How to Biblically Navigate the Topic of Abortion

 

Community of Faith Bible Church's Position on Abortion

In an historic decision on Friday, June 24^th, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in all 50 States. Just as the passing of Roe v. Wade was a monumental decision, so is the court’s current ruling to return decisions regarding abortion back to the states. Our nation once again is deeply divided over the legal and moral arguments for and against abortion. At CFBC, let us strive to walk in unity and to be of the same mind regarding what the Bible dictates about how we are to think about the unborn in a mother’s womb. The following are biblical teachings that shape how CFBC’s pastors view the question of abortion:

1.   God creates life (John 1:1-4; Job 33:4; 33:14-15), and human life is unique (Gen 1:26-28). From the moment of conception, when a mother’s egg is fertilized by a father’s sperm, a human zygote comes into being. That zygote is not just any species of life or one that later becomes a human. It is a human in its earliest stage. God created life to reproduce according to kinds (Gen 1:21-26; 5:3). So as a zygote grows through all the developmental stages, it will manifest that it is and has always been a human.

 

2.  God makes us who we are at the point of conception (Jer 1:5). When God combines 23 chromosomes from the father and 23 from the mother, God creates a human baby who is distinct from his or her mother and father. All the genetic information that makes a person who they are is coded in their DNA. While the mother supplies nutrients for the child inside of the womb, after conception she does not add any genetic information to form who the child is. So who were are is established at conception. God alone is responsible for the unique creation of our bodies and our souls in the womb (Ps 139:13-14). 

3.    God grants babies, who are both inside and outside of the womb, the legal protective right to life (Exodus 21:22-25; Lev 18:21). Every person reflects the image and likeness of God (James 3:9). Our humanness is the basis for our God-given inalienable right to life, not any distinctive about us, such as how developed we are (Exod. 4:11), what gender we are, what ethnicity we are, etc. Those who argue that it is a mother’s right to end the life in her womb ignore the fact that the life in the womb is a human child with rights (Luke 1:41-45). Instead, they argue as if all that is involved is a woman’s freedom of choice. But God authorizes no one (mother, father, doctor, or government) to take an innocent human life (Deut. 5:17). Hence, it is morally evil to end the life of any innocent person. Babies are innocent persons, and so aborting them—ending their lives—is evil. Abortion therefore is not a private personal matter. It is an ethical moral issue that rises to the level of warranting government intervention to protect innocent life.

 

4.   God calls all governments to affirm what is right and to stand against evil (Romans 13:1-5). Government is a God-made institution authorized by Him to protect citizens from evil. God blesses nations who have governments that legislate morally righteous laws and who condemn what He defines as evil. Conversely, God judges and condemns nations that call good evil and evil good (Prov 29:2; Isa. 5:20; Jer 18:7-10). God’s wrath is particularly stirred when nations cruelly oppress its weakest and most vulnerable citizens (Ezek. 16:44-49). Prohibiting states from protecting innocent life like Roe v. Wade did is evil. Ending evil laws is a good that every Christian can celebrate.

5. God designed family for human flourishing. Families include a father, mother, (either biological, or adoptive) and the child (Psalm 127:3 and 128:1-6). It is therefore CFBC’s commitment to serve all parties involved in an unexpected pregnancy. We want to provide or direct women and men to resources that will help them protect life, whether through counseling the father and/or the mother or directing the mother and father to adoptive services or clinics that will protect the life of the mother and the child. Please consult our counseling ministry for specific resources and ways CFBC can help.

6.   God calls His people to be light and salt and to do justice (Matt 5:13-14; 23:23; Prov 31:8). While CFBC does not advocate for any political party, we recognize that God has granted us citizenship in a representative form of government. Therefore, we can do good for our nation by voting for what God defines as morally right. Voting however is also a wisdom issue. In making moral calculations to vote righteously we recognize that often one has to weigh multiple competing moral issues. Therefore, in affirming that all Christians must always submit to God’s will, we concede that making a morally righteous vote for “pro-life” is not always a straight-line consideration from the Bible to a particular candidate or party because of where that candidate or party may stand on other moral issues.

7.    God is sovereign over all human tragedies and suffering. At CFBC we mourn the evil inflicted upon women in sexual assaults. As a church, we are committed to seeing justice brought about in all cases where women are physically harmed. As we live in a world with rampant evil, we console ourselves with the truth that God can bring good out of the most painful tragedy (Gen 50:20). Likewise, we are committed to seeking God’s comfort in cases when women have complicated pregnancies that threaten their lives. In such cases, we affirm the biblical principle to protect and preserve life. So when both the mother’s and baby’s lives cannot be saved, we believe that it is not a moral wrong to do what one can and save the mother’s life (or in the case of the mother’s consent, save the baby’s life).

 

8.  God is a God of grace and mercy, and therefore we must seek to encourage everyone involved in unplanned for pregnancies to seek Him while He may be found. In the case where an abortion has taken place, CFBC is committed to preaching God’s gospel of grace and affirming that for the mother and father involved, God takes away the guilt and shame of their sin when they repent and ask Him for forgiveness. CFBC must strive to create a culture that manifests God’s love for sinners and that teaches that no sin or sinner is ever outside of the scope of Christ’s forgiving love (Psa 130:4).

 

9.   God is holy and just. It is conversely our moral responsibility to stand where God stands on all moral issues. We must always fear God rather than man. So it is our duty to uphold the principle of life even when we are threatened with persecution for doing so. The Bible is clear that we all are sinners and God will by no means leave unrepentant guilty sinners unpunished (Exod 34:7). Therefore, we must appeal to those who advocate for abortion to turn from this evil practice, and we must admonish those who endeavor to use abortion, the ending a child’s life in the womb, as a means of contraception.

