are some who are actually proud to hold signs saying, “kill the babies”.  

Red herrings of rape and incest – 1% of abortions due to rape, less than .5% due to incest 

I want to preface our conversation by saying that God’s grace and mercy are bigger than any mistake you’ve made.  We’re not having this conversation to bring condemnation on you if it’s a decision you’ve made in the past.  We want to shed light on it so that those in the future won’t make that same decision. It is a loving conversation to have.  1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love rejoices in the truth.  We need to speak the truth, kindly and gently, but we need to speak it. 

Created in the image of God 

Humans are created in the image of God.  As such, they have immeasurable worth and value, and this is true of every human.

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[b] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,[c] and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings[d] in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

• This should astound us when we stop to think about it.  God chose to create us in his image.  There isn’t anything that obligated him to do this.  He didn’t do this with any other species. It is being created in his image that allows us to relate to him in a way that is unique.  
• Because we’re created in his image, we have immeasurable worth and value. 

Genesis 5:1 This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings,[a] he made them to be like himself.

Genesis 9:2-7 All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. 3 I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. 4 But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. 5 “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. 6 If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings[a] in his own image. 7 Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.

• Before the fall, there was no death.  Humans were vegetarian. When Noah leaves the ark, God tells him that all the animals on the earth have been given to him as food. Dietary restrictions related to clean an unclean animals would come later for the Jewish people. This clearly places a lower value on animal life than human life.  I don’t know why that is offensive to people.  We’re called to steward natural resources for sure.  We should treat animals with kindness and respect, but they’re not human.  God even holds animals accountable if they kill a human. He doesn’t hold them accountable if they kill another animal. 

Life Begins at Conception 

Life begins at conception.  A child in its mother’s womb is not a clump of cells.  It is a human, created in God’s image.  God has a purpose and plan for his/her life.

Psalm 139:13-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex.  Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born. Everyday of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

• Something isn’t woven together by chance or happenstance.  You have to have a weaver.  I love how this speaks to God’s involvement in our development in the womb. God’s workmanship is marvelous! I hope you hear that today.  If the enemy is telling you that you’re worthless or that you don’t mean anything to anyone; God says you’re wonderfully complex and that his workmanship is marvelous!  

Luke 1:14-15 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 

For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

• This is speaking of John the Baptist.  This verse not only affirms life in the womb, but John was already filled with the Holy Spirit, even before he was born.  

Judges 13:6-7 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

• God has a call on Samson’s life, even in the womb. Hebrew word is beten – inmost part, abdomen, belly.  It’s translated womb in ESV
• Even secular science affirms that something magical happens the moment an egg is fertilized.  Genetic information is passed from the sperm to the egg.  The membrane around the egg immediately repulses any other sperm from getting in.  They use all kinds of terms like zygote and single cell, but make no mistake, life has begun. 

Family Planning

Is family planning sinful for a believer?  If it isn’t, what is acceptable?

Genesis 38:8-10 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

• This is a very specific situation in Genesis.  Onan’s brother had died.  It was his responsibility to provide an heir for his brother’s wife so that his family name would continue and so that the land he had inherited would be passed along. Onan is avoiding a very specific duty and command.  It would be unwise to apply this story to every marriage. 
• Because life begins at conception, any form of birth control that would cause the harm or killing of a fertilized egg would be sinful. My perspective, based on scripture, is that any form of birth control that attempts to restrict the sperms’ ability to fertilize an egg or the female body’s ability to produce a mature egg is taking place before fertilization, before life is formed and wouldn’t be inherently sinful. I wouldn’t want to make that a blanket statement, though.  I don’t think it’s that black and white.  If the Spirit is leading you to have kids and you’re fighting against that, I think that would be sinful regardless of the method used.  There are definitely scriptures that talk about advantages of being single over married, but I don’t see any scriptures that talk about the benefits of being married without children.  The exception may be for periods of time, but not the entirety of the marriage. Health issues, etc, could also play a role.  
• Copper IUDs – Copper intrauterine devices, or IUDs take advantage of sperm cell properties to prevent fertilization. The copper released by these contraceptives is a natural spermicide, and ovicide, though it more strongly affects sperm. Studies have shown that copper ions reduce sperm’s motility, ability to trigger the acrosomal reaction, and general viability. Though the devices release less copper than what could be found in our diets, the copper build-up in the mucous lining of the cervix and uterine is enough to halt the movement of sperm. IUDs in general also trigger a mild inflammatory reaction that brings in immune cells that make it even harder for the sperm to complete their journey. Recently, some studies have even found that copper IUDs can affect the way the uterus contracts, sending sperm in the wrong direction! Thus, IUDs prevent the sperm and egg from ever meeting – inhibiting fertilization.
• Birth control pills -Birth control pills are synthetic steroid hormones, usually consisting of either a single hormone, progestin, or two hormones, progestin and estrogen. These hormones suppress the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland in the female body. FSH and LH normally trigger the release of estrogen from the ovaries, which in turn stimulates ovulation—the release of a mature egg from the female ovary. However, when FSH and LH are suppressed, the chances of ovulation, and therefore fertilization by a male sperm cell, are significantly reduced. Progestin-only birth control pills also cause mucus in the cervix to thicken, making it more difficult for sperm to reach the egg in the event that ovulation occurs. 
• IVF – when multiple eggs are fertilized? 

Close  

As believers, we’re called to look out for the vulnerable and marginalized. 

James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

• God calls us throughout scripture to care for the weak and vulnerable.  There are commands in the Old Testament about caring for the foreigner and the poor.  Commands in both the Old and New Testament about caring for orphans and widows.  These were the most vulnerable in that society.  How vulnerable are the unborn in the womb?  Who is standing up to protect them?  We can do that by praying, speaking out with tenderness, raising up young men who respect women, and with our vote.