61. 2. The Bible teaches that children are a blessing.

God commanded our first parents to "Be fertile and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). Why? God Himself is fertile. Love always overflows into life. When the first mother brought forth the first child, she exclaimed, "I have brought forth a man with the help of the Lord" (Genesis 4:1). The help of the Lord is essential, for He has dominion over human life and is its origin. Parents cooperate with God in bringing forth life. Because this whole process is under God’s dominion, it is sinful to interrupt it. The prophet Amos condemns the Ammonites "because they ripped open expectant mothers in Gilead" (Amos 1:13).

"Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3).

3. The Bible teaches that the child in the womb is truly a human child, who even has a relationship with the Lord.

The phrase "conceived and bore" is used repeatedly (see Genesis 4:1,17) and the individual has the same identity before as after birth. "In sin my mother conceived me," the repentant psalmist says in Psalm 51:7. The same word is used for the child before and after birth (Brephos, that is, "infant," is used in Luke 1:41 and Luke 18:15.)

God knows the preborn child. "You knit me in my mother’s womb . . . nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret" (Psalm 139:13,15). God also helps and calls the preborn child. "You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s womb you are my God" (Psalm 22:10-11). "God… from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace" (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15).

MTL at 7:22PM on Feb 1st 2008

62. 4. Scripture repeatedly condemns the killing of the innocent.

This flows from everything that has been seen so far. God’s own finger writes in stone the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17) and Christ reaffirms it (Matthew 19:18 - notice that He mentions this commandment first). The Book of Revelation affirms that (unrepentant) murderers cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (Revelation 22:15).

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 share in this sin. They did, however, as Psalm 106 relates: "They mingled with the nations and learned their works…They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, desecrating the land with bloodshed" (Psalm 106:35, 37-38).

This sin of child-sacrifice, in fact, is mentioned as one of the major reasons that the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and the people taken into exile. "They mutilated their sons and daughters by fire…till the Lord, in his great anger against Israel, put them away out of his sight" (2 Kings 17:17-18).

Notice that this practice was a religious ritual. Not even for "religious freedom" can the killing of children be tolerated.

5. The Bible teaches that God is a God of justice.

An act of justice is an act of intervention for the helpless, an act of defense for those who are too weak to defend themselves. In foretelling the Messiah, Psalm 72 says, "Justice shall flower in his days…for he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out and the afflicted when he has no one to help him" (Psalms 72:7,12). Jesus Christ is our justice (1 Corinthians 1:30) because He rescued us from sin and death when we had none to help us (see Romans 5:6, Ephesians 2:4-5).

If God does justice for His people, He expects His people to do justice for one another. "Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). "Do unto others as you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). "Love one another" (John 15:17).

Abortion is the opposite of these teachings. It is a reversal of justice. It is a destruction of the helpless rather than a rescue of them. If God’s people do not intervene to save those whose lives are attacked, then the people are not pleasing or worshiping Him.

God says through Isaiah, "Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings…Your festivals I detest…When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean…learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow" (Isaiah 1:13-17).

Indeed, those who worship God but support abortion are falling into the same contradiction as God’s people of old, and need to hear the same message.

6. Jesus Christ paid special attention to the poor, the despised, and those whom the rest of society considered insignificant.

He broke down the false barriers that people set up among themselves, and instead acknowledged the equal human dignity of every individual, despite what common opinion might say. Hence we see Him reach out to children despite the efforts of the apostles to keep them away (Matthew 19:13-15); to tax collectors and sinners despite the objections of the Scribes (Mark 2:16); to the blind despite the warnings of the crowd (Matthew 20:29-34); to a foreign woman despite the utter surprise of the disciples and of the woman herself (John 4:9, 27); to Gentiles despite the anger of the Jews (Matthew 21:41-46); and to the lepers, despite their isolation from the rest of society (Luke 17:11-19).

When it comes to human dignity, Christ erases distinctions. St. Paul declares, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave or free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

We can likewise say, "There is neither born nor unborn." Using this distinction as a basis for the value of life or the protection one deserves is meaningless and offensive to all that Scripture teaches. The unborn are the segment of our society which is most neglected and discriminated against. Christ Himself surely has a special love for them.

MTL at 7:22PM on Feb 1st 2008

63. 7. Scripture teaches us to love.

St. John says, "This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother" (1 John 3:11-12). Love is directly contrasted with slaughter. To take the life of another is to break the command of love. To fail to help those in need and danger is also to fail to love.

Christ teaches this clearly in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), and in many other places.

No group of people is in more serious danger than the boys and girls in the womb. "If someone…sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in Him?" (1 John 3:17).

8. Life is victorious over death.

This is one of Scripture’s most basic themes. The victory of life is foretold in the promise that the head of the serpent, through whom death entered the world, would be crushed (see Genesis 3:15).