10. God calls us to not grow weary in doing good. To be clear, the recent Supreme Court decision did not end abortion. It turned that decision back over to individual states. So as those with pro-family convictions (pro-mother, pro-father, pro-baby) in a state that opposes our conviction because it refuses to recognize the baby in the mother’s womb and its rights, we must contend for our pro-family and pro-life from the womb to the tomb position with love and wisdom (2 Cor 10:3-4; 2 Tim 2:24-26). It is also critically important that we do so in ways that honor Christ. The means that we employ must be in keeping with the righteous end that we seek to achieve.

 

As Bible believing Christians, our consciences must stay bound to what the Word of God reveals, and we must refuse to be molded by the world (Rom 12:2). God is able to humble our nation and to bring a revival, but He uses means, and those means are raising up His people to stand uncompromisingly on His Word and prayer. So CFBC must stand on God’s Word regarding abortion and pray that God will have mercy on our nation. In conclusion, the position of CFBC is straightforward. We believe God calls all the institutions that He has created (the government, the church, and the family) to protect innocent life. The child in the womb is an innocent life. Therefore, every CFBC member should seek to protect the lives of the unborn.

Should I Celebrate Independence Day?

What isn’t fun about the 4^th of July? Countless Americans will gather together for cookouts, enjoy delicious BBQ, and revel in the tradition of watching fireworks. Many will do so with deep gratitude for the freedom they enjoy as Americans. Freedom is the bedrock foundation of our nation for many. On July 2^nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted for the Colonies’ independence from Great Britain. Two days later, delegates from the 13 colonies adopted Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. So on the 4^th of July, the Colonists declared that America would be a free Land—A Land where men and women from the four corners of the globe could and would come to pursue their dreams without the restraint of class or (forced taxation) of a dominant culture. It was a democratic experiment. The idea of America was to give birth to a dream. A land governed by the people and for the people. A hard war still had to be fought. Heroes were yet to be made. With the help of France, the colonists defeated the world’s strongest army and won their freedom in 1783. Then America—the Land of the Free was born. 

The Problem with the War for Independence for African Americans

My forefathers came to America in the early 1600s. They arrived in shackles. When the War for Independence began, they had been enslaved for 150 years doing hard labor. Their treatment was cruel, yet they were loyal to their new land. They too risked their lives and fought and died

in the war. Although as history informs us, it wasn’t the War for Independence that gave them their freedom—that would come via the Civil War, fought 80 years later. And that war wasn’t fought for the freedom of slaves; it was fought over the issue of states’ rights versus federal rights. But the Land of the Free had to realize its dream that all men were created equal and all men should be free to pursue their dreams without the restraint of class, the oppression of a dominant culture, or injustice because of the color of their skin. The idea of America was a dream that would only be true if it ended the nightmare of slavery.

Remember 9/11 and Pray Today

2Chr. 15:1 Now  the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded,
2Chr. 15:2 and he went out  to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin:  the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And  if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
2Chr. 15:3 “ For many days Israel was without the true God and without  a teaching priest and without law.
2Chr. 15:4 “But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.
2Chr. 15:5 “ In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances  afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.
2Chr. 15:6 “ Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.
2Chr. 15:7 “But you,  be strong and do not  lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”

Block Diagram of the book of Jude for Legacy Discipleship 2016 Conference

 

  

Happy #Mother'sDay

 

Thank you Mom!!! I love you!!!

Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity is Offically Out of Print #MoodyPublishers

 In 2008, I encouraged the speakers of The Los Angeles Bible Training School's Men's Conference to turn their lecture notes into chapters for a book, and I would see if Moody would publish it. Moody jumped at the chance to give the urban church such a tool. And Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity came into print. Well, I'm sad to sad that eight years later, it has officially gone out of print. Now you still might be able to find a copy here or there, but Moody's warehouse is empty and no more copies will be printed.

I can't thank the contributors of this work enough: Anthony Kidd, Dr. Carl Hargrove, Dr. Paul Felix, Victor Sholar, Dr. Brian Kennedy, and the prince of preachers, H.B. Charles. In a world that has thrown off every sense of modesty and shame, men of God from all backgrounds have found themselves fighting for their spiritual lives to stay pure, this writer included. This work has helped many. It's unique contribution to the church's battle for purity is that it develops a biblical theology on how to fight back and how to get back up if you have fallen. This book exposits all the major purity passages in the Bible and thoroughly explains and applies them, equipping men to use the Sword of the Spirit to fight this spiritual battle with the most powerful spiritual weapon in existence--the Word of God. So again let me thank you all of my co-authors. It was an honor to produce the book with you. Thanks to all those who purchased the book, and thanks to all those who endorsed it--Dr. John MacArthur, Family Life Today, Eric Redmond, Robert Crummie, John Perkins, and Dr. Charles Ware. And thank you, Moody, for publishing it. 

Last but not least, I want to thank my amazingly gifted wife for her expertise in editing our work.

Abortion is America's Greatest Evil

In my LABTS class today, we lamented the evil of murdering babies and how God judged Judah because of it (Ezekiel 20:26). Then we reflected on the parallel evil of abortion in America today. It drew my thoughts back to Piper's sobering words to our President, given during the first year of his presidency. Here's the video:

 

I pray that our nation repents of our evil ways and turns to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is not too late for Him to have mercy on us.