Why Are Christians Pro-Life?
(Matthew 25:40)
On January 22, 2007, we observe a very sad anniversary in America. Thirty-four years ago on that day, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that legalized abortion on demand, and, along with another decision, made abortion legal in this country through all nine months of pregnancy. Little did we know back then that we would still be observing its anniversary and that preborn children would still legally be killed 34 years later.
Many sermons have been preached against abortion and many speeches have been made. And yet we have lost one-third of an entire generation. According to the polls, there are at least 50 million Americans who claim to have a “born again” experience with Christ and many more who attend weekly church services. Why have we not heard their voices shouting out in defense of their preborn neighbors? Could it be that professing Christians simply do not understand why they should be “pro-life”? Yet, it is my understanding of Scripture that every Christian must be pro-life, and the purpose of this article is to demonstrate just that.
But before we can proceed in this discussion, I want to share something with those who themselves have been traumatized by abortion. Whenever you hear a message or read an article about this subject, a wall goes up in your mind. It is hard for you to listen because of the pain you feel. You thought when you had that abortion that the “problem” would go away, and that you would not have to be a parent. But the reality is that you are a parent; you are simply the parent of a dead child. And it is that reality that haunts you today.
You can relate to the “women of Ramah” who are referenced in the gospel account of Herod’s destruction of the children in the vicinity of Bethlehem: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matt. 2:18, ESV). Like these women, you may refuse to be comforted because your sorrow is still so great.
And yet we know that there is healing in the atonement of Christ, as we read in 1 Peter 2:24: “And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (NASB). Jesus bore your pain and sorrow upon His precious body and soul upon the cross. You can come to Him for healing. In heaven, we know that His scars are still visible (Rev. 5:6), but His scars are not there to remind us of our sins, but to remind us of His grace.
As you receive His grace and His healing in this matter, by faith, realize that you may still feel a void. That is to be expected, as would any parent who has lost a child. But the guilt will be gone, covered by the precious blood of Jesus. I would ask that you receive His grace now, for He freely gives it to all who ask.
While the title of this article relates to Christians, there are several extra-biblical reasons I could share as to why everyone should be pro-life. For example, I could talk about the medical reasons, such as the fact that a preborn child’s heart begins to beat between 20 to 22 days after conception, or that his or her brain waves are detected at approximately 40 days after conception. Both of these happen before the earliest surgical abortions are performed, so we could argue that a “procedure” that stops a beating heart and causes a brain wave to cease is the actual taking of human life.
Or I could discuss philosophical or logical reasons why abortion is wrong. It has been pointed out by some that life has to begin at conception because it cannot begin at any other time. When would be that magical moment when that “thing” within the womb actually becomes “life”? The only event we can pinpoint is conception, because that is when everything that is needed for that life to fully develop is already present.
Or I could argue from the basis of morality. Abortion is wrong because it is morally wrong to take a human life. I could show you dozens of photographs of aborted babies (which the media refuses to show, although they are quick to show photos of victims of other disasters and holocausts).
One does not need to be a Christian to have a moral reason to oppose abortion. I was once at a pro-life meeting in Chicago and one of the speakers was a pro-life atheist. He pointed out that the other speakers kept quoting Scripture, and, since he did not believe the Bible, he would quote his “verse” from another book – Dr. Seuss’s “Horton Hears a Who,” in which it is written, “A person is a person, no matter how small.” And did you know that the English word “fetus” comes from the Latin word meaning “little one”?
In 1964, Barry Goldwater said, “You cannot legislate morality.” What he meant was that the passage of laws alone cannot change hearts. His words have since been twisted to mean that we cannot pass laws based on morality, because this violates a supposed wall that separates church from state. This thinking is very flawed because many of our laws are based on morality, such as laws against murder, kidnapping, child molestation, etc.
But, as we look at the main biblical reason why Christians are pro-life, I would first like to share two introductory reasons from Scripture. The first reason why believers in Jesus are pro-life is simply because we are Christians. “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:12, NASB). While this verse is talking about spiritual life, it can do so because God Himself is the giver of life, both physical (Genesis 1) and spiritual (1 John 5:12).
The devil has many names, and one them in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word Abaddon, which means “destroyer.” God gives life, and Satan destroys life. Because Christians have the spiritual life of God, we also must be about the business of “life” and not participate in the destruction of that which God has created.
A second introductory reason why Christians are pro-life is because we believe that the Bible is the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). While the world can try to convince us what is truth, by faith we believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the standard by which all truth is to be measured. They contain the very words of the Creator of the universe, and we willingly submit ourselves and our feeble wisdom to His wisdom as revealed in the Bible. And, as we shall see, the Scriptures are quite clear concerning the need for Christians to be pro-life.
Which brings me to my main point (or thesis, if you will):
Christians Are Pro-Life Because, Like God, They Make No Distinction between Those within the Womb and Those outside the Womb
In the very language of God’s written word, we see that the Lord makes absolutely no distinction between those who have been born and those who are preborn. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “children” is bannim (the plural of ben, which means “son”). Notice its use in two different verses in the book of Genesis.
