Biblical Distinctions Between Sin and Crime as it Relates to Abortion (This teaching will be a part of a new website #notavictim)
 
First, let’s start with definitions. We learn from the Bible, God’s immutable, inerrant and inspired Word, the definition of sin. 1 John 3:4 declares, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” In other words, any thought, belief, or action that violates God’s Holy Commandments is to be considered sin.
 
In archery terms, sin is missing the mark. If the arrow does not plunge into the bull’s eye, it misses the mark. Romans 3:23 reminds us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
 
In a practical sense, sin is the chain that binds men’s souls. Most know what they are doing is wrong and have even suffered for it, but like slaves, they are bound to keep sinning (Romans 6:16). The Apostle Peter described it like a dog that returns to its vomit or a pig to the mire, so fools return to their folly (2 Peter 2:22).
Unrepentant sin can eventually jade our consciences that God granted us to accuse or excuse our behavior (Romans 2:15). Practice sin long enough and one can sear one’s conscience as with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2). It will no longer serve God’s design for the human soul. It will malfunction to the point, where people are deceived to believe good is evil and evil, good (Isaiah 5:20). Cases in point, murdering babies in the womb is good and protecting them from harm is bad. Parading our sin like Sodom is good and protecting the God ordained family is bad.
The last stage of a seared conscience is reprobation. Souls that reach that stage become the walking dead. God turns them over to their depravity and their eternal damnation is sealed (Romans 1:24-32). I would adjure all that read this to consider well your ways and avoid this deplorable condition at all cost.
Lastly, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus taught that we all must be born again to enter or see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-6). Otherwise, the wrath of God abides on us (John 3:36).
The Biblical equation we must all comprehend is born once, die twice. If born only once, mankind will suffer both a physical and spiritual death (Hell). Born twice, however, and people only die a physical death. Our souls will escape the second death (Revelation 20:14). We will be preserved unto eternal life, where the Bible promises no more tears, suffering, pain, or sorrow (Revelation 21:4).
 
We came into this world dead to God and alive to sin. Once we are saved and transformed by the Holy Spirit, we become alive to God and in the process of sanctification, we become dead to sin (Titus 3:3-7). Thus, it is commanded to all, “Repent and believe the Gospel. The Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15).
 
Crime
 
Crime is defined as an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law. Not all sins in the Bible are considered crimes by God. Take for instance, the Tenth Commandment, “Thou shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17).
 
God does consider covetousness a serious matter. It leads to idolatry (Colossians 3:5). How is this possible? We must remember it was Adam and Eve coveting the authority of God to determine good and evil that led to the Fall. This betrayal has inspired mankind to seek to be a law and god unto ourselves to this very day. As rebellious as that might be, God still does not demand this be a crime made punishable by law.
 
Covetousness reveals the motivation of a sinful, greedy heart. It is an inordinate, avarice desire for your neighbor’s relations, property and goods. Now, if this leads to theft or murder, then the sinful action would be a crime. Greed maybe considered a possible motive, but the theft or murder would be the actual crime that would be charged against the perpetrator. Civil Government was not established to penalize thoughts, but only to punish criminal behavior.
 
Thomas Jefferson, our third President stated in his letter to the Danbury Baptist of Connecticut:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
 
When it comes to the thorny issue of abortion in America, most people, including Christians, have a deep misunderstanding of the nature of this act. Those who support this bloody evil, think it neither a sin nor a crime. They think it is “right” to be celebrated and protected by law. Most Christians have not thought through this national evil Biblically, which has brought national calamity. They may think it is a sin, but not necessarily a crime to be punished by law.
In fact, much of the failed strategy of the pro-life movement is based upon “the second victim” mentality. It is one that places the main perpetrator, in most cases, the mother, as a victim along with the child she murders by hiring an abortionist. Biblically, that is an absurd notion and God will not abide it.
 
We know for sure abortion is a sin due to the fact, it violates the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” The Hebrew word for kill in the sixth commandment is ratsach, which means “to dash in pieces, i.e. kill (a human being), especially to murder:-put to death, kill, (man-)slay(-er), murder(-er).”
 
“Thou shalt not kill,” in the Hebrew, translates as, “Thou shalt not murder.” The prohibition is against those who with malice and forethought would take the life of another, thereby forfeiting their own. This signifies the degree to which God holds human life sacred.
 
