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Mt. Baker Beacon
Vol. 03, No. 26 Jun 30, 2024
Your word is a lamp to my feet Mount Volume 03, Number 26 Published by Location: Sunday: Web site: Mt. Baker church
| In this issue: ABORTING ROE V. WADE June 24, 2022, marked a significant victory for the pro‐life movement. On this day, the United States Supreme Court overruled its earlier decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. These decisions had recognized an alleged constitutional right to abortion, requiring states to let someone have an abortion at any point before their developing child was “viable,” grown enough to live outside the womb. Now that full authority has returned to the states to make laws against abortion, much public discussion and policy debate have been taking place. The time in which we find ourselves presents a prime opportunity for Christians to offer answers to the world. While the word abortion does not appear in most translations of the Bible, a simple biblical argument against the practice can be constructed as follows: P1: Taking innocent human life is immoral. P2: Abortion is taking innocent life. C: Therefore, abortion is immoral. To establish the conclusion (that abortion is immoral), one needs only to demonstrate the two premises above, that taking innocent human life is immoral and that abortion is equivalent to taking human life. When engaging with others on abortion, a simple first question could be, “Would you agree that killing innocent people is wrong?” This first premise appears self‐evident, as most would recognize that murder is wrong. Furthermore, the Bible specifically tells us that if a person sheds man’s blood, the murderer’s blood should itself be shed by man, since man is made in God’s image (Gen. 9:6). “Hands that shed innocent blood” are listed among the seven abominations in Proverbs 6:16–19. ¹ As John writes, Christians should exemplify love rather than murderous hate: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). While the Bible supports the taking of life judicially (Gen. 9:6; Ex. 21:12; Acts 25:11; Rom. 13:3–4), the taking of innocent life is immoral. With the first premise established, all we have left is to demonstrate the second premise, that abortion takes innocent human life, to reach the conclusion. Over the decades, many proponents of abortion have argued that a fetus is not a living child but just a body part. According to this view, abortion is seen as the removal of tissue from a woman’s body, making it a private health matter left to the woman’s discretion. While this may not have been the consensus in the 1970s when Roe v. Wade was decided, the scientific consensus among biologists today is that human life begins at fertilization. In one study of 5,502 biologists from 1,058 academic institutions, 95% of those surveyed (5,212) agreed with the statement that “a human’s life begins at fertilization,” with supermajorities even among biologists identifying as “very liberal.” ² Biologists are reaching a consensus on what Christians already knew through God’s word, that life precedes birth. Jacob and Esau, before being born, are called “children” (Hebrew, ben) who “struggled together within” their mother, Rebekah (Gen. 25:22). The Hebrew word, ben, commonly means “son.” John the Baptist was even filled with the Holy Spirit before being born (Luke 1:15), and his mother could feel the movements of her “babe” upon hearing the greeting of Jesus’s mother, Mary (vv. 41–44). Therefore, an unborn child is a living human, “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God (Psalm 139:13–16). We cannot take the life that God formed in a mother’s womb. “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34). From what we have seen, the Bible condemns the taking of innocent human life (Gen. 9:6; Prov. 6:16–19; 1 John 3:15), and it’s also clear that the unborn constitute living children (Gen. 25:22; Luke 1:15, 41–44). Therefore, to practice abortion is to kill the innocent. While many practices in society can discourage us, Christians can thank God when society makes positive changes, so let’s rejoice. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Phil. 4:8). ¹ All Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ² Jacobs, S. A. (2018, August 6). Biologists’ consensus on ‘when life begins’. SSRN. THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). According to Jesus, God will not accept anything we want to offer Him as worship. We must worship God the way He wants to be worshiped. This is true both of individual worship and collective worship offered by the local church. Worship must be in spirit. We must have our hearts and minds engaged in our worship. God is not pleased with us just going through the motions. "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Matt. 15:8). To be acceptable, this worship must be offered with reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12:28). Worship must also be in truth. We must worship God the way He has set forth in His word. "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). God's word reveals the acts of worship in which we are to engage. The Lord's Supper. The church observes this memorial of the Lord's suffering and death (1 Cor. 11:23-26). In this simple memorial established by the Lord the unleavened bread is eaten in remembrance of the suffering He experienced in His body and the fruit of the vine is drunk in remembrance of His shed blood. This is to be done when the church assembles together (1 Cor. 11:33) on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Collection. The local church needs funds to carry out its work. These funds are to be raised by the freewill offerings made by the members on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-2). This act of worship corresponds to the giving of sacrifices in the Old Testament. While tithing was commanded under the Law of Moses, Christians are not given a specific amount. Members of the Lord's church are to give as they purpose in their hearts (2 Cor. 9:7). The offering in the plate is a reflection of the gratitude each member has for God and His blessings. Singing. The church is to engage in the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:19). This is not done by talented members or a choir to entertain the members. The songs are offered to God by everyone present. The singing of these songs accomplishes two important things. They are offered to God as praise - "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb. 13:15), and they sung to one another as teaching - "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16). While instruments were used in the worship of the Old Testament (2 Chron. 29:25-28), there is no mention of musical instruments being used in the worship of the Lord's church in the New Testament. Instead, we read only of these Christians singing and making melody in their hearts to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). Prayers. The early church was a praying church. "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). Holy men are to lead the church in prayer (1 Tim. 2:1, 8). Everyone is to follow along with this prayer and make it their own (1 Cor. 14:14-16). Preaching and Teaching. The public proclamation of God's word is constantly seen as a collective function of the local church in the New Testament. The Scriptures must be taught in the assemblies of the Lord's church (1 Cor. 14:26; Acts 11:26; 20:7). This instruction is essential "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:12). The New Testament includes specific instructions regarding the worship to be offered by the Lord's church. The apostles delivered these instructions to every local church (1 Cor. 4:17). If a church worships in spirit and in truth, it will be involved in these five acts of worship. Created by John Bass, last updated. 06/25/2024 The Mount Baker Beacon is a weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA. |
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