History on the Sanctity of Life Sunday
On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in support of abortion; Roe v. Wade changed the course of American history. For some, when the anniversary of that day comes, there is a celebration in their heart. However, for those who cherish life, we look at that day as a tragedy, as we turn even harder toward building a culture of life. Many pastors around the nation see the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, as the day to focus on the sanctity, the very preciousness, of life.
This day is known nationally as Sanctity of Life Sunday; and since its first Presidential Proclamation in 1984 (text), the pro-life movement has energized the hearts of millions. God’s truth can lift the moral fog throughout the Church. Lifting the fog is essential in overcoming legalized abortion. Lifting the fog is also essential in reviving the Church in America. Christians, if they speak with one voice, really do have the political power to rid our nation of legalized abortion.
Sanctity of Life Scriptures
Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Job 33:4 - The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Psalm 95:6 - Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Psalm 100:3 - Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his, we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 119:73 - Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.
Acts 17:24-25 - The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
God Creates and Fashions Life within the Womb
Genesis 25:21 - Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant.
Genesis 29:31 - When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
Job 10:8-12 - Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.
Job 31:15 - Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
Psalm 139:13-16 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. God is the creator of life. God creates and fashions life within the womb.
Isaiah 44:2 - This is what the Lord says — he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you.
Isaiah 44:24 - This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb…
Isaiah 49:1.5 - Listen to me, you islands; hear this you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. And now the Lord says — he who formed me in the womb to be his servant . . .
Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.
The Incarnation of Jesus Begins with Conception
Luke 1:31 - You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
Matthew 1:20 - But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Ghost."
The Unborn are Treated as Persons in the Bible
Psalm 51:5 - Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 58:3 - Even from birth, the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.
Psalm 139:13-16 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Luke 1:41-44 - When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, " . . . As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."
Conception is a Gift from God
Genesis 25:21 - Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant.
Exodus 23:25-26 - Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life-span.
1 Samuel 1:1-20 - (Hannah praying to the Lord because she was barren, and the Lord granting her request.)
The incarnation of Jesus begins with conception.
Children are a Gift from the Lord
Genesis 33:5 - Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
Psalm 127:3-5 - Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
Psalm 51:5 - Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
John 3:6 - Flesh gives birth to flesh.
Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Our Life is our Time of Grace
Isaiah 55:6 - Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 - As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.
Hebrews 9:27 - Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…
God Forbids the Taking of Human Life
Genesis 9:6 - Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
Exodus 20:13 - You shall not murder.
Exodus 21:22-25 - If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
We are to Defend and Protect Life
Deuteronomy 27:19 - Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.
Psalm 10:17-18 - You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Psalm 41:1 - Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.
Proverbs 31:8-9 - Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Matthew 25:35-36, 40 - For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
Rape, Incest, and Birth Defects
Do Not Justify Taking the Life of the Child
Deuteronomy 24:16 - Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
Isaiah 45:9-10 - Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, "What are you making?" Does your work say, "He has no hands?" Woe to him who says to his father, "What have you begotten?" or to his mother, "What have you brought to birth?"
1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God Forgives the Sin of Abortion
Roman 5:20-21 - The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Galatians 6:1 - Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
These Bible verses were compiled by:
Christian Life Resources
2949 N. Mayfair Road, Suite 309, Milwaukee, WI 53222-4304
Let’s Us Contend for Life!
James W. Goll
