In January 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled that women had a constitutional right to privacy in accordance with the 14^th Amendment, and that this right to privacy extended to the choice to have an elective abortion.

This legal decision, known as Roe v. Wade, set into motion decades of legal jousting between a woman’s right to choose and the sanctity of human life.

Someday these innocent children will have an opportunity to enjoy what they never had a chance to experience, resurrected, loved and cared for and given a chance to know God and His way

Despite the legal jousting, Roe v. Wade was and still is the law of the land, and abortion is legal in the United States at the time of this writing. Recent legal decisions in a variety of locales have shifted the allowable timeframes from the original decision.

God is clear in Scripture regarding His beliefs on the sanctity of human life.

In Exodus 20:13 God outlines a specific commandment against murder. Before this, when Cain killed his brother Abel, God punished Cain for murdering his brother (Genesis 4:9-12). The reason for these rules are outlined in Genesis 9:6: “…for in the image of God has God made mankind.”

God discusses His knowledge of a person in the womb in the book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 1:5, He states to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” God had plans for Jeremiah before he was born, while he was still in the womb. Other examples in Job 31:15 and Luke 1:41-44 illustrate that those in the womb are alive in the eyes of God.

These passages and others in Scripture clearly uphold the sanctity of human life, even that of the pre-born.

So how should a Christian view the Roe v. Wade decision? After all, it is legal precedent in the United States. Should that be something that we therefore accept, since we live in this country?

There have been times in history, and even today, where the laws of God conflict with the laws of man. In these places where the law of God and the laws of men collide, it is essential as followers of Jesus Christ, that we obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

As such, abortion is a sin, despite being legal, despite being accepted by society. It is clearly against the laws of God.

We are living in a time in which the world as a whole, including the United States, has rejected God and His laws. We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God in this world (2 Corinthians 5:20), and our citizenship resides in that Kingdom which is not yet on this Earth (Philippians 3:20). As such, we represent God and His laws to a nation that does not understand Him or His way of life.

An ambassador must know their own country, its cultures and laws, as well as the culture and laws of the country in which they reside in order to be able to effectively address where these two places collide. In Ezekiel 9:1-6 we see the expected response of godly individuals living in a society that is not. Those who "sighed and cried" over the abominations in the land were allowed to escape the punishment God would administer. Isaiah 5:20 cautions us against becoming accepting of these sins, or somehow justifying them because of their legality. We must call them what they are.

As Christians, it is important that we not shy away from standing up for and speaking out against things which are contrary to God’s laws, but with a firm recognition that we do so as ambassadors, not citizens. This should inform us as to our involvement in the politics or political advocacy against these things.

Someday these innocent children will have an opportunity to enjoy what they never had a chance to experience, resurrected, loved and cared for and given a chance to know God and His ways.

Godspeed the day.