* HUMAN LIFE IS DIFFERENT *

First, human life is different from all other types of life because we are made in the image of God. God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). The word "create" is used three times to emphasize how God is the source of each and every person.

* HUMAN LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION *

Second, the Bible is adamant that human life begins at conception. The embryo that has been planted in the womb is a new person – and God intimately knows this person and created him or her for a reason.

Jeremiah 1:5 states: Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Further, Job says in his time of agony, “Thy hands fashioned and made me; and now thou turn about and destroy me…Thou clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. Thou granted me life and steadfast love; and thy care has preserved my spirit (Job 10:8-12).

The Book of Psalms affirms that the embryo or fetus is a human person. Psalms 139:14-16 states …Thou know me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

In the New Testament, Paul recognizes in Galatians 1:15 that the Lord created him for a distinct reason: "God… from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace" Even more, the same word, “Brephos” meaning “infant” in Greek, is used for the child before and after birth in Luke 1:41 and Luke 18:15.

* KILLING OF THE INNOCENT *

Third, Scripture condemns the killing of the innocent. When a person commits murder, he or she breaks one of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17). Christ reaffirms this Commandment in Matthew 19:18 as the first in His list of Commandments in order to have eternal life. Matthew points out that murder makes you impure: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man… (Matthew 15:19-20).

The Lord condemns the killing of the innocent in Exodus 23:7: Keep far from a false charge, and do not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.

Who does God include in the definition of “innocent”? Children.

The killing of children is especially condemned by God through the prophets. In the land God gave His people to occupy, foreign nations had the custom of sacrificing some of their children in fire. God told His people that they were not to commit these disgusting acts. Psalm 106 states that the people ignored the Lord’s command: They mingled with the nations and learned to do as they did…They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood (Psalm 106:35, 37-38).

Child-sacrifice is mentioned as one of the major reasons that the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and the people taken into exile. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings…the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only. (2 Kings 17:17-18).

Further, the prophet Amos condemns the Ammonites because they have ripped up women with child in Gilead (Amos 1:13). The Lord is angry by their killing of expectant mothers: So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds… (Amos 1:14).

* MURDER CRIES OUT FOR JUSTICE *

The Lord condemns murder, and the killing of unborn babies and children in the Bible. And, God recognizes the embryo or unborn baby as a person He created and knows intimately. These two facts beg the question, “Does the Lord view abortion to be as heinous as murder?” The Bible resounds with an overwhelming, “Yes!” Murder is killing a living person. Abortion is doing the same thing.

Murder (including abortion) is a cruel act that CRIES OUT FOR JUSTICE. After Cain murdered his brother, Abel, the Lord says: What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10) Further, Christ teaches in the Sermon on the Mount that every murderer will be judged: “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgement.’” (Matthew 5:21).

The Bible makes it clear that the person who commits murder is doing the work of Satan (translated as the “evil one” in most translations of the Bible). Do not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. (1 John 3:12)

* NO SALVATION WITHOUT REPENTANCE *

What is the punishment for murder (including abortion)? In his last words of the Bible in Revelation 22:14-15, John reveals: Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood. Ancient authorities declare that “wash their robes” means “doing his commandments”, while Revelation 2:7 defines the “tree of life” as being in Paradise: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. The Lord further clarifies that “Paradise” is the same as His Kingdom (Heaven) in Luke 23:42-43.

In short, the Book of Revelation affirms that (unrepentant) murderers cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Abortion is always murder in the eyes of God. Even if a child enters the world through evil means (rape or incest), God has a purpose for that unborn child and no one has the right to destroy His creation at any time.

The Lord’s position is clear: A woman who has an abortion CANNOT BE SAVED UNLESS SHE REPENTS (Revelation 9:20-21). And, every Christian seriously risks their salvation when they do not completely reject abortion. Those who participate in abortion (doctors, nurses, and pro-choice activists) are like the Ammonites mentioned above.

Keith