There are four forms of killing in the Bible that do not violate the Sixth Commandment and God would not deem these killings as acts of murder. Thus, persons involved with these types of killing would escape the penalty for blood guilt. First, capital crimes, especially murder, deserve capital punishment by lawful civil authority. Numbers 35:31 states, “Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.”
Remember, God gave to civil government the “sword” as the symbol of His authority in the civil realm. This symbol is not a piece of chalk to teach our children in public schools, nor a spoon to feed the poor on the government welfare dole. The sword is an instrument of death, a lawful coercive force ordained by God. The sword of government is to be wielded in justice by executing wrath against evildoers and protecting those who are good in God’s sight (Romans 13:1–4).
 
The other three forms of killings are accidental death, self-defense or justifiable homicide, and lastly, soldiers performing their lawful duty in a just war. None of these forms of killing does God consider crimes of murder punishable by law.
 
Much of our American jurisprudence concerning the distinction between killing and murder was based upon this Biblical foundation. The more we move away from God as a nation, however, the more these issues get murky. To the point, people who have defended their homes to protect their families from criminals are now being charged with a crime, whereas before, they would be hailed as heroes.
Abortion would also be considered a grave sin by God when we study His dealings with Israel in the Old Testament. Back then, abortion was known as child sacrifice and the shedding of innocent blood. It was so appalling in the eyes of God, He said, “I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind (Jeremiah 19:5). What does it mean when the all-knowing God admits this wicked practice never entered his mind?
 
I promise you that it is not due to the lack of knowledge. This would violate the omniscience of God. No, I believe this cruel act is so foreign to God’s commandments, character, will, and creative order that He refuses to acknowledge it. In other words, this despicable practice is so far off the charts, so beyond the pale, that God will not dignify it with any sense of rationality. For parents to sacrifice their own children in order to obtain a better life is unthinkable in the mind of God.
 
Abortion as a Sin and not a Crime
 
If abortion was just a sin and not a crime, there would still be consequences. None of us escape God. We cannot continue to break God’s law with impunity. Eventually, God’s law breaks us. Jesus warned, “And whoever falls on this stone (Speaking of Himself) will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” What a man sows, he shall surely reap. God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7, 8). We live in a cause and effect universe. Even the secular world touts the notion of Karma.
George Mason, chief architect to our Bill of Rights once stated, “Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of heaven on a country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, (only individuals) they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects providence punishes national sins, by national calamities.”
 
America failed justice and our national creed to the right of liberty by legalizing slavery. If the state is not consistent in matters of justice, the penalty does not disappear. It cost our nation a bloody Civil War. The penalty merely shifted from guilty parties (Slave Owners) to society at large. National sins and crimes, uncontested by justice, bring national calamities.
Once again, our nation has failed justice and our national creed to the right to life. This is the first and most fundamental right that God demands civil government to protect. Thomas Jefferson stated, “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
 
Though the church and state may fail in their responsibilities to protect the life of the preborn, God cannot deny Himself (Leviticus 20:1–5). The problem is when God deals with unjust atrocities; He typically responds with a heavy hand. Our nation will answer for every drop of innocent blood that has been shed in this holocaust.
 
Abortion is not just a Sin, but a Crime
 
The next question to be answered Biblically is, does God consider abortion to move beyond sin status to the realms of criminality. Unequivocally, it is a resounding YES!
 
God places no distinction between a baby in the womb to a baby outside of the womb. All human beings are made in the image of God. Equal justice under the law is not just sloganeering, but a sacred principle established by God (Exodus 12:49; Luke 4:4). Our nation has failed this sacred principle, but God will never fail. His throne is built upon justice and righteousness that will never waver or falter (Psalms 89:14).
Exodus 21:22-25 teaches:
 
If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
 
Notice this case law deals with a woman with child being caught up in a fight between men. The unborn child is included as the primary area of concern legally in the fray. If nothing happens to the child in the womb, there still maybe a financial penalty determined by a judge. If harm follows, however, the punishment must fit the nature of the harm, life for life etc.
 
This passage of Scripture is known as God’s Lex Talionis of crime and punishment. It is the golden rule applied to justice. If the punishment is less than the crime deserves, it inspires society to commit even more evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Unless we understand this principle of injustice, we will never comprehend the wretched condition of this next generation. If the punishment is to severe, however, it turns lawful authorities into despots.
 
The church must be consistent if our prophetic witness is to be considered credible in our blood stained and perverted nation. We cannot make truth claims like abortion is murder and then in the legal realm do not act like people are committing a crime. Our witness rings hollow.
 
Abortion is not a healthcare issue that can be resolved by legal technicalities. It is a crime. God calls it murder and it must be penalized by law. Otherwise, God’s demand for justice has not been met and our nation will continue to stagger under blood guilt and all its subsequent evils savaging our nation.
 
www.operationsaveamerica.org