“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV)

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The great debate concerning life continues to rage. There are debates on the how life originally began to whether or not there is life after death. At the writing of this article we are preparing to celebrate Sanctity of Life Sunday. In light of that, let me make a couple of things clear. (1) Abortion is murder. (2) No Christian should ever vote for a political leader who supports abortion in any way. (3) Women who’ve had an abortion is still loved by God and can experience His grace and forgiveness.

Allow me to share with you the truth about life:

Life is an undeserved gift. The Bible teaches us that God is the giver of life. Genesis 2:7 tells us that God formed man with His very hands and he breathed into him the breath of life. Psalm 139:13-16 describes God as knitting us together in our mother’s womb. This life that God gives us is not something that we deserve or have the right to have. It is an undeserved gift given to us by God. By God’s sovereign act of love, He has allowed you to experience life. To say that we have ‘rights’ or that we are ‘deserving’ or that we are ‘entitled’ cheapens the sovereignty and grace of God. We should be thankful for the gift of life that God has given to us. Any rights or privileges we have come from God. Therefore, instead of focusing on and demanding our ‘rights’, we should humbly worship and praise our God who has given us those rights and privileges. We do not have ‘rights’ because we are human. We have ‘rights’ because God is good and He loves us. You do not have the ‘right’ to life. You do not deserve life. Life is a precious gift given to us by God and we should give Him all the glory and thanksgiving and praise for that gift.

Just as life in general is an undeserved gift, eternal life is also an undeserved gift. Romans 6:23 tells us that ‘wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ The fact of the matter is that we are all sinners. We were born in sin. Therefore, we do not deserve to live. The price of sin is an eternal death. If you die apart from Christ, you will wake up in a place called hell where you will be in the eternal state of dying, completely separated from God with no hope of escape. However, God has given us a gift. It is the gift of eternal life, made possible by the blood of Jesus. John 3:16 tells that God loves you so much that He gave you Jesus so that you may not experience eternal death, but instead, you will have eternal life. This gift of eternal life is not something that you deserve or can earn. It is a free gift given to you by the grace of God.

Life is a journey of love and forgiveness. As you have the privilege to live. You also have the honor of experiencing the love and forgiveness of God. It does not matter what you have done. It does not matter how bad you have sinned. God still loves you. And if you come to Him and confess your sins, He will forgive you and will completely remove the penalty of sin from your life. When God forgives, He forgives completely. He will never hold that sin against you again. On this day when we celebrate the sanctity of life, let me speak to those who have been involved in having an abortion and to those who have performed abortions: God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus to die in your place and pay the price of sin for you. Is abortion sin? Yes. It is a very terrible and horrific thing. Yet, God can and will forgive you if you will come to Him and believe on the Lord Jesus. This amazing love and forgiveness of God extends to the sexual immoral, the murderer, the abortionist, the terrorist, and to all of mankind.

Life has a narrow purpose. Galatians 2:20 says that I no longer live, but it is Christ that lives in and through me. Paul said, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” The purpose of life is to live for Jesus. The grand purpose statement for human life is simply, ‘to know Him and to make Him known.’ This is what life is all about. This is why God gave us life in the first place. He wants us to know Him and to bring Him glory by bringing others to Him. Never forget this. No matter where you go in life. No matter what you do. Live in order to know Jesus more and to lead others to Him. If we live with this purpose every day, our lives will be complete. Imagine how much better the world would be if we all lived with this purpose in mind.

Life is a choice. The abortion supporters have twisted the idea of choice. I am for life in the sense that life is a gift from God, not a ‘right’ that I deserve. I am for choice in that I believe that part of that gift of life that God has given to us includes the gift of choice. Life is a choice. Where you spend eternity is a choice that you must make. The way you live life is a choice that you must make. By God’s great sovereignty and his great love for us, He created us with the ability to choose. You can choose whether or not you will believe in Him. You can choose the path that you take in life. You can choose whether or not you have eternal life. All of those choices center around Him. You see, to choose life is to choose Jesus. Apart from Jesus, there is no life. My prayer for you on this day when we embrace the sanctity of life is that you would choose Jesus, that you would choose life.