What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?

Psalm 78 talks about the children yet unborn. In the United States, over 45 million abortions have occurred since Roe verse Wade in 1973. That averages out right now to approximately 1.4 million abortions every year, 3,000 abortions every day, and an abortion every 20 to 25s seconds. One third of American women have an abortion at some point in their lives. In the world, over 46 million abortions occur every year, 130,000 abortions occur every day.

Do you remember that feeling when you saw earthquake in Haiti and just a hundred… I mean, all these people, or a tsunami in Southeast Asia, just mega disasters, where hundreds of thousands of people are just swept away, swallowed up? I want you to see the moral disaster of greater proportions, 130,000 helpless babies being dismembered and destroyed every single day, and we hardly even notice it.

What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?

A woman has an abortion almost every second of every day. I don’t think it is an overstatement to call abortion a modern holocaust. That is an understatement. Every month we surpass that number of people systematically slaughtered in the world, and just as German Christians did not need to hide from the reality of what was happening in concentration camps, we cannot hide, must not hide from the reality that this is happening in abortion clinics all around the world. And you won’t find the word abortion in the Bible, but you will find a theology of who God is, who man is, and what God is doing in creating man.

And you’ll discover that abortion is not primarily a social issue. It’s not primarily a political issue. It is not primarily a woman’s issue or a children’s issue or a health issue. Abortion is primarily a God issue. So think about abortion and God primary text here, Psalm 139, “For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Three Truths About Abortion

Three truths springing from this, and they’re all over scripture two. One, abortion is an affront to God’s sovereign authority as creator. The one who forms the inward parts and knits us together. He is the giver of life. He alone has the power to give life and authority to give life, and he alone has the authority to take life.

Second, abortion is an assault on God’s glorious work in creation. “You formed my inward parts, you knit me together, I praise you, because I’m fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.” The way God creates people compels praise. Now, David says this even in the Psalms, he didn’t even know what we know. We know how God takes a little egg and sperm and brings them together. Within two weeks a human heart is beating, circulating its own blood.

Within a few more weeks, fingers are forming on hands, brainwaves are detectable. After six and a half weeks, those inward parts are moving. Two weeks later, there are discernible fingerprints, discernible sexuality, kidneys forming, function, then a gallbladder. By the 12th week, all the organs of a baby’s body are functional and the baby is crying.

All of this within three months, the first trimester, heart, organs, brain, sexuality, movement, reaction, and God on high is doing all of that. Does that not evoke worship and praise? So then imagine at that moment, during this time period, inserting a tool, taking a pill, undergoing an operation that takes the life God is designing and destroys it. This is without question, an assault on God’s glorious work in creation. There’s no way around it. Most abortions take place between 10 and 14 weeks of gestation, what is the optimal time, so to speak, for dismemberment and removal.

And the beauty of what God is doing, the intricacy of the person that God is forming is just ripped apart. And this is in large part the crux of the debate around abortion, what’s going on in the womb? And the Bible is clear, the womb contains a person formed in the image of God. Psalm 139, Genesis 1, he is knitting together a human being.

What Is The Unborn?

And this is the most important question, don’t miss this, virtually every argument in the abortion controversy comes back to this question, what is the unborn? What or who is in the womb? Because once that question is answered, every other question comes into perspective. If the unborn is not human, if the unborn is not human, no justification for abortion is even necessary. Some say the unborn is not a human person, just a non-viable tissue mass or a potential human. And the reality is, if that’s true, then the argument’s over, have the abortion. No justification for abortion would be necessary at that point. On the other hand, if the unborn is human, no justification for abortion is adequate.

This is where I’m going to lean on a great little booklet that I put in the end of your notes by Gregory Koukl Wright called Precious Inborn Human Persons. People say, “Abortion is so complex. There are just not easy answers.” But if that which is in the womb is a person, then this issue is not complex at all. Think about it. If it’s true that the baby in a womb is a real baby, is a person, then every single justification for abortion totally falls apart.

People say, “But women have a right to privacy with their doctors.” Certainly, we all have a right to a measure of privacy. No privacy argument though is a coverup for doing serious harm to another innocent human being. We have laws that invade all of our privacy, whenever we start harming someone else. Privacy’s not the real issue here.

