On the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

On January 22, 1973, the decision of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand in our country.  Since then, over 50 million American sons and daughters have been put to death under the sanction of our laws.  50,000,000.  That number roughly equals the combined populations of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Put another way, that number is Lucas Oil Stadium filled to capacity 786 times.

But of course, numbers are only part of the picture.

Often, there is great tragedy in the lives of those who receive (and perform) abortions, such that I myself could not pretend to have experienced.  Behind every aborted child are a man, a woman, and a doctor–real people who walk among us every day, with whom we share our jobs, our campuses, our pews, our homes, and our hearts.  Ultimately, there is no demarcation between “we” and “they” when it comes to abortion.  There are people in your life and in mine who have received abortions; others have been complicit in encouraging or facilitating abortion; and many more have been personally affected by abortion.  Indeed, there is scarcely an American today whose life is not different because of the absence of these 50 million men and women.

What Word from the Lord befits such a day as today?  Two passages spring to mind.

Psalm 82. A Psalm of Asaph.

God has taken his place in the divine council;
     in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
“How long will you judge unjustly
     and show partiality to the wicked?     Selah
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
     maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
     deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
     they walk about in darkness;
     all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, “You are gods,
     sons of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, like men you shall die,
     and fall like any prince.”
Arise, O God, judge the earth;
     for you shall inherit all the nations!

The Lord God is King and Judge of the universe.  There is indeed a day appointed when every man shall stand judgment before God and receive from Him in accordance with his deeds.  With perfect justice, the Lord will set all things right in the end; and even now He is present and active in judging the lawless and upholding the cause of His people.  With the psalmist, we pray fervently that the Lord’s justice would be enacted in this world, just as we actively seek to employ what power we have to “rescue the weak and the needy… from the hands of the wicked.”  This the Lord commands; this we must do.

1 John 1:5b-6, 8-9

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth….  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is no man or woman on earth who has not broken the perfect law of God and rebelled against His authority over their lives.  The whole world–every one of us together–has forsaken the Lord and invited His just wrath and condemnation upon us.  But the same Lord, a gracious and compassionate God, has provided salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus for all who repent of their sins and place their trust in Him.  Make no mistake: There is nobody good enough to be beyond the need of salvation by Christ, and there is nobody sinful enough to be beyond the saving power of Christ.  The facilitation, encouragement, and commission of abortion are terrible sins, condemned by God for their scorning of His image; but Jesus has paid the full penalty deserved by all who turn to Him, and He confers upon them a status of perfect righteousness in the eyes of God.  The guilt of abortion is washed away in the inestimable pardon and forgiveness the Christian receives from God by faith.  This the Lord promises; this He will surely do.  Just ask Jane Roe.

The grace of Christ to you.