Are We Going The Extra Mile For The Unborn?
“And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.”
Matthew 5:41
During our worship service every Sunday we’ve been taking some time out of the service to do some teaching/instruction for the children. For several weeks now we’ve been going over some questions and answers from the Free Will Baptist Catechism. We are currently reviewing the Ten Commandments and last Sunday we covered the Sixth Commandment as seen below:
Q: What is the Sixth Commandment?
A: “Thou shalt not kill.”
Q: What does the Sixth Commandment mean?
A: The Sixth Commandment teaches us human life is sacred. We should use all lawful means of preserving human life, both ours and others. It is wrong to commit murder.
That being said over the summer a resolution was passed at the National Association Meeting encouraging Free Will Baptist to redouble our efforts to see each state’s abortion laws reflect the value of the life of the unborn. My question is this; what were we doing before the SCOTUS decision and what are we doing now to redouble that effort? If we need to go the extra mile for the unborn have we even been going the first mile to begin with?
In regards to the Sixth Commandment portion of the FWB Catechism we are reminded that God commands that we should not kill (murder) and that we should use all lawful means of preserving human life, both ours and others. This along with the recent resolution on Roe v Wade that was passed in July, can we say as FWB’s, that we are redoubling our efforts to demand our legislators pass bills abolishing the murder of the preborn without exceptions in our states? Can we say that we have used all lawful means to demand equal protection under the law for the preborn?
Is a sermon once a year on the sanctity of life enough? Is nodding our heads in agreement that abortion is murder enough? Is passing a resolution, thanking SCOTUS enough? Is giving money to a Christian Pregnancy Center enough?
Now that mail order abortion pills are on the rise, are we reminding the women in churches and youth groups that abortion is indeed murder? I would say no, it’s not enough.
If we are going to take God and His Word seriously should we not indeed double down and dig in on our biblical position that abortion is murder? Should our ministers not be thundering from the pulpits on how we should apply the Sixth Commandment to our congregations? Should we not be engaging the culture of death with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is abortion not a Gospel issue? Is it the only sin that women need not repent of? Do not the teens in our youth groups need to be taught that life begins at fertilization and that they indeed need to be waiting until marriage before they have sex?
Are we teaching our youth that truly the preborn are the least of those among us and that they truly are our preborn neighbors? Are we discipling future generations to the biblical truths that no matter what stage of human development, we are made in the image of God and fearfully and wonderfully made?
In accordance with the book of Titus, are the older women in our congregations teaching the younger women in their congregations to wait to have sex until they are married and that abortion is murder? Are the older men teaching the same to the younger men? Are we teaching them that there are consequences for their actions and that murdering a child is never ever the answer?
All of these are deep questions that must be reckoned with. It may be tempting to say abortion is now illegal due do the SCOTUS ruling but the truth is abortion still legal. Women can still get abortion pills online. Women can still travel to other states to procure abortions. Companies are still paying for their employees to travel to other states to murder their babies so they don’t have to pay maternity leave. Abortion is still legal and for the most part churches are still silent. Many pastors are still silent.
Somehow we’ve convinced ourselves that the Sixth Commandment doesn’t apply to the preborn and we have no intention of redoubling our efforts nor have we exhausted all legal means to preserve the life of the innocent. Sadly, when it comes to abortion, we’ve been conditioned by pragmatic preachers and leaders to be hearers of the Word instead of doers of the Word. But I pray this changes, sooner rather than later. May God pierce our hearts with the reality of the evil of abortion and may He grant us repentance for giving lip service and yet continuing to do nothing.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
James 1:22
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Resolutions, 2022 National Association of Free Will Baptist (Birmingham, Alabama)
Ressolution 1
Resolution on The Roe V Wade Decision.
Whereas: abortion on the man has been a terrible scourge on our land, costing the lives of tens of millions of babies; and,
Whereas: many have prayed, preached written, and voted in an effort to see abortion laws changed in our country; and
Whereas: the Supreme Court of the United States has recently overturned, the infamous Roe v. Wade case, so that now laws related to abortion rest in the hands of legislators in individual states; therefore, be it
Resolved: that we thank God for answering our prayers, that our Executive Secretary, write a letter to the Supreme Court, expressing our denomination’s appreciation of the courts recent ruling, and that we re-double our efforts to see each states abortion laws reflect the value of the life of the unborn.
Resolution passed.
*Lennart Nilsson’s photographs documenting a human embryo’s development were featured in Life magazine in 1965. Photos are from 11-20 weeks. This was before Roe V Wade was passed 1973.