People say, “Well, women should have the freedom to choose.” Some things, but not all things. Yes, we have the freedom to choose whether or not we have children. But we don’t have the freedom to simply eliminate toddlers or teenagers who are inconvenient. No woman has the freedom to kill her child, if it’s a child, right?

But making abortions illegal causes forces women into back alleys with coat hangers. If it’s dangerous to kill a person, should we make it easier for them? If it’s dangerous to rob a bank, should we make it convenient for bank robbers? But more children will create a drain on the economy. When human beings get expensive, do we murder them?

We Are Obligated To Protect The Unborn

You think about it, Koukl mentions this story, follow along, about a little girl named Rachel, the daughter of a family friend of his. He describes, “think about a little girl named Rachel. Rachel is two months old, but she is still six weeks away from being a full term baby. She was born prematurely at 24 weeks in the middle of her mother’s second trimester. On the day of her birth, Rachel weighed one pound, nine ounces, but dropped to just under a pound soon after. She was so small she could rest on the palm of her daddy’s hand. She was a tiny living human person. Heroic measures were taken to save this child’s life. Why? Because we have an obligation to protect, nurture, and care for other humans who would die without our help, especially little children.

Rachel was a vulnerable and valuable human being. But get this, if a doctor came into the hospital room, and instead of caring for Rachel, took the life of this little girl as she lay quietly nursing in her mother’s breasts, it would be homicide. However, if this same little girl, the very same Rachel was inches away, resting inside her mother’s womb, she could be legally killed by abortion.”

That makes no sense. Utterly ludicrous. If this is a person, a child, in the womb, everything, everything in this debate revolves around what’s happening in the womb, and scripture is clear. The womb contains a person being formed in the image of God. You cannot believe the word of God and deny this. And once you realize this, there is no, absolutely no adequate justification for abortion.

One of the wonderful things Psalms 139 does is it gives us a glimpse into what God’s doing in the womb. Though the unborn is visibly hidden from man, he or she is not hidden from God. God is creating them in a way that compels praise and all of His works are wonderful. Psalm 139:14, “All your works are wonderful.”

When Are Abortions Permissible?

Now, here’s the deal. Abortions here and around the world oftentimes happen because having a particular child is seen as inconvenient, either costly or with the advancement of medical technology, it’s you’re able to detect a child’s sexuality, and in some countries, it’s favorable to have a boy instead of a girl. Countries like China, where there’s a one child policy. India, where it’s more expensive to have a girl, you lose money on dowry, so girls are aborted. Or disability that is been able to be detected, in some ways.

So should abortion be permissible in those circumstances? Not if you believe Psalm 139:14. Not if you believe that all of God’s works are wonderful, even or especially in the case of disability. John 9, man born blind, whose fault is this? It’s not his fault. This was so that God’s glory might be shown through him.

One article on ABC News from pediatric geneticists at Children’s Hospital in Boston said, “An estimated 92% of all women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to terminate their pregnancies.” 92%. God’s works are wonderful, even especially in the case of disability, and even or especially in the midst of difficulty. God delights, and we sang about this earlier, in taking difficult circumstances and turning them into good.

So it’s at this point some people ask, “What about what about rape? What about incest? Is abortion justifiable then?” And I cannot imagine, again, to presume to know what it would be like to be in that situation. I shutter the thought of my wife, any woman being in that situation. I won’t presume to know the physical or emotional toll that brings, but it comes back to the final fundamental question, is this a child, a person in the womb? And if so, then everything changes. Would you murder a child who is out of the womb because they were conceived by rape? Of course, you wouldn’t. Then why would you murder a child in the womb, because they were conceived by rape?

Why should a child, Deuteronomy 24:16, pay for his father’s crime? How ought we treat a child who reminds us of a terrible experience? With love and mercy. Say, “Well, what about the emotional toll on the woman?” Think about it. If the rapist was caught, would we allow the woman to murder the rapist in order to have emotional relief for herself? No. Then why would we allow her to murder her innocent child instead? I’m not saying this is easy at all, but I’m saying this because scripture is saying this. God delights in taking the worst of circumstances, turning them into good.