When we read of Jacob returning back to his home town, the Scripture says, “Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels” (Gen. 31:17, NASB). The same word is also used in reference to Rebekah’s preborn sons, Esau and Jacob: “But the children struggled together within her” (Gen. 25:22a, NASB). God uses the very same Hebrew word to refer to children inside the womb and children who are outside of the womb. The only distinction is the location of the children.
The New Testament is equally clear. Last month, we celebrated the Incarnation, and in many churches the following verse was read: “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12, NASB).
The Greek word translated “baby” is brephos, and it is the very same word used by Elizabeth regarding her preborn son, John the Baptist: “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:44, NASB).
Now, we know that Greek is a more technical language than Hebrew. God could have easily used a different term to refer to John the Baptist within Elizabeth’s womb. But His Word makes no distinction in its language, and neither should we.
Because the preborn are children, no different in God’s eyes (and consequently the Christian’s) from children who are in our preschools today, what becomes of the souls of those children killed by abortion? What is their eternal destiny? There are three theories that Christians hold about this matter. The first would be that, since these children never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, they cannot go to heaven. Very rare is the Christian who would say this, but it is a plausible theory based on Scripture nevertheless.
A second theory would be that those aborted babies who are the “elect of God” will go to heaven and those who are not “elect” will not go to heaven. Again, very rare is the Christian who would say this, but it too is a plausible theory with biblical warrant.
The third, and most popular, theory would be that all aborted babies go to heaven. When King David was confronted with the death of his first child conceived with Bathsheba, he responded: “I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Sam. 12:23, NASB). We believe this because the first two theories are simply too repugnant for most of us to accept.
If the universally accepted belief among Christians is that all babies go to heaven, then I will be as bold as to now say that to ignore the plight of the preborn is to ignore Christ Himself! Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (ESV). The context gives examples of the “least of these” as the hungry, the thirsty, and strangers (v. 35), and the unclothed, the sick, and the imprisoned (v. 36). How we treat these individuals (His “brothers,” i.e., “believers”) is the same way that we treat Christ (v. 40).
Did you know that the Greek word translated “least” in verse 40 literally means “smallest”? Jesus said that what we did to the “smallest of His brothers” we did on to Him. And if you hold to the position that aborted babies go to heaven, then you must agree that these babies are Christ’s “brothers” (or sisters). Therefore, if you ignore their plight, you are ignoring Christ!
This matter of abortion is indeed a serious matter for the Christian. This cheapening of life in the womb in our country has cheapened life outside of the womb. The sick and the elderly in our nursing homes and hospices are regularly (although usually secretly) starved to death (remember the Terri Schiavo tragedy?). I believe that Christians need to be the conscience and the voice of God to this culture of death. Martin Luther once said:
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
The devil delights in the destruction of the life that God has created. And yet we shrink back from “confessing Christ” in this holocaust (with now almost 50 million “legally” killed) that has plagued our land. Can you imagine how God views our worship services when we ignore what is happening to our preborn neighbors? Well, He tells us through the prophet Isaiah: “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15, ESV).
That verse, in its context, is talking about God’s rejection of Israel’s worship (vv. 11-14) because of their treatment of the vulnerable in their society (vv. 16-17). The “blood” on their hands may be a reference to their tolerance of the practice of offering children as blood sacrifices to the demon-god Molech (1 Kings 11:7; Jer. 32:35).
I trust that you are beginning to see just how serious abortion is – for our churches and for our nation. Please prayerfully seek the Lord about what He is leading you to do about this. I will offer a few suggested applications in the meantime. First, stop making a distinction between the born and the preborn! What if, heaven forbid, “preschool termination clinics” existed legally in which parents could bring their unwanted children under the age of five for “termination”? Would your reaction to that horror be the same as your reaction to the horror of abortion? If not, then you are making a distinction between those within the womb and those outside the womb, a distinction contrary to the revealed will of God.
Secondly, treat human life the same from beginning to the end. The “quality” of a person’s life is not determined by their health or their usefulness to society. Their quality is determined by the fact that they have been created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). How do you view the sick and the elderly? Will you minister to them? Will you protect them as well?
An obvious application would be for you to avoid behavior that might result in an abortion. Do not fornicate nor commit adultery. God created sex for the institution He created called marriage. Follow His Word in this matter, and you will not create a situation that might result in the shedding of innocent blood.
Also, be about the business of changing hearts. Our laws will not change until our hearts are changed. Don’t be afraid to stand up for your preborn neighbor whenever the opportunity arises.
Finally, be very careful how you vote, especially in national elections. I would never advocate that you vote for a candidate based on a single issue. A candidate may claim to be “pro-life” (usually because the majority of his or her constituents are, as was the case with then-governor Bill Clinton in Arkansas), but he or she may lack sufficient character to be a political leader.
While you should not vote for a candidate because of a single issue, it is perfectly legitimate to vote against a candidate based on a single issue. If a candidate stood for all of the issues you valued, but said that he or she supported the right for adults to sexually abuse children, you would never vote for that person. So how, then, with a clear conscience could you ever vote for a candidate that believed it was a “right” for a woman to have her unborn child legally dismembered and discarded as medical waste?
I pray that you will continue to seek Him in all things, including your attitude toward your unborn neighbor. Do you remember the old song, “Jesus Loves the Little Children”? Well, He loves them all, born and preborn. Will you?
Dave Lilligren
January 2007