The latest social issue to dominate the social scene is abortion.  Abortion is the premature ending of the developmental process of an unborn human being.  The social upheaval being broadcasted 24-7 over the airwaves revolves around one central issue–at what stage of development does a fertilized egg become a human being?  Opinions range from the instant the male sperm penetrates the female egg to various times during the nine month period.  One woman stated that a mother should have the legal right to kill her child up to two days after normal birth has occurred.  Another woman opined that two years should be the cut-off point.

One would think that anyone in favor of abortion would not claim to be a Christian due to what God says about the issue in the Holy Bible.  However, in many, if not most of the cases the opposite is true.  In the church world those known as “Evangelicals” are the self-professed upper-echelon, ultra-conservative, Bible purists–the church’s version of storm troopers.  Are they truly as conservative as they claim to be?  A recent poll found that, when asked about abortion, 46% of professing Evangelicals stated that women should have a legal right to an abortion.  I suspect that the rate is higher in the rest of professing Christendom. According to most of America’s unchurched population and at least half of her churched population, abortion is the right of every woman.  I have noticed that since the repeal of Roe v Wade many churches are openly coming out in favor of a woman’s right to legally murder her unborn baby. Knowing the history of “the church,” I am not surprised.

If Mary and Elizabeth were living in today’s world, these mothers of Jesus and John respectively would be advised by the Democrat political party, Planned Parenthood and at least half of their churchmates to abort their babies.  They would be told that abortion is good for the economy in that the body parts could be sold and the profits taxed which would add to the state and local coffers.  Mary–pregnant, unwed and living in a society in which females in her situation were public outcasts–would be counseled to abort her baby.  And elderly Elizabeth was beyond the normal child-bearing age.  She would also be advised to abort.  Abortion would be highly recommended for these two women.

We are told that abortion is a matter of personal choice.  But who gets to choose: the killer or the victim?  Consensus holds that the abortion decision is purely physical in nature.  But does abortion have a spiritual component?  To answer that question let us address the foundational consideration relative to abortion–WHEN DOES HUMAN LIFE BEGIN?  God tells us.

In that all civilized societies have laws against the murder of innocent human beings, the ultimate question relative to abortion involves WHEN HUMAN LIFE BEGINS.  If a being is declared human, it cannot be killed without answering to legal authorities.  At what point in the developmental process does a “glob of cells” become a human being whose murder is illegal and can result in the killing of the killer?  As earlier stated, opinions as to when human life begins range from the instant of conception to some point following full-term birth.  Many individuals within humankind, including at least half of those who go to church contend that human life begins when they say it begins.  Some identify the time as following the child’s birth while the mother and the doctor decide whether to allow him/her to live or condemn him/her to the butcher brigade.  We who believe that the Bible is the Word/Truth/Will of God in written form allow its Author to answer the question.  Let us turn to that Book and get the answer straight from his/her Creator.

The Bible tells us that Jesus of Nazareth was a man like all other men.  Being a normal man, He was tempted, tested and tried like any other man.  He ate, drank, slept, walked, talked, sweated, got tired and dirty like any other man.  He had the same inner drives, needs and desires as those around Him (Heb. 4:15).  As He was growing up, the people around Him saw no difference between him and His peers.  As an adult He was a carpenter.  Therefore, He became a human being at the same point in His development as all other human beings.

God Himself tells us when the humanization of Jesus of Nazareth took place in Psalms 2:7/ Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 5:5 where we find His Father saying to the One who would come to be known as Jesus of Nazareth: “YOU ARE MY SON, THIS DAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.”  Notice that God gave the fertilized egg the status of “YOU” and “SON” on “THIS DAY”–the day of His conception (begettal).  Notice also the word ARE, indicating that the hours-old fertilized egg was already His Son. Throughout the Bible the Word “SON” (Greek–huios/ Hebrew–ben) means the child of, the descendant of, the offspring of, fathered by, begotten by.  In Matthew 1 we find a list of men who fathered/begat other men.  In every case the word “begat” has the same meaning as when God used it relative to Jesus in Psalms 2:7/ Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 5:5.  In English the word “beget” is rendered “CONCEIVE.”  Therefore, “begettal” becomes “conception.”  Upon conception, Jesus was called “My Son” by God on “this day”–the day He was begotten/conceived.  On day one of His conception, Jesus was God’s Son and would remain His Son until His final breath.  Like all other human beings, nothing physical would change about Him except what would take place due to natural maturation like any other human zygote/ fetus.

At the instant of conception every physical characteristic (dna) a person will ever have is present.  At that moment in time the sperm and the egg, carrying the totality of descriptive information about the zygote that he/she will ever have, unite into one being.  This means that the foundational traits he/she has at the instant of conception do not change for the remainder of his/her life.  The process of maturing within the womb from conception to delivery does not change during the various phases the being goes through.  Every physical trait he or she has at the time of his/her death was set at the time of conception and never changed.

