The Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13) may seem pretty straightforward, but it has much broader application than you might think.
In addition to murder, abortion is another way to prematurely end a life. While this is a hot-button topic that politicians love to debate, it is a fact that abortion stops a beating heart. Abortion brings an end to an innocent human life.
Notice all of the personal pronouns David used in Psalm 139:15-16: “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.” David is talking about a real person. He is speaking of a human being inside their mother’s womb.
David indicates that God has planned every day of our lives even before we were born. The object of abortion is a person in the mother’s womb.
If all of our days were numbered before we were even born, abortion must be the ultimate short-circuiting of God’s will when it comes to the sanctity of human life. The preborn matter to God, they must matter to us.
The Sixth Commandment also applies to euthanasia, which is causing the death of someone because of deformity, disability or disease. It is about authorizing or attempting to legalize a doctor’s ability to bring an early end to a person’s life.
Only God has a right to determine when a person should stop living. “In his (God) hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10) Some say it is my life and therefore my choice.
While this may be the prevailing philosophy of the day but contrary to scripture.
First Corinthians 6:19-20 puts it like this: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.”
We need to be reminded that every life, even the ones that society might perceive as somehow less than adequate, has immense dignity because it is God’s breath of life that sustains us.
When we presume to decide who lives and who dies — even when it comes to our own lives — we are playing God, and we are discounting the life that he provides.
You may read Steve Greene’s blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or you can email him at [email protected].