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Scriptures on the Sanctity of Life
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As the Creator, God is the source of life. The Word of God in The Holy
Scriptures reveals the divine commitment to the sanctity of life. Several
Examples from Scripture demonstrate this:
Jesus summarized all of the following Scriptures well when He declared in
John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have
come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
Genesis 3:20, "Adam named his wife Eve (in Hebrew, this means "life"),
because she would become the mother of all the living."
Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder." (The Hebrew word translated "murder"
means "to take the life of someone unjustly.")
Leviticus 18:18, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Is any neighbor closer
than the child in the womb?)
Numbers 21:8, "The Lord said to Moses, 'Make a snake and put it up on a
pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.'" (God provides for
life in the face of death.)
Deuteronomy 30:15-20, "See, I set before you today life and prosperity,
death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God,
to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you
will live and increase , and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
your are entering to possess. . . .This day I call heaven and earth as
witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings
and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and
that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to
him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the
land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." (God
commands us to choose life.)
Psalm 22:9-10, "Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in
you even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my
mother's womb you have been my God." Luke 1:41-44, "When Elizabeth heard
Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled wit
the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: . . .'As soon as the
sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for
joy.'"(God's care for a person is from the womb even before birth.)
Psalm 51:5-6, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my
mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you
teach me wisdom in the inmost place." (Scripture extends Personhood to
the child in the womb.)
Psalm 139:13-16, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in
my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully
made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not
hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven
together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All
the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came
to be." (God is involved in the formation of human life from the moment
of conception to the day one dies.)
Proverbs 24:11-12, "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those
staggering toward slaughter. If you say 'but we knew nothing about this,'
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your
life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has
done?" (We have a moral duty to protect the helpless and those being
unjustly assaulted.")
Jeremiah 1:4, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I
appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'" Galatians 1:15, "But when
God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace. . . ."
(God's call of service is to a person while in his mother's womb.)
Romans 9:11-12, "Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good
or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works
but by him who calls--she was told, 'The older will serve the younger.'"
(There is continuity of personhood from the child in the womb to the child
born and growing to adulthood.)
Romans 13:9, "The commandment, 'Do not murder,' . . .is summed up in this
one rule 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its
neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (If we act in
love, we do not take life or harm life. This is God's commandment.)
Matthew 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Jesus'
ministry did not end God's law of love to neighbor, but He came to bring
it to fulfillment.)
In conclusion, Jesus said: "I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:28.) The
Gospel gives us the hope of the greatest life of all--eternal life in
Christ.
ProLifeForum.org
A Ministry of Proclamation Presbyterian Church
278 Bryn Mawr Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Voice: 610-520-9500
Fax: 610-520-5240
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