Isaiah promised, "He will destroy death forever" (Isaiah 25:8). At the scene of the first murder, the soil "opened its mouth" to swallow Abel’s blood. At the scene of the final victory of life, it is death itself that "will be swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?…Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

Abortion is death. Christ came to conquer death, and therefore abortion. "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

The final outcome of the battle for life has already been decided by the Resurrection of Christ. We are not just working for victory; we are working from victory. We joyfully take a victory that has already been won, and proclaim, celebrate, and serve it until He comes again to bring it to its fullness. "There shall be no more death" (Revelation 21:4). "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20).

MTL at 7:25PM on Feb 1st 2008

64.
There! I believe the Bible Scriptures I have quoted says it all and ends this argument once and for all.

May God Bless you.

MTL

MTL at 7:27PM on Feb 1st 2008

65.
And for those of you who may not believe there is a God and we will have to answer to Him who created us in everything we do on this earth...

INTRODUCTION
To begin our study in Bible doctrine, we ought to begin with God.

We are constantly challenged by atheists, skeptics and hecklers to prove that there is a God.

It is difficult for natural man to believe in something that he cannot see, touch or feel (I Cor. 2:14).

The problem for the Christian is solved with the first verse of the Bible, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).

The Bible is not a textbook that attempts to prove the existence of God - the Bible opens with a positive fact that God does exist.

It did not occur to any other writer of the Bible to prove this fact.

The Bible plainly states that it is the fool who denies the existence of God.

Psa. 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."

Anyone with any intelligence would acknowledge the evident fact of a living God.

The greatest proof apart from Scripture of the existence of God is our daily fellowship with Him in prayer.

I know that there is a God because I talked to Him today and He heard and answered the prayer of my heart though it was only whispered silently.

I. PROOF FROM SCRIPTURE
Psa. 19:1, 'The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork." The beauty and glory of the heavens speak loudly saying, "God exists."

Rom. 1:20 goes farther and suggests that creation even teaches about the eternal power of the Godhead, "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

The man who accepts Scripture will readily acknowledge the existence of God.

Let us study some other less convincing but nevertheless powerful arguments.

II. PROOF FROM CONSCIENCE
Man is born with a universal belief in a supreme Being; no tribe has yet been discovered that lacks this. They know that some Being creates and controls.

Rom. 2:15, "Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." The existence of God is written in the human conscience.

Acts 17:23, "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the Unknown God." Conscience told them that there was a God though they did not know Him personally.

Some atheists may claim that their conscience does not tell them about God.

It is doubtful if a genuine atheist can be found for at best they are men who have stilled conscience by blatant unbelief.

Some men are so blind that they may deny the existence of the sun in the sky but that does not alter the fact that the sun exists, rises and sets each day.

None are so blind as those who refuse to see. The honest man will find that the inner still small voice says that God exists and is alive today.

Men deny the existence of God not because they cannot find Him but because they are afraid to face the responsibility of being accountable to Him alter death.

Atheism is one of the devil's tools to put men to sleep without accepting salvation.

If there is no God then I am not responsible to anyone and I can live and die as I please. but in the quieter moments of reflection the conscience of every man whispers, There is a God" and only fools deny it.

To look up and see a plane and not see the pilot and say that the plane is pilotless is as ridiculous as looking into the heavens and saying that there is no God simply because we cannot see Him.

Few of us have ever seen our brains, yet we believe that we possess them because of a centralized control system in the body. Because we see creation, we believe in God.

III. THE ARGUMENT FROM CAUSE (Cosmological)
The world is here. It must have come from somewhere. Somebody or something must have caused it to come into being at one time or another.

Here is a book. Someone must have written it. No printing press can of itself produce a book, be it ever so modern a press with the latest electrical gadgets.

Someone built the building. Someone created the trees. Someone operates the universe.

If all the pieces of a watch were placed in a can and the can shaken gently for a million years the watch would not be "accidentally" put together and running.

The only sensible answer to the problem of the existence of the world is the existence of an intelligent Being whom we call God.

IV. THE ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN (Teleological)
A watch not only exists but it has a designer. It was planned for a specific purpose.

A watch was not designed for mosquitoes to live in. It was designed by a keen mind for the purpose of accurately telling the time.

An examination of the world and the things large and small shows that each is designed by an intelligent mind for a specific purpose in life.

The colors of the bird and means of defence of the animals are not accidents. They are the result of a plan of a superior planning mind of the originator.

V. THE MORAL ARGUMENT (Anthropological)
Man has an intellectual and moral nature showing that the Creator must not be merely an inanimate force but a living, intelligent moral Being.

Gen. 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."

Gen. 1:27, God created man in the image and likeness of God, that is, patterned after Him.

Pea. 94:9, "He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?" God has given to man ears, eyes, knowledge, intelligence, and will power for these are the things that He possesses.

Conscience teaches man right and wrong, good and bad; for the Creator is a moral Being that is holy, and loves righteousness but abhors evil.

VI. THE LIFE ARGUMENT
Life comes from life and the original life must have come from a Being possessing eternal life, that is, life that existed before physical life was created.

Where can such life be found? It can only be found in God who possesses eternal life. Psa. 36:9, "For with Thee is the fountain (source) of life."

The apple tree gets its life from the parent tree, the lamb from the mother sheep. But where did they get life from? We go back to the original creation.