Just picture it, Genesis 38, incest between Judah and Tamar leads to eventually the son of God coming into the world, in Matthew 1. This is the message of the gospel. God takes unimaginable evil and turns it into ultimate good. God took the murder of His son and turned it into the means of your salvation. We can trust Him to take evil and turn it into good, even when it’s not easy.

Third truth concerning God and abortion, abortion is an attack on God’s intimate relationship with the unborn. Everything here just flowing from Psalm 139 and all over scripture. You think about God’s relationship with unborn, He fashions them, Job 31:15. He values them, Exodus 21. He knows them, Jeremiah 1. He relates to them, Psalm 22. He calls them, Galatians 1:15. He names them, Isaiah 49. He anoints them, Luke 1:15. Do you see the intimacy here between God and a baby in the womb?

This Is A God Issue

How serious this is. This is not social political women’s, children’s health issue. This is a God issue. Abortion is an affront to God’s character, an assault on God’s work, an attack on God’s precious relationship with babies that He creates. So I hope, hope you’ve seen the severity of abortion.

So how does God respond to all this? We’ve seen what we do to God in abortion. What does God do? Remember, two things I want to point out based on what we’ve seen in the gospel, God is the judge of sin. He is a righteous judge. God hates the taking of innocent life. And He judges those who take innocent life, including mothers who have aborted babies, stand under the judgment of God; fathers who have encouraged abortion, stand under the judgment of God; grandparents who have supported abortion, stand under the judgment of God; doctors who’ve performed abortion, stand under the judgment of God; leaders who have permitted abortion, stand under the judgment of God; pastors who have counseled people to have abortion…

Side note, only time medical action like we’re talking about this tonight would be justified is in a case where a woman’s pregnancy would kill her, like tubal pregnancies. Obviously, it’s better for one human to live, a mother, than for two humans to die, a mother and her child. So the intent is obviously not to kill a child, but to save a life. And the tragic, unavoidable result is the death of that child. But aside from that, there’s no biblical warrant for pastors to counsel people to have abortions. Pastors and legislators and others who have worked to make abortion possible, whether that is the President of the United States or local congresspersons… I want to be clear, in my job, I’m not presuming to give a political speech here, but to preach the word and proclaim what God has said.

And I just want a side note, real quickly look at Romans 13, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. There’s no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resist what God is appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you’ll receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”

The Government And God

So real quickly, see here, the Bible’s teaching the government is given by God for the good of people. Government exists under the authority of God, instituted by God to be, look at those words, a terror to bad conduct, so that those who do what is good are approved by the government and those who do what is bad are opposed by the government. The government does this by making laws and enforcing them.

Which leads to the second thing in your notes there, government is given by God for the legislation of morality. God gives governments to affirm good and condemn bad. That’s what Romans 13:3 is all about, to ensure justice, to promote good for all people. That’s foundational. But many people have said, “It’s not the state’s job. It’s not the job of the government to legislate morality.” But that is a sham argument, and we all know it. The state does have the responsibility of legislating morality, saying, that stealing is wrong, lying is wrong, murder is wrong, host of other things are wrong.

And when it comes to the issue of abortion, people immediately say, “Wait, we shouldn’t take someone’s right to choose away.” But the government exists to take people’s right to choose aay. You cannot choose to steal, for if you do, there will be consequences. I met a kind government official off the interstate not too long ago. And as we conversed there, he in uniform, me in shame, I did not say, “You cannot take away my right to choose to go that speed. It’s not your place.” I would not say that. That’ is his place. He takes away that right, from me and other drivers on the road.

If everybody chose to do whatever they wanted to do, the inevitable result would always be anarchy. We’re free to do whatever we want. This is not good. And yet it’s the basis by which many, many in the church are saying, “Well, maybe I wouldn’t have an abortion. But I don’t think we should take someone else’s right to choose away from them.” We take people’s right to choose evil away from them every day as a society. And that is a good thing. It’s good for all of us. It’s good for us to say, “No one has the right to do evil.” And it’s absolute moral silliness and cultural suicide to say that everyone should have the right to do whatever they choose to do.

