After the killing of George Tiller, the late term abortionist of Wichita Kansas, there has been a multitude of responses from Christians and non-Christians. CADC immediately condemned the shooting of Tiller as an unjust act. Some fringe pro-lifers have condemned CADC for denouncing the murder of Tiller. Pro-aborts blame the whole pro-life movement for the acts of a deranged vigilante. Pro-life leaders have received an increase in death threats directed at them and their families.

Why would CADC not rejoice that a person is dead, who, by his own admission, murdered tens of thousands of babies? That’s a legitimate question that deserves a biblical answer.

Thou Shalt Not Murder

Let’s be clear, the Bible unequivocally condemns murder. The sixth commandment says, "You shall not murder.”[1] It is important to note that the Bible does not forbid all killing. There are some exceptions and important distinctions that need to be kept in mind.

For example, it is not murder to take the life of a person that has been justly adjudicated to be guilty of a capital offense by a lawful authority.[2] By an act of murder, a criminal has violated not only the victim’s unalienable right to life, he has also desecrated the image of God. “[E]very homicide is an offense against Him [God] (sacrilegium.) [3]

The use of lethal force in an act of self-defense is not murder if you have good reason to think that your life is in mortal danger. [4] In the same way, interposing yourself and risking your own life in the defense of your family or your neighbor to stop a potentially lethal criminal act is not murder. [5]

Taking the life of an enemy combatant in a just war is not murder because you are by extension defending yourself, your family and neighbor.[6] The Bible also distinguishes between premeditated murder, which is a capital offense and negligent homicide or manslaughter that is very serious yet not a capital crime. [7]

Tiller Was Guilty Before God

Biblically speaking, murder is unjustly taking the life of an innocent person. It is a denial of due process. By this simple definition Tiller certainly was guilty of murder before God. The only “crime” any baby ever committed was that of being an imposition on a woman’s lifestyle or having the misfortune of having a birth defect.

Soon, if we don’t repent, we will be killing babies because they are the wrong gender. Historically when gender selection based abortions are performed it is female babies that will die more than male babies. This is because females cannot support the family as well as males. It is tragic justice that radical pro-abortion feminists will become responsible for making it legal to slaughter little baby girls.

In God’s eyes the baby is judicially innocent[8] and aborting them is a denial of their fundamental right of due process, even with the mother’s cold blooded consent or “choice.”    

Tiller’s clinic was in Kansas. Kansas law states that late term abortions can only be performed if the woman’s life is at risk or that she would incur permanent physical harm. This could be said to invoke the legitimate biblical principle of self-defense.  It still denies the baby its right to due process because a mother and her doctor do not have the right to kill.  Medical advances have made it practically impossible for the birth of a third trimester baby to be a lethal threat to the mother.

Kansas law also states that a late term abortion had to be approved by another physician who had no financial connection to the abortionist performing the procedure. Earlier this year Tiller was tried on 30 counts of violating the laws restricting abortion, but he was acquitted by a jury trial. We can argue about the details of how the case was handled, but in the end he was found to be judicially innocent of those charges. 

Other lawful remedies were available and were already in progress to try to strip Tiller of his medical license. If successful, this tactic may have effectively ended Tiller’s abortion career. We will never know if they would have succeeded.   

But Who is Responsible?

It is clear that Tiller was guilty of violating God’s moral law. Abortion is murder. But to whom has God delegated the responsibility of enforcing civil moral law? According to the Bible, it is the duty of the civil government or the civil magistrate(s) to insure that no one is unjustly deprived of their God-given right to life. [9]

Lawfully established civil authorities are the rightful ministers of God’s wrath. They have been granted a monopoly by God on the use of the sword, namely capital punishment and physical coercion. But the civil magistrate does not wield this power without limitations. They must limit their use of the sword strictly to punishing those who do evil.

It is helpful to consider the role of the state by comparing it to other jurisdictions or spheres of authority. We acknowledge the biblical jurisdictions of family and church. Both have God-given limited authority.

Within the family, parents have the duty to raise their children with love and discipline, including the loving and judicious application of the rod. Parents cannot criminally assault or kill their own child in the name of parental authority.

The Church has been given spiritual authority within its jurisdiction to discipline its members.  But this is limited only to a spiritual and moral authority which may end ultimately in excommunication. Church discipline is never physically coercive.

A non-parent does not have the right to discipline another parent’s child. Un-ordained Christians do not have the right to prosecute a fellow church member and excommunicate him. In the same way, individuals simply do not have a biblical right to appoint themselves a minster of God’s vengeance and murder someone who is judicially innocent. This is anarchy and violates God’s order in the civic realm.   

The Conflict!

Here’s what conflicts us. Our biblical sense of justice for the unborn rightly perceives that George Tiller was guilty of violating God’s moral law. Before God he deserved to die for his murderous acts. It is comforting to know that God is just and that the blood of the tens of thousands of innocents that cry out for justice will be heard in heaven’s courtroom. No one gets away with murder before the bar of God’s justice.

But in this world God has established civil government. The civil magistrate is held responsible for dispensing justice and wrath.[10] Because of a wicked Supreme Court ruling, Roe V. Wade, our nation is awash in innocent blood and laboring under the weight of God’s temporal judgment. Wicked judges will account to God for their injustices. But the remedy to injustice is not more injustice.

Our Remedy

We must use every lawful means available- political, economic, educational and legal- any and all things short of the illicit use of the sword to end the injustice. As long as these lawful means are still open to us, we cannot resort to unlawful violence. As frustrated as we might be, we must honor God’s institution of civil government and the authority He has vested in them.

The hard fact is that we simply do not have the hearts and minds of a sufficient number of the American people on the issue of life. If we did, the politicians would fall all over themselves to accommodate our view. Our laws and judicial appointments would reflect true regard for the sanctity of life.

The signs are encouraging and the trends are heading our way. So, we must not stop working, educating, giving and voting pro-life.

It is helpful to remember that the Church was born into a pagan culture of sexual immorality and rampant abortion. Through the power of the Gospel and the truth of God’s Word, laws followed that ended legalized abortion.

If it was done once in the past, through the power of his Holy Spirit we will see it again with our own eyes. By God’s grace we are on the side of the angels as we stand for the sanctity of life. Our faith tells us that history and eternity will ultimately vindicate God’s righteous cause.

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saabira   |Registered |2009-06-19 17:50:32 Great article. Thank you.

gregfindlay  - Excellent Explanation of the Application of the Si   |Registered |2009-06-19 20:01:12 This explanation of the sixth commandment-Thou shall not murder-was well presented. It provides excellent examples of how to apply it. Thank you! I pray that Christians and non-Christians, especially pro-choice people, have the opportunity to read this.

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