Jesus said in John 11:25, "I am... life," also in John 14:6, "I am ... life," and in John 10:28, "And I give unto them eternal life."

All life proceeds from God. The theory of spontaneous generation has been proved false and completely unacceptable to authoritative science.

Life must have a beginning. The only logical answer is that beginning was with God.

VII. THE ARGUMENT FROM CONGRUITY
The theory of atheism solves no problems but only multiplies unsolved mysteries.

The acceptance of the existence of God as Creator of the world is like a magic key that fits all the facts of Scripture, revelation, knowledge and science.

This irrefutable doctrine is held tenaciously by multitudes of souls who are willing both to live and die in the consolation of this assurance.

CONCLUSION
Atheism which is only giant doubt and unbelief can only lead to darkness and despair for the one accepting it.

Acceptance of Gen. 1:1, "In the beginning God," leads a sincere seeker into the path of a fuller revelation of God Himself.

Heb. 11:6, "He that cometh to God must believe that He Is [exists)."

Let us come as children in simple faith, based on the revelation of God in Scripture and nature, believing and trusting Him completely.

MTL at 7:32PM on Feb 1st 2008

66. MTL, I hate to break it to you, but we are not your children. We are not Jesus' children either.

Perhaps you should grow up and put away the faery tales.

Captain Negative at 7:54PM on Feb 1st 2008

67.
Captain Negative, you are God's child whether you like it or not. He created you. He created Commandments for us to follow. They are written in the Bible.

You can continue to deny God, but the truth is there is a God and when we die we will all be accountable to Him. There are consequences to our actions.

Many people deny God exists because they just want to continue to do what they want to do without having to admit there is a God, something we might be doing is a sin and offensive to God, the consequences, and having to answer to anybody. There is too much sin (and yes abortion is a sin - it is murder)and selfishness in this world. Everyone seems to think that they can do whatever they want to do because it feels good or they think it's their right especially when it comes to abortion. Nobody wants to think about right or wrong, sin, the poor unborn babies,and the unborn babies right to life. The unborn baby has as much right to life as you or me does. But unfortnanately nobody wants to admit that. Instead too many think - what about me and my rights? It's all about me and my rights in this world. Me, me, me, me.

But the truth is there is a God, He gave us commandments to live by including the one "Thou Shall Not Kill", and at the end of our life we will all be accountable to Him.

MTL at 8:10PM on Feb 1st 2008

68. What was the purpose of the incredible amount of scripture being quoted?

Anthony Dunham at 8:21PM on Feb 1st 2008

69.
Anthony, the purpose is let people know the TRUTH: that there is a God, how God loves the sinner but hates the sin (abortion), God gave us commandments to follow (EX "Thou Shall Not Kill", we are all accountable to God, and there are consequences to our actions.

MTL at 8:44PM on Feb 1st 2008

70. 65.
Captain Negative, you are God's child whether you like it or not.

xxx

and you're my child whether you like it or not. Don't make me pull over.

Clif Kuplen at 11:43PM on Feb 1st 2008

71. "Captain Negative, you are God's child whether you like it or not."
--------------------------------------------

Do you suppose I could get her to put me up for adoption?

Captain Negative at 5:00AM on Feb 2nd 2008

72. mtl, It is a shame that you are a scripture quoting pez dispenser. The Cro Magnon said, 'god created us in his image'.

JefFlyingV at 10:27AM on Feb 2nd 2008

73. MTL: "There! I believe the Bible Scriptures I have quoted says it all and ends this argument once and for all."

There are a lot of amusing comments that fly around on these boards, but, every once in a while, somebody says something that is just outrageously funny. I'm sure I'll be appropriately disgusted and annoyed by such an attitude in a few moments, but, for now, just laughing!

Bullwinkle57 at 5:18PM on Feb 2nd 2008

74. Emma...I cannot believe you would belittle the beginning of a human life to be it's only a cell with the POTENTIAL of being a human and equate it to bacterial cells. While a scientifically true statement,insofar as the division of cells and potential of what it will become, the fact of the matter is, the "cell" IS the beginning of a human being and will become one if left to grow into what it is supposed to become. Human life, or the potential for it as you say, should not be equated to the same level of respect as bacterial cells which we kill with antibiotics because they are definitely a nuisance to us and harmful to health. Were you just potentially a human when you were conceived and it would have been all right if your mother had decided to end your life before you began to resemble/look like a human being? I can't imagine what it's like to have an unplanned pregnancy, nor if it's potentially life-threatening to the mother or the pregnancy was a result of rape, those are indeed difficult situations and also difficult is legislating an issue such as this because, admittedly, there would be a lot of legal gray areas as to when to prosecute and if government has the right to prosecute a woman for making a choice that affects her health, but please do not insult me or the rest of humanity, including yourself, by equating the beginning of our lives to that of bacterial cells...come on.

Tamera Hemmerle at 9:25PM on Feb 2nd 2008

75. Having been a former fettus, I'm totaly against abortion.

Neal at 1:09AM on Feb 3rd 2008