4-3-99 (re-edited on 7-20-03 with my own confession of this heinous sin)
In reference to abortion
My response to a sister in Christ----who asked me about this,
In reference to your question about abortion---and more deeply about “does life begin with conception or birth?” Thank
you for your interest and your question. This is a very controversial issue, and certainly should not be--at least for a true
believer, a follower of Christ!
And, let me begin and end this with my own confession--------that I have been a “willing participant” in this heinous sin,
this abomination against God---------abortion! First, in my youth, I was “living in sin” with a woman to whom I was not
married-------and when she became pregnant--------I told her we needed to “get rid of her pregnancy” because I was not
ready to “father another child” (as I had my son from my previous marriage, and his mother’s pregnancy is what I based my
decision on back then to “get married” as “the right thing to do”-------and that marriage failed, because “neither of us”
honored God, or His blessing on our lives the son He gave us,)----------so certainly, in the delusion of my selfish sin, I did
not want to begin another “marriage because of pregnancy!”
So, in my case, sin lead to more sin----first “living in sin, unmarried, and second, the abortion when she became pregnant!!
And in this sin, I “lead the way” to murder an unborn child, by abortion! And back then, in the 60’s since abortion was
illegal, it was a horrendous experience, in which we traveled to Washington DC, and she went to a horrible place, and we
paid the money, and the lady inserted a “coat hanger” into her womb, and told us to drive around until she “aborted” and
then to come back to her house. So, we eventually went to see a movie-------The Pink Panther Returns------and sat there
while that horrible event was progressing! When finally it penetrated, and she started hemorrhaging, we went back to that
horrible house, and they “did something” to stop the bleeding, saying the abortion was completed, and we then traveled
back to New Jersey, where we were living. But, the bleeding increased, and finally we took her to a doctor for help, and he
had to do a surgical procedure called a D&C then to stop the bleeding (she almost died) and get her on the path to healing.
She said he told her it was twins!!
I helped murder twins!
We married a few months after that, and had three wonderful children of our own, but down deep, covered by the “hardness
of my heart”-------that truth of what I did remained,-----------and remains until today.
Then one other time, as I traveled the road in pro-wrestling, one of my adulterous affairs claimed she was pregnant by me.
And, I “loaned her the money” to have an abortion! So, by that participation, whether or not I was the father, I still helped
to murder another child. So, now you know my position on abortion!
I have prayed to the Lord for forgiveness, because of my sin!! I am a murderer! My sin I know He has forgiven, but it
is ever before me. There is no sin so heinous that the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, cannot overcome and wash
us clean---------but we still “live the consequences of our sin here on earth.” Though I am forgiven, mine will never leave
me. Abortion is murder-------------and we use it for “birth control!” May the Lord forgive us!
Now, that I have first recorded my confession, let us go forward as I try to share my conclusions of what the word of
God says in relation to this.
As with most things, people can look to the Bible, and take “portions of scripture” and seemingly then make a case to
“condone almost anything”. However, it is not really that way---as a matter of fact, it is just the opposite. And, isn’t it then
so like mankind, to look for “a loophole” in God’s character that would justify our sin----by us then trying to define when
life begins---at conception, the first month, the third month---or at birth---so we can know when it’s still ok to “choose” to
kill---to murder God’s gift to us?!!
Here are a few comments preceding our discussion of your question concerning abortion:
A Panoramic view of the Bible, taken from Scofield’s notes:
First to paraphrase Schofield wherein he is explaining that one needs to guard against hasty generalizations from a few
passages or proof texts. The saying “that anything may be proved by the Bible” is both true and false----- true if isolated
passages are used; utterly false if the whole divine revelation is in view.
The Bible, incomparably the most widely circulated of books, at once provokes and baffles study. Even the non-believer in
its authority rightly feels that it is unintelligent to remain in almost total ignorance of the most famous and ancient of books.
And yet most, even of sincere believers, soon retire from any serious effort to master the content of the sacred writings. The
reason is not far to seek. It is found in the fact that no particular portion of Scripture is to be intelligently comprehended
apart from some conception of its place in the whole. For the Bible story and message is like a picture wrought out in
mosaics: each book, chapter, verse, and even word forms a necessary part, and has its own appointed place. It is, therefore,
indispensable to any interesting and fruitful study of the Bible that a general knowledge of it be gained.
As I was reading in Ezekiel, the 6th chapter, and the 9th verse, where He is warning Israel, His chosen people, (as
are we who are saved) of His impending judgement on them for their rebellion against Him, and He says, “And they that
escape of you shall remember Me among the nations whither they shall be carried as captives, because I am broken with
their whorish heart which hath departed from Me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall
loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.” (Here is revealed that our Creator, the
Lord of the universe, can be terribly grieved by our sin, which is rebellion and rejection of Him---our disobedience.
