Fifty one years of state sanctioned mass murder
Christians must witness in the public square and churches much preach and teach against abortion. As the Apostle Paul asks in Romans 10:13-15, how can anyone repent and believe without a preacher?
When the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land, God warned them not to follow the demonic practices of the Caananites, which included child sacrifice. They eventually did worship demons and sacrifice their children to Molech. In what is perhaps the most intense rebuke in all of Scripture, God tells us in Jeremiah 19:5 and Jeremiah 32:35 that child sacrifice is so wicked that it never even entered into His mind that they would do such a thing. It is a crime against nature itself. It should sober us, then, to ponder how God views the state-sanctioned slaughter of well over 60 million babies to surgical abortion, and many tens of millions more to chemical abortions.
The repeal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 was a great moment in American history. It was a blessing to have the federal courts removed as an obstacle to protecting babies. But one thing that was made clear in the year and a half following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision is that the pro-life movement - especially the Church - had not done a good job preaching the Word and bringing people to the repentance necessary to follow through at the state level.
The biggest failure may have been not preaching that children should come only from the marriage covenant and that sex should take place only between a husband and wife. Single women have the vast majority of abortions, which is why single women have driven political victories by pro-abortion politicians and pro-abortion ballot initiatives. The Church has feared being "judgmental," and innocent babies have paid the price with their blood. God will judge the Church more harshly than pagan society.
We can never stop preaching, and we can never stop educating. At the moment of fertilization, a brand new life is created with a new DNA code. The baby exists, and he has a mother and a father. What that baby needs now is nutrition, shelter and time to grow and develop in the womb, and to continue to grow and develop after he is born. The March of Dimes explains that the following happens at only five weeks:
Your baby's neural tube forms. The neural tube becomes your baby's brain, spinal cord and backbone. Tiny buds start to appear that become your baby's arms and legs. Your baby's heart and lungs are developing, and your baby's heart starts to beat.
The path to repentance must include teaching people about the humanity of the unborn baby. This includes positive messages about fetal development, but also includes the wise use of abortion images. When people see the mangled bodies of murdered babies, they are forced to reckon with abortion in a way that simple words cannot convey. The most hard-hearted will pretend the images are fake, of course, but I have personally seen those photographs change hearts and minds.
We have looked for a political solution to protecting the unborn for five decades. That was always a fool's errand, as God tells us in Psalm 146:3-4. We should not place our trust in princes, and certainly not in politicians. The only real solution is to pray for revival. Unless God sends His Holy Spirit to bring repentance, abortion will be protected and even encouraged by the wicked governments of the "blue states." This means Christians must witness in the public square and churches much preach and teach against abortion. As the Apostle Paul asks in Romans 10:13-15, how can anyone repent and believe without a preacher?
This is not to say that political solutions have no place in the pro-life movement, or that we should not seek to pass pro-life laws. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:18-20 that all authority had been granted to Him in heaven and on earth. Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25 teach us that the nation of Israel suffered greatly because there was no king and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. In other words, according to Proverbs 12:15, every man was a fool. Romans 13 teaches us that God has given government the sword to protect the innocent. The law restrains our worst impulses, but our nation needs to repent in order for our efforts to be successful. That repentance must start in our churches.
Even in pro-life states, there is more that can be done. Indiana banned abortion in 2022, but local government repeatedly thumbs its nose at the good actions of the state legislature. Both city and county government in Monroe County vote to fund Planned Parenthood every single year. The City Council in Bloomington, Indiana has been especially wicked, approving over one hundred thousand dollars to pay for women to travel out of state to have their babies murdered. The Republican Party, supposedly the "pro-life" party, holds super-majorities in both houses of the Indiana state legislature but has done nothing to restrain this abuse of authority and culture war aggression by local government.
We must keep fighting. Encourage your church to preach and teach against abortion. Lobby your state legislators. Engage in the public square. Pray to God to give us revival and repentance. If your community has a public event to remember the victims of Roe v. Wade, promote and attend that event. Encourage and pray for your pastors and church leaders to have the faith to preach against abortion. With God on our side, it is impossible for us to lose this war.