What does the Bible say about abortion? Is abortion always wrong? - Podcast Episode 102, Part 1

Welcome to God questions podcast today's episode.

We're going to be covering an issue That's been in the news a lot lately, but need not just lately really for

The past several decades.

It's been an issue that Christians miss struggling with and that's the issue of abortion.

What does the Bible say about abortion?

So joining me today is Kevin our managing editor and Jeff the administrator of

Bible ref comm so we're gonna be trying to give a What is a biblical perspective on the issue of

what does the Bible say about abortion.

For me the most interesting part of this discussion is that the Bible nowhere

Explicitly mentions abortion.

There's no occurrence in the Bible of a woman intentionally going to have

the baby and her Terminated without being born this does not occur in

the Bible.

But with that said there are a lot of principles That for me at least and for Jeff and

Kevin as well Thoroughly convince us that God is opposed to abortion other than

perhaps in the most extremely rare cases where?

The only way to save the life of the mother is for the Baby to be removed early

essentially causing its death, but well, we'll get into that a little bit more later but Jeff, why don't you start us off?

What for you is the Biblical evidence that you think that leads you to be against

abortion or more accurately pro -life.

I.

Think where you started with there is actually a good place to start is be very clear about what we're talking about and what we're

Not so when we talk about abortion We're not talking about an effort to attempt to

save at least one life Involved so a woman who has a miscarriage or a fetus who

passes away or Something like an ectopic pregnancy where there's an effort being made to

preserve a woman's health without making any deliberate effort to kill Somebody that is

not abortion abortion is when you make a deliberate choice to kill to terminate to end the life of

The unborn child.

So when people refer to so so called medically necessary Abortions

There are nurses.

There are doctors.

There are OBGYNs who will say strictly speaking.

That's never the case.

You can always do something to try to save the life of the unborn even if you know, it's probably

not going to be Successful.

So everything that we're talking about today We're really talking about those deliberate efforts a purposeful choice

To end the life of the child and there are a lot of things in Scripture to give us Principles that we can look at we do

see the idea in the Bible that the unborn are human.

We see the same terminology used for unborn persons as we see for born persons.

We see concepts in the Old Testament that talk about if a woman gives birth prematurely.

That's one thing if there's some sort of harm because of what happens.

That's a different thing.

We see in Scripture that all human life is equal there's a consistent thread in the Bible that tells us that we

are not supposed to distinguish between People in terms of their value to God their

moral value in the terms that are often used when it comes to Abortion

and some of those things do spill over into a secular sense.

But basically what we're looking at is that the Bible's definitions Give us the idea that the unborn are

human that all human beings have Intrinsic rights that they have intrinsic value and

that murder.

Which again to be carefully defined we're talking about deliberately killing somebody

who is innocent Purposefully choosing to take a life that those things are wrong, and there's more details that we

have behind those but that's the broad strokes of what Scripture says about why

the the idea of abortion even if it's not Explicitly mentioned does come with

biblical Concepts that we should be able to use on this whole issue.

Sometimes the position of the Christian gets framed as you know, we are anti.

This we're anti that we're we're always framed as taking the the negative position.

We're the naysayers but I I really like to Actually say

what we're for we are.

We use the term pro -life and there are many reasons why we are pro

-life.

Why we Why we support the the the life of the the mother

and the life of the baby that she carries and I have I have a few reasons right here

that I've listed as to why we are pro -life and that.

First one is that life is a gift from God.

Jesus taught in John chapter 5 that the father has life in himself.

And he goes on to say that the son also has life in himself.

God is the source of life.

He is the sustainer of life.

When God made Adam the first man He formed that body first of all and then he gave he

gave that body life through a special work that only God could do.

He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.

Genesis 2 and verse 7 all of God's gifts should be cherished and The

gift of life is one that we should cherish.

Christians are pro -life.

Also, we are pro -life because we believe that life begins at conception.

There are Many resources available that that where medical science backs up

this this biblical idea as well.

Also many passages of Scripture that indicate that life begins at conception.

One of my favorites.

This is one of my go -to passages anymore when I'm discussing this subject is Exodus 21.

This is part of the Mosaic Law and in this particular passage the law uses as an

illustration the.

The early.

Termination of a pregnancy and the the passage Goes like

this.

