Chapter 42
Concerning Abortion and Euthanasia
The Holy Scriptures abound with references to life in the womb – that power lies in the omnipotence of God, and God alone. This is why a couple may be married for years, hoping that their union will produce a child, and yet are unable to have a child. It is in the providence of God whether or not a couple will be blessed with a child. God is the Author of life – not man.
The personality of the child – his humanity – is determined in the womb – before the child is born. The patriarch Job spoke about this reality in making reference to some of his servants:
Job 31:15
15 “Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?”
The palmist also speaks about his personality already being formed in the womb when he declares:
Psalm 71:6
6 “By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You.”
King David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes about how the Lord fashioned him and developed him as a living being while still in his mother’s womb:
Psalm 139:13-
13 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!”
King David describes the awesome way that a Sovereign God works in the life of an individual from the moment of conception – the beginning of life for the individual.
“For you have formed my inward parts” is an obvious reference to the stage called
the embryonic period – from fertilization through the first eight week of development.
“It is during this period of time the developing human is called an embryo (em-
What makes the above quote so exquisite to the Biblical scholar is that the Hebrew term used in verse 16, translated “my substance” is the Hebrew equivalent for “embryo.” Again, science and the Holy Scripture are in agreement.
The prophet Jeremiah records the word of the Lord that came to him that pertained to God’s intimate knowledge of Jeremiah while he was still in the womb:
Jeremiah 1:4-
4 ¶ “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
What is significant about the passage is that it not only refers to Jeremiah as a living being, but also a person whose life was meant for a purpose: “I sanctified you…” that is, “I set you apart for a specific reason.” And what was that? “I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
From these passages of Scripture we learn two things:
each human being is known by God from the moment of conception – from the embryonic stage to the point of the child being delivered from the womb.
each person has a purpose in life that only can be found by seeking the face of God with the determination to follow His will.
Note: Based on the above Scriptures (and many others not quoted) we strongly stand
for the life of the unborn child – who is alive from the point of conception. Those
who prefer to use the Latin term fetus rather than unborn baby are ignorant of what
they are saying. In the Latin, the word fetus means offspring. In their use of the
word fetus they are unwittingly re-
Consequently, we are opposed to the abortion of any unborn child – believing he or she to be a defenseless human who needs to be protected. Taking the life of an unborn child is equivalent to murder – the killing of a human being!
God Almighty will hold responsible all those who partake in such genocide of defenseless babies.
Euthanasia –
The term euthanasia is a Greek word which means “good death.” Lately, it is a term that refers to the practice of taking a person’s life in a painless, ‘humane’ way. It is looked upon as ‘humane’ in those instances where an individual has been in a prolonged period of extreme pain and has been given the prognosis that what they are experiencing will continue to be the status quo. The only thing that is ‘humane’ in this act is that it is a ‘human’ that is being killed.
We are opposed to Euthanasia for the following reasons:
It presumes on the sovereignty of God. Doctors have no right to play God with a person’s life. Too many times has a doctor been found wrong with his prognosis of a person’s situation. Only God knows what lies ahead in a person’s life.
A person is helped tremendously when he discovers that there is purpose for suffering. But only a believer can tap into the strength of this truth for it relates to their relationship with their God:
1 Peter 4:19
19 “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”
Believers are to look upon pain as a springboard from which they can dive into the arms of a loving God Who knows what is best for His child. Suffering increases faith in the heart of the believer; the word ‘commit’ means to ‘entrust’ – and this is what the child of God is called upon to do in times of suffering. God will always supply the grace and mercy we need in any given situation, temptation or test:
NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:13
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
3. Euthanasia is not ‘mercy killing’ – there is no mercy in it, just killing. Again,
this act of ‘mercy killing’ relies upon the information gleaned from the doctor –
a man who is fallible, finite and short-