Biblically, seven people were named by God prior to their births.  Two–Cyrus and Joshiah–were named 325 years and 175 years prior to their respective conceptions.  Also, Jesus was named prior to His conception.  Who gives names to people prior to their conceptions, and in some cases assign to them their life’s work?  Almighty God, their Creator.

God declared Jesus His Son on the day of His conception/begettal when He said: “YOU ARE (NOT WILL BE) MY SON; THIS DAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.”  Twenty-nine years later we find Him saying about Jesus: “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.”  God the Father used the exact same Word (SON) to describe Jesus on the day of His conception that He used on the day of his baptism 29 years later.  God did not call a glob of cells His SON.  He called His SON his SON.  JESUS WAS THE SAME SON ON THE DAY OF HIS CONCEPTION THAT HE WAS ON THE DAY OF HIS BIRTH, HIS BAPTISM AND HIS DEATH.  

God tells us when one becomes a human being in Jeremiah 1:5.  Here God is saying to the prophet: “BEFORE I (GOD) FORMED YOU IN THE BELLY, I KNEW YOU, BEFORE YOU CAME FORTH OUT OF THE WOMB ISANCTIFIED YOU (SET YOU ASIDE) AND I MADE YOU A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS.”  Note that God Himself formed Jeremiah and commissioned his ministry.  When did He begin to form him?  The instant the sperm penetrated the egg.

In Exodus 21:22 we find the Lord, speaking through Moses, telling God’s people that if two men fight, and a pregnant wife is injured so that her CHILD is aborted, the man who caused the abortion must be punished.  His punishment would be determined by the CHILD’S father and enforced by a court of judges.  No time element was mentioned in the Law which governed such an abortion incident.  That Law obviously applied to the killing of an unborn child of any age from one second to nine months.  The unborn CHILD’S death would be treated with the same severity as the accidental killing of an adult as explained in Numbers 35.  Even in accidental killings the slayer had to face the consequences of his actions.  Deliberate murder carried the death penalty.  Abortion is the deliberate murder of an innocent human being.

Many call a human zygote nothing more than a “clump of cells.” Scientists can distinguish between human cells and the cells of any other species. If we could place a month-old clump of cells forming a  zygote formed by the mating of two humans in the proper species-determining machine and do the same for the month-old clump of cells belonging to various animals, birds, fish, etc., could the experts be able to tell which clump was composed of human cells? Of course they could. Why? BECAUSE THEY, AND THEY ALONE, WOULD BE HUMAN CELLS. All other clumps of cells would be identified as those of another species.

The day Jesus was conceived (begotten) He was, in the eyes of God, as much a human being as He was on the day He was baptized and on the day He died.  For those who claim God as their spiritual Father, this should end the abortion controversy.  But it does not and will not.  Mankind’s desire for convenience and expediency will always win out over God’s Word when the two conflict, as they often do.  Therefore, the slaughter of innocent children created in the image of God will continue.  Human beings, including those who claim to be Christians, will always find a way to justify doing what they want to do.  And Satan is always available to convince them that their will is in fact better than “God’s will.”  Ignorance of or unbelief in God’s Word makes turning evil into good and good into evil not merely possible, but in the Institutional Church, probable.

The CNN news organization has publicly voiced the fear that a fetus (first 16 weeks) might be given “FETAL PERSONHOOD” in which case abortion of a fetus (unborn child) would legally be labeled MURDER, in which case both the mother and the doctor could be tried.  The polityical left has stumbled onto the truth, is terrified of it and is fighting against it.  The recognition of “fetal personhood” would cut deep into Satan’s push to keep America as the world’s leader in child sacrifice.  Now that the Institutional Church is embracing this sacrilege, Satan’s control over the nation is growing more solid.  With more children being murdered every day with God’s supposed blessings, that circle will tighten until, lacking a true spiritual conversion, Satan will spiritually choke America to death.  Long ago I predicted that American “Christians” would one day embrace gay marriage, abortion, etc.  This is happening.  Regardless of what church you belong to, your religious group will one day embrace child sacrifice due to social pressure.  Act now.  Obey God and “Come out of her and be ye separate, touch not that unclean thing ….”  THEN AND ONLY THEN God will be your God and you will be His people.  Read Second Corinthians 6:14 through 7:1 with great care.

The merciful god forgives truly repentant murderers of innocent children.  The notorious murderer of Christians named Saul of Tarsus, upon conversion, said that we must leave the past in the past and spend the remainder of our lives obeying God.  God is merciful.  He allowed Saul–the murderer of His (God’s) people–to become Paul the apostle of eternal life.  That, dear readers, is mercy in action.  L.J.