This is verses 22 and 23 That where the law of

Moses gives equal protection To the pregnant woman and to the child that she carries

and I'll read this here that this is from the New Living Translation.

Now suppose two men are fighting And in the process they accidentally strike a pregnant woman.

So she gives birth prematurely if no further injury results.

In other words the baby's born alive and And it's healthy and the mother suffers no

injury as well no lasting injury.

The man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman's husband demands and the judges approve.

But if there is further injury that is to either the woman or to the fetus

The punishment shall match the injury a life for a life so.

Basic to this particular statute in the Mosaic Law is the idea that

the baby is.

A.

Person even prior to birth and that that that particular baby has the

same rights and protections under the law as an adult human being.

So according to this law if Somebody causes the death of an unborn child.

Well, that's a serious crime and the punishment must fit the crime.

It must be a life for a life now if the consequence of the men's fighting was only that

there was some type of a an Impermanent injury to to the woman

or to the baby then the offender would pay a fine.

Determined by the judges and the and the husband of the woman, but if a life was lost then That

person's life had to be forfeit as well.

He would also lose his life.

So equal protection for the fetus and.

So that's the biblical principle and I think that particular passage in Exodus 21 is just crystal

clear.

There are other reasons why we are pro -life that is Human life bears the image of God

life is a gift and Human life is unique in that God made us in his

own image and in his own likeness.

Genesis 2 27 this gives us an inherent dignity and value in human

life so as marvelous as other parts of creation are

human.

Human life just outstrips at all outclasses all other of

God's creations.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Christians are pro -life because we bear the image of God.

Also, there's a biblical principle that we find all the way through scripture and that is that the innocent should be protected

taking up the cause of the innocent and Protecting those who cannot fend for themselves.

We see that all the way through scripture.

It's hard to imagine anyone more in need of protection.

Less capable of self -defense Than a baby in the womb.

So Christians are pro -life because they've got a moral responsibility to protect the weak to protect the

innocent.

Also, God has plans for every individual.

God told the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 in verse 5 before

I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb.

Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.

So God did the forming of Jeremiah, but even before that forming took place Jeremiah was known

he was set apart and he was Appointed.

So Christians are pro -life because we don't believe there are any accidents or mistakes in

God's plan.

Everyone has the right to live.

Another reason why Christians are pro -life.

Life being a gift from God means that Nobody, but God has that right to to

take that life away so Life is a basic human right probably the the most

basic right that people have.

We don't want to play God and That makes us pro -life.

And also what God thinks is most important.

We're informed.

We're informed by truth not by social pressure or by The changing political tides

or human opinion but we we find truth in God's Word and what God says is

Most important of all and that takes precedence over everything else.

Yeah, Kevin.

I really like how you frame it and that I think Christians need to In addition to presenting an

anti -abortion message.

I think that is crucially important.

We are against abortion because we think it is wrong.

I think it is dishonoring to God we think it is The terminating of an innocent life, but to

also remember that Christians are pro -life we are anti -abortion because we are pro -life and

to me the Human beings being created in the image of God Is the linchpin of

the whole thing that there's a reason why?

Just recently some friends of ours had to make the choice of terminating their

dog who was pregnant with puppies and to terminate the puppies because there Was

serious problems that were happening and they felt really really guilty about it.

I had to show them look there is a difference between humanity and

Every other creation on earth that it's humanity It's in the image of God and every human being whether

from the moment of conception.

We believe bears God's image and is therefore of inherent Value and worth

and that life is worth protecting worth saving worth Being allowed

to develop and live and so to me that's the focus.

But again, I I totally get it that.

We.

Abortion test is such a Unnecessary evil that we see running so rampant in the country that

it's so easy to be so focused on being against it That we fail to communicate why we're so much against it and

then at the points that you just outlined We're we're very very good at doing that.

It is important for us to remember that Christians are not Just anti -abortion in the sense that that's all

we care about that.

One of the criticisms that's made is Very dishonest and that's to say that Christians don't care what

happens to women or two children after birth.

We've done a podcast in this podcast series talking about things like crisis pregnancy centers

where women can go to get resources that involve things like financial aid and education and

Assistance with housing and training and diapers and formula and all sorts of things Adoption

services and so on and so forth.

They're very often driven by pro -life causes.

So when we hear people try to talk about this as though Christians are just anti -abortion and

don't care what happens after.

That's not true.