Certainly, I feel abortion too is an abomination against God. How He must grieve when we destroy this most precious gift
of Him to us, a life in the womb.)
God does not speak to us in generalities---He gives specific instructions. Every believer can get to “the bottom line” if
they so desire. The way is narrow----not wide. A child can understand it---but the intellectual human race must “improve
upon it”, and in “our wisdom”, which is “our pride”, we totally complicate and cloud it, and dilute it away from its truth.
(Isn’t it so apparent how as we increase in knowledge---as the human race---and yet have so perfect a model that He gave
us in His word---yet, we dilute it, often so subtly that we are slowly seduced, just as Israel was---to the point that their faith
was so far removed from His plan and intent for them that it was but worthless rituals??!!) And we were given the gift of
His gospel, having the record of Israel’s destruction, which took centuries, and her legalism, and self-edifying control of her
“religion” as a business as well as a political government; and we too have now edited and diluted it saying such wise
things as: “That was for a different culture.” Or, we’ve clung to “our own understanding”, and discarded clearly spoken
models of how we are to assemble and worship and obey---and all for a “better way”, or the “means to the end”---building
huge “religious businesses”, and grandiose monuments to our own effectiveness (self)!! Mankind, our pride, like the
incessant destruction of flowing water, or the powerful action of the ocean, can reduce a granite mountain to pebbles and
sand----we too dilute, desecrate, and denigrate all that God left us in His word---all the while continuing to attend and
ritualize our religious monuments, striving to “earn our righteousness” through our own efforts to make ourselves worthy,
to “have merit” (which nullifies His grace) ---thus creating a widening separation of us from Him and His intent-----the
revelation of His glory which is a personal relationship with us through His Son, Jesus Christ. The subtle intentions of man
slowly creates a chasm so wide that it’s almost past being closed and returned to His model for us---as we create our huge
religious tombs (the housing for the dead---spiritually) to Christianity as a religious social group rather than a relationship
with Christ, and a body whose headship is in Him. We, like Israel, come to the feet of self-elevated rulers (including even
errant pastors and clergy), who (and we condone) continue as the Nicolaitians in separating the clergy and the laity--creating the further laxity in our responsibility as priests (which all believers are), and our failure to spend time with Him in
the word in order to better know Him, and His heart for us, and to prepare our worship all week for that time we come
together to worship, and give back to Him as a body. Instead, like passive sheep, we sit before these self-elevated people we
place in authority over us, and listen to their presiding over our “business meeting/ministry service” that has replaced Christ
with man as its head. Most do not even spend enough time with Him in the word to be able to discern the subtleties of their
inaccuracies or deceit, thus condoning their corrupting of the body---often as minions of Satan disguised as “angels of
light”. As we see from the O.T., God is long-suffering, but His judgement and punishment comes. We are responsible.
Finally, this is not “religion” (which man in his arrogant pride and rebellious disobedience has tried to make it,
and led so many astray), it is about our personal relationship with Jesus Christ!
Understanding that I cannot fathom how someone can earnestly study the Holy Scriptures, and call themselves
Christian----“followers of Christ”, and consider abortion an option! It is so against anything Christ represents, and against
God’s revealed inherent character and principles, that to me, it is impossible to accept---and even more foreign to try to use
scripture to validate. The saying, “What would Jesus do?” Let’s apply that to abortion----would Jesus abort a child in the
womb? For any reason? Now lets try to share some of my thoughts on abortion:
Jer. 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have
appointed you a prophet to the nations.” This certainly bespeaks of God’s relationship to us before we are even “formed in
the womb.”
Is. 49:1 Listen to Me, O islands, and pay attention , you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb;
from the body of my mother He named Me. (This is prophetic of he birth of Christ, but also applies to us from the
perspective of God’s sovereignty.)
Is. 44:2 Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, do not fear, O
Jacob My servant: and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
Ps. 127:3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. (This places no disclaimers
or conditions on the pregnancy---as society uses to justify it’s reasoning for abortion.---and then, allows that justification to
be diluted down to “a choice”---and thus a form of “birth control”---wherein as by this we see, it is a rejection of God’s gift
to us----just as we rejected His gift of Christ!)
Ex. 1:16,17 and he said (the Egyptian Pharaoh) “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see
them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the
midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live. (This certainly
places it in very clear perspective----it was by royal edict, the “law of the land”---not even “a choice”, but the midwives
refused to obey it----why? Because they knew it was against God!!!! Had they obeyed it, the world would not have had
Moses. So, any form of abortion, is murder, and Satan’s plan---not God’s.)
Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception,
and she bare a son. (This confirms that conception is the gift of the Lord, and where life begins. Scripture is filled with the
history of women who were unable to conceive, or who were unable to for a long while, and then God blessed them and
opened their womb, and gave them a child----like Sarah, the wife of Abraham; Rebecca, Isaac’s wife; and Rachel, Jacob’s
wife---and in the New Testament, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist as told in Luke 1: 1-25. So first there is
conception, and then at the proper time, birth.)
This scripture confirms that conception is of the Lord, (but also of the strife caused by polygamy----which was
always “against God’s will.”) 1 Samuel 1:5, 6 And to Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord
had shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her
womb. (So, she was ridiculed about it by the “other wife.” ) After she prayed and prayed, and fasted----the Lord answered
her, rewarding her faith, and in 1 Samuel 1:19,20 And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord,
and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew (they had relations) Hannah his wife; and the Lord
remembered her. ( thus conception) Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had
conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. (From this, I
think it is safe to say that conception is the beginning of life with mankind as God has began the physical process; and then
there is birth. However, to show the heinousness of this crime against God of abortion, we must also realize that God’s plan
for a birth is even before we are aware of it. David confirmed this in his Psalms as in Ps. 22:9; Yet Thou art He who didst
bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother’s breasts. Upon Thee I was cast from
birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother’s womb. And Psalms 139:13-16; For Thou didst form my inward parts;
Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in
secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book
they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.)
Luke 1:13-15 relates of the birth of John the Baptist---wherein his life was prophesied prior to conception! God
makes “no mistakes”---man in his sin and rebellion does.
Gal. 1:15 But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace,
was pleased------ (This shows Paul’s divine appointment prior to birth, prior to conception---even though his early life was
as a “religious zealot” that persecuted the early believers, the church, which is Christ. Don’t you see, we are all a Divine
wonder---and our birth is pre-ordained.)
Christ’s birth was prophesied for centuries prior to its “physical happening” (so is ours); but what did Satan do
through his minion, King Herod, in an attempt to destroy Christ? Matthew 2:16 reveals he ordered all male children who
were in Bethlehem, and all its environs, from 2 years old and under, to be killed!
Thus, when you look at it in the entirety of all the scriptures, you can certainly see that any form of abortion is a form of
murder----but even if is you cannot see the relationship to abortion and murder, you can certainly see it is against God’s
sovereignty of His gift of life to each parent---a rejection of his precious gift, a child.
Look at Leviticus, the 20th chapter beginning with the 2nd verse-----wherein it refers to any man who gives any of his
offspring to Moloch, shall surely be put to death. This is a judgement for those who “sacrifice their children” to satanic
idols---which this “law of he land” allows you to do in relation to abortion.
Romans 1:32; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of
death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (This certainly positions us in
relation to “our approval or condoning of this heinous sin against God.”)
Again, I believe in a Sovereign God, who knew me from the beginning---certainly prior to my conception, and therefore, I
cannot find any reason that condones us deciding whether or not to complete the pregnancy to have God’s gift to us----our
child. Any form of abortion that is instituted by us, to me is certainly a form of murder---and we will be held responsible
for it by our Holy God. I have prayed to Him for forgiveness, because in my sin, in my youth, I have condoned and
participated in the funding on more than one occasion, and the act of abortion---I have murdered his gift to me! My
sin I know He has forgiven, but it is ever before me. As I have said, knowing I am saved by the blood of Christ, and His
taking my place on Calvary for my sins---I am not afraid to die----I am ashamed to die!! I have been given so much, and
done nothing to merit it---except to accept Him as my Savior, and my Redeemer--and He called and chose me, not me
Him. The only thing I deserve, that I have earned is to die and spend an eternity in hell as a sinner--that is what I have
earned! But, Praise Him! His love and grace through His salvation has redeemed me from the penalty of my sins!
Now, you have my opinion on it. Knowing I am a horrible sinner, without any merit, a man of flesh, who has violated every
precept of God, and thus saved only by His mercy and grace, His love---for which I cannot understand----but cling to it,
and to the righteousness and love of Christ through whom I'm saved.
I am not your pastor or your Holy Spirit, merely a believer, and as such, a priest to Him, by Him and through Him. This is
between God and you. You must search your heart before Him in this---but let me say---to teach a class in Sunday School
on it, you are then held to even a higher standard before Him---and so should carefully guard yourself and what you
represent to others as His will for us. It is a tremendous responsibility.
Sincerely,
BiIl Watts