Preserving Sound Doctrine

by Dr. Thomas Kehn

Our society today has some very distorted views of what constitutes that which is good, right and valuable!  It appears that one’s personal rights and priorities are considered of utmost importance when it comes to making, literally, life and death decisions. The self-absorbed “right” to choose is tragically even more paramount than the right to life. Regrettably, this perverted attitude imitates the barbarous sentiment of James Bond’s motto, “Live and Let Die.” Certainly, as those who have been created by God, we should be both stirred and shaken by this stark devaluing and dismissing of the importance of any life, be it outside or inside of the womb.

King David wrote these informative words in one of his best known Psalms, “You made all of the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed…as I was being formed together in the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.” Psalm 139:13-16. Note the multiple times the personal pronoun is used to describe David’s existence in his mother’s womb. It is also hard to miss the interest, joy and craftmanship afforded to God’s active participation in David’s (or anyone for that matter) creation before and after his birth. No such description would be necessary if a fetus in the womb is merely to be considered “tissue” rather than a real, live person.

It is simply incomprehensible and paradoxical to think that animals and trees have greater value and significance to those who are stringently passionately protecting their welfare, while on the other hand, quite indifferent toward saving the life of an unborn baby. Today, protecting mother nature seems to take precedence over protecting and cherishing human nature created by God, the Father. Sadly, the things of this world are often worshipped more than God who created the world or the one’s for whom this world was first created. How terribly far our world-minded society has fallen from its Judeo-Christian roots and values. The Apostle Paul saw a similar perversion occurring during his day as well. He wrote. “Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, the worship idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles…They traded the truth for a lie…So they worshipped and served the things God created instead of the Creator.” Romans 1:22-23, 25

God Almighty loves and cherishes each of us who have been created “in His image” (Genesis 1:27) and, accordingly, possess infinite value. Therefore, ll human life, both in the world and invitro, is deemed to have intrinsic and limitless worth both to God and, preferably, to mankind. How can we do anything less than reciprocate that same evaluation that God Almighty puts on us?

When it comes to our human rights, let’s not forget God’s rights over humans as both his creation and re-creation. The Apostle Paul stated this truth emphatically. “You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit that you received from God and that he lives in you. You don’t own yourselves. God paid a very high price to make you his. So, honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ERV 

As God’s creation and recipient of his creation, love and redemption, we longer have a “right” to do with our bodies what we want, God is the one who now, and should always, be seen as possessing this right. It is God, not us, who has already chosen the right to life. Consequently, our motto needs to be, “Live and let live.” Exodus 20:6,13 reads, “I (the LORD) lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands… You must not murder.” This was the second command in God’s list of 10, The only command before it is to “Honor your mother and father” (Exodus 20:12).  God has made it abundantly clear that to destroy human life is WRONG! It is also a great disservice to the parents who must potentially deal with life-long feelings of abject shame, guilt and regret. No price, even the inconvenience of carrying a child for 9 months, could possibly be compared to such emotional torture and self-questioning.  

Taking the life of a child, born or unborn is unthinkable to God and so it should also be to us. After all, one of the best ways to honor mothers and fathers is to lead them into understanding and committing to protect the sanctify of life, especially when it emanates from their own bodies. We all must hold tightly to the notion and truth that human life is NOT a right we can assume to possess and make. No one has the prerogative or the “right to choose” to take the life of another, even the life of the yet unborn. We must all return to the understanding that as God’s chosen stewards to, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28), we have both the awesome responsibility and right to cherish and protect the life He has started. For it is God alone who has the right to choose when to begin and end a human life. Afterall, He is the giver and designer of life. And God chooses life!