And so I want to call you church out of a muddled, middle road that says, “Well, I don’t think I should impose my morality on someone else.” I want to call you to realize that we impose morality on others every day. And that’s a good thing for all of us. When it comes to evil, it is right for us to oppose it. Wisely, graciously, firmly, humbly, boldly to oppose it.

Say you’re pro-choice. Pro-choice about what? Whether you have Chinese or Mexican food, where you live, what kind of car you drive. Of course, you’re pro-choice about that, but you are not pro-choice about rape. You are not pro-choice about burglary. You’re not pro-choice about kidnapping. So are you pro-choice about killing children? Brothers and sisters, moral or political neutrality here is not an option.

God Is the Judge Of Sin

I’m saying this, I hope totally based on the word of God, which leads me to say, God is the judge of sin, including Christians who have done nothing about abortion, ie, me. This is where I’ve been convicted over the last year when I have come to this issue, because I’m a chief of sinners here. I have been passive. There is a battle raging in our culture and in the world, and I’ve sat idly by on this one. And that is not going to be the case anymore.

Randy Alcorn put it best when he said, “To endorse or even be neutral about killing innocent children created in God’s image, is unthinkable in the scripture, was unthinkable to Christians in church history, and should be unthinkable to Christians today.” God is the judge of sin. Thankfully, that’s not all. He’s also the savior of sinners. He’s the judge. He hates abortion. He’s the savior. He loves sinners.

God Forgives

So let me encourage you, whether you’ve had an abortion, supported abortion, performed abortion, permitted abortion, or done nothing about abortion, know this, feel this, He forgives entirely, entirely. To every woman in this room who has had an abortion, hear this, Christ has paid the price for your abortion. He forgives entirely. He heals deeply. He heals deeply. He restores completely. You do not walk around with a scarlet A on your chest. You’re forgiven. And God does not look at you and see the guilt of abortion. He looks at you and he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Whether you’ve had one abortion, five abortion, whether you’ve performed hundreds or thousands of abortions, He redeems fully. And God turns evil into good. So to the church, to the church, we must not only avoid works of darkness, Ephesians 5:11, but we must act against them. And so we need to look around to learn the facts about abortion. If you have sat idly by, let this be a wake-up call, learn the facts about abortion. See the pictures of abortion. I’m not showing pictures tonight, but I believe it is good for us to see, even feel the horror of abortion.

See, I don’t want to see that, just as many people did not need to hide from images in concentration camps in Nazi Germany, because it was too painful to watch. They needed to see it, didn’t they? We need to see it. We don’t need to hide from this. Learn, see, listen to the victims of abortion. One estimate is that 95% of people in the church who’ve lost a child to abortion have never really come to terms with it. And oftentimes never share it with anybody else.

So listen, step forward to share your burdens from the past with brothers and sisters. If you have had an abortion or been involved in abortion in the past, share your struggles in the present with brothers and sisters. If you are struggling with the potential of abortion at any point, go to brothers and sisters, who we will walk you through the word. And then to all of us, speak up before God and prayer. This is an intense battle in our culture and across the world, and it requires prayer and fasting. And speak up before the government.

I’m not saying I know what this looks like in each one of your lives or the different cultures that are represented around the world tonight, but where there are democratic privileges of free speech and representation and demonstration, press for legal protection for the unborn. And reach out through giving to pro-life causes, ministries, serving unwed, underage mothers, volunteering at pregnancy centers, supporting abortion alternatives, adopting unwanted children.

Here’s the deal, I’ll tell you one final story. Little girl who was born into a country where girls are not popular. Her mom decided not to have an abortion. She had the baby girl, and put her in a brown paper bag and placed her on a doorstep and walked away. The day after she had been born. And by God’s grace, three weeks from now, I’ll go and have the privilege of picking her up and becoming her dad. I praise God that she was not aborted, when so many around her are. And I pray that God will give us grace and boldness, compassionate courage, broken-hearted boldness to speak to this issue as the word clearly speaks to this issue, the gospel and abortion.