I agree that we want to be careful not to just talk about abortion and not talk about

What we want to do to support women who are struggling or children who are struggling.

But we we should be willing and able to push back on The attitude that Christians just are not

in favor of helping people before during and after pregnancy.

I'm glad you bring that up Jeff.

My wife and I have been involved in crisis pregnancy centers and we have personally opened our

home to You know at what who were at the time complete strangers who were

girls who were in crisis pregnancy and had them in our home and we we Gave them

the shelter and the the resources that that they needed and so we were.

We are personally invested in in helping the women involved in these

situations and Because we we love them.

We we love we love the babies and we we love Jesus.

Jesus said a couple different occasions.

I am the life says that in John 11 again in John 14.

And so to love Jesus is to love life.

He is life himself.

And so Yes, we love we love people at every stage

of development from from from womb to tomb as they sometimes say.

You saying that our love for people is not dependent on development is also I think really

important.

One of the criticisms that we sometimes hear when we discuss this is that our stance as pro -life on

abortion is purely religious that it is entirely rooted in a

religious belief and for that reason it needs to be left out of any sort of law or any sort of

discussion in certain categories and there again.

That's not true now beyond the question of whether or not laws are based on moral principles

and they all are.

There are reasons That we can give that make a lot of sense that lead a lot of secular persons

non -christians even atheists.

To be pro -life and to oppose the concept of abortion.

I think the one of the best summaries that I've seen comes from another fellow

ministry called stand to reason and they've developed and promoted something called a sled test

SLED and I don't want to steal all of their thunder.

But the idea behind that is that we should not try to define personhood whether or not

somebody has basic human rights.

Such as the right to live based on those four characteristics one of which is size.

Toddlers infants unborn children are not as large as fully formed adults.

We don't therefore say well, they're smaller.

So when you hear people say well, it's just a tiny clump of cells.

That's irrelevant to whether or not somebody is truly a person truly human.

There's level of development.

A Preteen child is not sexually mature.

There are aspects of their body and their biology that are not completely formed and completely

developed.

We don't deny them personhood on that basis.

There's environment the child in the womb is Vulnerable, it's not outside in the world,

but neither is an astronaut in space.

Neither is a scuba diver who's in the middle of the ocean.

The environment that we put somebody in does not somehow remove their personhood and then there's level of

Dependency and dependency is the idea that just because somebody needs other persons

in order to survive Once again should not remove their personhood.

Persons who've been in accidents.

Infants again, very very young children are also Dependent so I that's a good thing for people to

to look at and to research the point being that things like the sled test size level of development

environment Dependency those things are not necessarily tied to some

explicitly biblical or Christian idea and the reason that's valuable is because we can point out that

all truth is God's truth.

The ideas that lead a person to a pro -life view are Fundamental to what we as human

beings Think about humanity.

This is not some long drawn -out Convoluted conclusion that only comes through

theology.

This is a very basic concept that we should be able to get to when we talk about Humanity and

human rights and what it means to be human.

It is not Explicitly something that has to come from the Bible.

But it is very clearly something that comes from the general idea of what it means to be human.

Yeah.

Excellent point Jeff's and I too am a fan of stained reason and their sled analogy.

I think it's very very useful.

So if the purpose of this episode is to talk about what does the Bible say about abortion

again from the very outset?

I said the Bible does not explicitly mentioned abortion, but what it does mention is that

God values life.

That.

Jesus is the way the truth in the life.

God is the creator of life and Regarding humanity, we're created in the image of God.

From the moment we are conceived we have value because we're created in the image of

God.

And that as Kevin outlined with the Exodus passage that God prescribes the same penalty on someone who

ends the life of a baby in the womb as someone who commits murder.

Just showing how God values Human beings from the moment they are conceived in many other

scripture passes we could go to but maybe for the conclusion of this episode, let's just talk briefly about.

For people who have had an abortion and what does the Bible say about them.

Some Some regret it some deal with tremendous guilt for the rest of their lives

about it.

So maybe Kevin once you start us off as a pastor.

When.

Someone has had an abortion.

How can they?

Find God's forgiveness.

How can they receive God's forgiveness and not have to deal with that guilt because we want to point out that Abortion is not an

unforgivable sin it is not something that a Permanent scarlet letter so to speak on your life that you are

of no value to God or that God is Continually angry with you or that God will not forgive you.

