A 16 week old fetus already has eyes that can blink and fingerprints,
yet some claim it is just “tissue”
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; … 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Human beings have an amazing propensity for self-deception. Every time I look at what is going on in Washington, DC, I keep asking, “How can things get this bad?” Well, there are certainly a number of reasons, but the most evident is that so many of our politicians are in a state of denial about so many things. They are beyond deceived. It is sort of like some type of mass hypnosis has then marching forward like lemmings off of a cliff.
In a representative type of government, there can only be one answer for why we elect insane leaders. As a whole, the entire nation has lost its mind.
The problem, unfortunately, cannot be solved, or at least it cannot be solved by us. That is because we are the problem. We have deceived ourselves into believing we can do what we want when we want and that it will all go on forever. Ancient Greece didn’t believe it would come to an end; neither did Rome. Self-deception and denial means the real problem will never be dealt with. It has never been successfully dealt with over the long haul since it began, which was in the Garden of Eden when mankind decided to not face reality and try to make its own.
We can add to or take away from reality, but we cannot create it. We can build things and make things, and those things become part of that larger picture of what is “real”. We can blow things up even take a life, and those things leave behind what is “real” and are no more. However, we cannot, at least not yet thankfully, stop the earth from spinning, put out the sun or an infinite number of other things.
There are physical laws. We obey them or pay the cost. HWA used to point to things like the law of gravity as an example of a physical law, and a law requires a law giver. He would then move on to show that there are very real spiritual laws in effect as well. Like gravity, spirit cannot be seen, but its effects can be felt and observed.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
We understand, at least a little bit, about the power of God by observing His creation. HWA talked a lot about how every effect requires a cause. The creation is an effect! It is the effect of a Creator!
This is where self-deception begins. It begins with denying God. Perhaps it isn’t denying God proper, but in many cases it is denying He is truth by claiming He made a bunch of laws and then changed His mind like some wimpy human would.
However, self-deception starts with the little things. “Hath God said …?” becomes the question. Did He really say the Sabbath was the seventh day? Did He really mean it that some animals were an “abomination” to eat? Did He really mean it that the Law is a lamp to the feet of those who would otherwise stumble on the path?
It is a progression. Are some sins worse than others? Jesus’ own words indicate that some are, at least in a temporary sense. For example, ignorance of the law is no excuse, is it? Yet, God will show more mercy to those who were ignorant than towards those who were not.
47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Even in the resurrection, it will be “more tolerable” for some than others.
14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
I realize this isn’t a popular thing to say on a Christian blog, but this indicates that some sins are worse than Sodom and Gomorrha!
Speaking of Sodom, however, it is the perfect example of what happens when the notion of “rights” gets out of control. Why should we be so surprised in this age of “sexual freedom” that some are more than willing to take what is “theirs”? If they have the “right” to sexual gratification in whatever form they want, then why are we so shocked at horrendous crimes that mimic how Sodom treated its visitors? How many were there before the two angels, we may never know, but there must have been a crying out over the sins of the city in order for it and Gomorrah to have been picked out of all the other city-states in existence, to include Babylon!
Isn’t that what all sins really entails? The taking, by force if necessary, of what one wants, and whatever or whomever gets in the way will be pushed out of the way even if it means the taking of a life.
Given our current technology, however, the irony of all of this comes to a head when talking about sexuality and the sexual revolution. Birth control is nothing new, but our technology and the birth control pill is. For the first time in human history, a separation has been made between sex and reproduction.
Although sexual activity has, until very recently, been essential to reproduction, this did not preclude the non-reproductive importance of sexual relationships and non-conceptive copulations. Technological advances, however, now allow for both sex without reproduction and reproduction without sex.
~ Oxford Journal of Medicine, “Sex and reproduction: an evolving relationship“
Sex without consequences. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, you know the saying, right? “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”
The fact is that if the pill worked as intended, there would be no need for abortions whatsoever. However, once the attitude of sexual activity without consequences being a “right” began to set it, then it doesn’t take much to travel to killing, literally, any consequences that emerge.
However, after deceiving and being deceived begins, any attempts to prick the bubble of denial are strongly resisted. Political correctness at its very core exists to assuage the consciences of those who want to sin openly. A baby becomes first a “fetus” and then “tissue” in an attempt to make baby killers not feel bad.
World War II should have been a wake-up call. By treating various categories of people as less than human and even performing experiments on their fetuses and even live babies as though they were less than animals, the entire German society became infected with this disregard for other human beings made in the image of God. Not that the US was clean by any means, but at least it sobered up a few that realized just where certain things lead.
By treating our own children as less than human, however, makes us even worse. God selected a lot of reasons for driving out the Canaanites, but He specifically told Abraham that He would not drive them out because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Ge 15:16). IOW, they were sinners, even as we all are, but there is a minimum of ethics that is required in all cases. There are a couple of sins that God repeatedly states as the reason for driving out the nations of Canaan.
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
~ Dt 12:31
Deep down inside, people know this! As Romans states, they are without excuse!
All it takes is to use that same technology to show a sonogram that it really is a small human and not some blob of tissue. I think no story points this out any better than the LifeNews.com article “‘Pro-Choice’ Medical Student Witnesses Abortion, Becomes Pro-Life“. Here is a medical student that has always been told that it is not a baby before 24 weeks. He firmly believed the liberal ideology that a woman has the “right” to “her” body and what was growing inside of it. He had no reason to believe otherwise. That is, he had no reason to believe otherwise until he actually witnessed an abortion as part of his training!
Read the article, for it will make it obvious why pro-abortion (and that is what they are, for the baby has no “choice” in the matter) zealots are so firmly entrenched against mandatory sonograms before an abortion can be performed.
This points to the heartlessness required of a society to kill its young. This points to the lack of a “soul”, if you will allow that word, within a society. Societies that have gone this far rarely turn back.
It is amazing just how 180 degrees the world’s values are from God’s. God is a father to the fatherless and defender of the widows. He raises up the defenseless with His strong right arm. Society often takes children away from parents without cause, and even when there is a cause they are turned over to people even worse than the home they came from. Widows and single mother households are put on programs that keep one enslaved to the system. Worst of all, those who are the most defenseless and without any voice whatsoever are killed on the altar of convenience.
Large families are not only not valued, but they are looked down upon. This present society does not value children, except of course for one or two to act as celebrity accessories that go with the wardrobe. However, God says children are a blessing. God says a quiver full of children is a blessing (Ps 127:4-5). This society deems them a curse! How much more backwards can we get it?
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
~ Ps 127:3
Typically, we think of leaving a heritage to our children, but here God, Our Father, gives us a heritage in the form of children!
America will fall under the weight of its immorality. Like Canaan, we sacrifice our children to our gods. In our case, however, we have made ourselves gods, and we sacrifice them because they are “inconvenient”! We do not even have the excuse of ignorant beliefs in ancient fertility rites!
You have to remember, though, that current attitudes about abortion are an effect of the condition of self-deception that started in the Garden of Eden. Some attitudes of “Christians”, so-called, are pretty disturbing, but fewer more so than those who claim to support “choice”. It is supporting murder, which is against God’s commands.
“Hath God said …?”
The answer, the only answer, is to break the cycle. And, the only One Who can do that is God! Jesus said the Father must draw us to Him (Jn 6:44). For that reason, the answer is Christ’s Kingdom. The answer is for God’s government to be set up on earth.
So, the answer to, “Hath God said …?” is “Thy Kingdom come.”