(This article is authored by the admins from www.AbolishHumanAbortion.com)
As we reignite the Abolitionist Movement in America today, we are building it on the following five principles.
1. BIBLICAL
We strive to provoke a clash of absolutes between the truth revealed
in God’s Word and the worldly wisdom of man. Rather than leaving the
Bible out of our engagements, we are determined to have a biblical
foundation for everything that we do. The concept of abolitionism (the
removal of evils) is derived from the word of God. It follows from the
call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).
The word of God explicitly instructs the people of God to wash
themselves, make themselves clean, and remove the evil of their deeds
from his sight, cease to do evil, learn good, seek justice, reprove the
ruthless, defend the orphan and plead for the widow (Isaiah 1: 16-17). The Bible also commands believers to do more than just abstain from evils but also to “expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).
Abolitionism also follows from the practice of what the New Testament
calls pure and undefiled religion: to look after the orphans (abandoned
children) and widows (women in need) in their affliction, and to keep
ones self unstained by the world (James 1:27).
Engaging in the work of abolition also results from consistently
keeping the two great commandments in a culture that dehumanizes and
destroys our fellow image bearers and neighbors (Luke 4:18-19).
Abolitionism also stands and falls on the truth of two interrelated
theological propositions derived from the Bible and nowhere else.
1. Human beings are created in the image of God and reflect His image.
2. The Creator Himself became a man in order to rescue mankind from sin,
self-destruction, death, and eternal separation from God.
Historically, these two propositions have laid the foundations for
all human rights movements and campaigns for human equality. They have
been a bulwark standing between humanity and the monstrous inhumanities
of human history. As the abolitionist of slavery William Lloyd Garrison
said, the belief that God created man in his own image is “a death-blow
to all claims of superiority, to all charges of inferiority, to all
usurpation, to all oppressive dominion.”
2. PROVIDENTIAL
We rely on the Providence of God, not the pragmatism of
man. Abolitionists do not trust in warhorses or chariots. We trust in
the spiritual means and methods God has given to us in His
Word. Abolitionists have always cried, “duty is ours, the results are
God’s!” We look to the Spirit of God to lead us, believing He is our
ever present guide and that He is not silent.
We depend upon the Providence and Sovereignty of God. “… He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” (Acts 17:25)
It is the power of God working through His Holy Spirit that changes
hearts. Yet we acknowledge that God has deemed men active participants
in this drama. He gives us choices, and these choices have consequences.
(Matt. 9:38, Acts 27:22,31) We are called to be faithful – to walk in righteousness – to speak the truth in love. We leave the results in His hands.
3. GOSPEL CENTERED
The Gospel is the answer to Abortion. We recognize that the chief weapon we possess in the fight against abortion is the gospel. Abortion
is sin and the only answer for sin is repentance and a saving faith in
the finished work of Christ. The Gospel alone can truly and permanently
mobilize human action, motivate moral behavior, and mandate consistent
compassionate social justice. It brings redemption from destruction; it
is the wellspring of love, hope, and joy and the real answer to
abortion.
Christ’s Great Commission to the church includes evangelism, but also
discipleship. Christ told his disciples to “Teach… them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The second greatest
commandment is “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matt. 22:39)
Christian, faithfully obey the Great Commission! Love God with your
all your heart, soul, and mind. Call all men to faith and repentance.
Teach and exhort obedience to all that Christ has commanded. Make
disciples that love what God loves and hate what God hates. Make
disciples who desire – along with their Father in Heaven – to seek
justice, to correct oppression, and to take up the cause of the 3,500
abandoned children who are murdered every day. If we love our preborn
neighbors as we love ourselves, we will not rest until abortion is
abolished.
We are committed to an uncompromising adherence to the good news that
God stepped down into human history as Jesus Christ. He was conceived
in the womb of a young unmarried woman who did not choose to be with
child. He lived a sinless life, and by His death redeemed a lost,
wandering and wicked people from sin, punishment and eternal separation
from God. The fullness of the Gospel of God is supreme above all
philosophies and ideologies and without the Gospel there would be no
call or means of Abolition.
4. BODY DRIVEN
We believe that Abolition is an Obligation of the Church. We seek to
awaken the Church to fulfill her ordained purpose to be salt and light
in this sin spoiled and darkened world. The primary means God has
ordained to display his manifold wisdom to the world is through his
people, his body and bride. The church must take the gospel to the ends
of the earth and bring it into conflict with every dark deed of man.
The body and bride of Christ, the church, is called to be salt and
light in this depraved world. Christians are to “abhor that which is
evil; cleave to that which is good” (Rom. 12:9), to expose evil (Eph. 5:11), and to destroy the ungodly thinking that defends evil (2 Cor. 10:5).
We are exhorted to rescue the weak from death, snatch the falling from
flames, and hold back the stumbling from the slaughter. Abolitionists
are driven by a desire to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with
our God (Mic. 6:8).
Our earnest desire is to consistently practice what God’s Word calls
pure and undefiled religion: to look after the orphaned and widows in
their affliction and to keep ourselves unstained by the world (Jam. 1:27).
5. IMMEDIATE and UNCOMPROMISING
We demand the immediate and total abolition of abortion.
We believe that allowing abortion in some cases along the way to its
abolition in all cases is neither strategically sound nor consistently
Christian. You cannot abolish any evil by allowing it to continue or
justify it in some cases. Any strategy for ending abortion in this
country which allows for the continued occurrence of some abortions for
the sake of outlawing the rest, though seemingly pragmatic and
deceptively promising to be effectual, is just that: compromise.
We reject incremental abolition, the gradual regulation of evil, and
“pragmatic” strategies. This fight is not an issue of what is practical,
achievable, or reasonable. It is an issue of obedience to God. We must
make no compromise with Sin or the means of fighting Sin. In
light of the reality that abortion is sin, we call for its immediate and
total abolition. God never suggests a gradual repentance of sin
(individually or nationally) but rather a radical cutting off and
turning towards Christ alone in total faith. Jesus declared to sinners,
“Go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11)
God has always called men to repent immediately. Repentance is not a
multi-step evolution where sinners slowly transition from darkness to
light over time. Repentance is a complete reversal of belief, thought,
and action.
When we say NO COMPROMISE WITH ABORTION! we actually mean it.
Abolitionism is just the Christian response to entrenched evil.
The evil of abortion will only be overcome by the people of God
conquering the deeds of darkness “by the blood of the Lamb, and the Word
of their testimony, for they love not their lives even unto death.” (Rev. 12:11) Just as Christians in 19th century America would have been hypocritical and callous to hold an anti-slavery position yet do nothing to end the practice, we believe that all Christians are called to the non-violent task of working to end abortion rather than merely believing that abortion is wrong. “…Faith, if it hath not works, is dead” (Jam. 2:17)
If we love our preborn neighbors as we love ourselves, we will not
rest until abortion is abolished. We will not cease to agitate our
culture and assist our neighbors until the blood of the most helpless
and innocent members of our society ceases to flow as a river through
this land.
Abolition is carried out by provoking a clash between the ways of God (rooted in these five tenets) and the ways of man.
(This article is authored by the admins from www.AbolishHumanAbortion.com)
