CFBC and Abortion
In a historic decision on Friday, June 24th, 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 we 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.
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