I think that's a very important point.

So many women and husbands or men who have encouraged their wives or girlfriends to get an abortion

feel extremely guilty.

So what does the Bible say about that aspect of the abortion issue?

I.

Would encourage anyone who is experiencing guilt over having an abortion in the past

to understand that God's grace is Greater than any sin

that we could ever commit.

God's grace we can't.

I Can't even describe it.

We cannot wrap our heads around the magnitude of God's grace

his blessings.

To those who who don't deserve his blessings.

That's the definition of grace and we have passages that we can cling to first.

John 1 9 if we confess our sins He God is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We've got passages all the way through scripture that talk about the forgiveness of God his

Abundant forgiveness his free forgiveness in Christ.

Christ paid the penalty and we in Christ can find that

forgiveness find the freedom that that gives us to to move forward in life to take

that next step and just to Let God take care of those those burdens.

It may take may take some counseling.

It may take some Some working through different issues with with some godly

wise counsel.

But you have the Word of God the promises of God and his grace is available in

Christ.

I think that we as believers need to Carefully understand that in the vast

majority of all cases women who have had abortions are

Victims.

In other words, they have been fooled tricked deceived Mistreated

by a system that is lying to them.

About what all of this means and what the value of life is and what their options are and what they can or cannot do.

There is an element in the world that wants to look at, you know post abortive women with a level of

judgment and that's.

You can understand where some of that comes from but that's not really the Christian response as Kevin was saying Christ's

grace is sufficient for anything and everything and that's especially important to keep in

mind when we remember that so much of what comes from the pro abortion or

pro -choice movement is It's lies, it's propaganda their statements and

concepts and ideas that don't even hold up to themselves.

They don't make sense of morality.

They don't make sense of human nature, but there's this tremendous pressure.

That women are put under and they are fooled.

They're lied to they're deceived into doing these things.

So it's important for us to remember that women who have been through this experience We know from an

objective standpoint.

They suffer physical emotional psychological after effects from it.

Spiritually, we have to recognize that women who have been through this are victims of what's

happened and our response as believers needs to Understand that and accept that we don't want

a person who's been through that experience to think that.

The Christian approach is to condemn them or to look down on them or to spit on them.

In some way it really is the opposite.

My view of a woman who says this is something I have done or that I have chosen is Sadness

and sympathy because she has chosen to Do something because of lies

and because of deception and because of an unfair treatment.

I really truly think we need to remember that women who have experienced abortion are.

Victims.

Clearly not in the same sense as the unborn child who's actually lost a life.

But they are no less Validly called victims because of what this means and what it does.

Excellent point Jeff and I think to me that's the That's the key to all of this is that we are

strongly pro -life got questions that are we are not a ministry that focuses exclusively on

Abortion by any stretch, but we are unashamedly pro -life and and anti abortion.

Because we believe that's what the Word of God teaches in terms of the the value of life the

Human beings being created in the image of God.

There are multiple reasons why we are firmly convinced that abortion is a

horrendous sin in the vast vast majority of cases.

But with that said we are also a ministry that focuses on I'm declaring the gospel

That forgiveness is available through faith in Jesus Christ that Any and every sin that we have

any of us have committed is forgivable.

So no matter where you are on this Issue whether you've had an

abortion whether you encourage someone to get an abortion or whether you perform an abortion God can and will forgive you

if you place your faith in Jesus Christ.

Trusting his sacrifice on the cross is the full penalty for your sins.

Your sins will be covered.

They will be forgiven.

You'll be cleansed and be promised in eternity in heaven so we want to conclude this particular episode with the message of hope in

that With the millions of people who have been a part of the abortion Industry for

lack of a better word Forgiveness is available through Jesus Christ and may we conclude on

that point?

So this has been the first episode in a Brief series we're gonna do on abortion issue because it's such a hot

topic.

Part two is going to be on Roe vs. Wade because there's some

news in the headlines where it looks like Roe vs. Wade might be Overturned by the Supreme

Court.

So we'll be discussing a Little bit of the history and what it would mean if it happens and how

Christians should respond and so forth so stay tuned for part two of our Discussion

on abortion, so I hope this conversation has been beneficial encouraging to you

that we pray that it has been.

Feel free to submit any questions you have about abortion to us at GotQuestions .org.

Got questions?

The Bible has answers!