Spiritual Abortion

By Tara Chapman

Written March 2008

 

From the moment a man’s sperm meets a woman’s egg, a newly begotten human being is created.  Human gestation lasts approximately nine months, and during that time the possibility of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) continually lurks.  As the pregnancy advances, the likelihood of abortion occurring diminishes.  Current statistics claim anywhere up to forty percent of all pregnancies now spontaneously abort, most before a woman realizes she is pregnant, since only around one in five women who know they’re pregnant spontaneously abort.  The former statistics include pregnancies that are only days to weeks old, whereas the latter refer mostly to pregnancies over three weeks of age.  Nearly ninety percent of spontaneous abortions occur in the first eight weeks.[1]  Most of the remaining abortions occur in the remaining four weeks of the first trimester or in the first weeks of the second trimester.  Modern medical jargon has differentiated between “miscarriage” (spontaneous abortion) and “premature birth,” so that around the middle of the second trimester, they start calling it a premature birth, because there’s the small chance that the baby will be able to survive outside the womb.  If labor commences in the latter weeks of the third trimester—but still a few weeks premature—the baby is often not affected negatively at all, and usually if he is, it is relatively minor. 

 

When a person receives the begettal of the Holy Spirit, a new child of God is created.  Spiritual gestation varies with each individual.  But, physical conception, gestation, and birth are types of spiritual conception, gestation, and birth.  A spiritual abortion is always a possibility.  During some human pregnancies, a threatened abortion occurs.  The woman may have bleeding, and there’s the possibility of the baby being expelled from the body, which would mean its death.  A begotten son of God can also have a threatened abortion!  A threatened spiritual abortion.  The more mature the begotten son of God is when the threat comes, the more likely the individual will survive, just as it is in physical human pregnancy. 

 

Great King David feared spiritual abortion.  David was called a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14, Acts 13:22).  He had God’s Holy Spirit, something very few before the time of Jesus possessed.  David was a begotten son of God, and he loved and delighted in God’s law (read Psalm 119).  David had a great understanding of the scriptures and was very close to God. He had saving faith--faith in the future Messiah (Psalm 110). 

 

But something happened one day.  David went upon his roof and saw a beautiful woman bathing across the way.  David sent messengers to bring the woman, Bathsheba whom was the wife or Uriah, a man in David’s army, to him.  David then slept with her.  As if this wasn’t a horrible enough sin, David then concocted a plan to have Uriah killed, after his first plan of having Uriah come home to be with his wife (to make it look like the child was conceived by Uriah himself) failed.  Uriah was placed in the front of battle so that he’d be killed by the enemy. (The whole account is recorded in full in II Samuel 11.)

 

Adultery.  Deception.  Murder.  It sounds like a plot out of an ungodly film, doesn’t it?   Certainly, this doesn’t describe a man after God Almighty’s own heart!  David had done wickedly in the sight of God.  Nathan the prophet confronted David with his sin.  Rather than denying his sin or justifying it, David repented.

 

“And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the ETERNAL.  And Nathan said unto David, the ETERNAL also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”  He wouldn’t die immediately a physical death, nor would he die a spiritual death.  The abortion threat lifted from David, because he repented.  Verse 14 does reveal that the child conceived from the sin would die, but that was not punishment to David.  David did repent.  But, God explained that David gave His enemies great occasion to blaspheme due to David’s sin.  David was in a great position—a king of a nation.  This very fact made what David did all the more terrible.  Leaders should be an example to other nations.  If a leader is found to be in great sin, it causes the whole nation and their general belief system to look shoddy.  Israel was purported to follow the one true God, and yet their leader—their king—slept with another man’s wife, caused her to conceive, and then he had her husband killed.  If the president of the United States did such a thing, how do you think other nations would view the United States, if the president claimed to follow the one true God of the bible?  The U.S. did have a president—William Jefferson Clinton—who committed a lesser sexual crime (for the woman was not married), and there was no baby involved or husband who was killed.  And that was looked on as very shameful, was it not?  So, now you can see in a new light how awful of a thing it was that David did. 

 

But, as was mentioned, David did repent.  He was so ashamed and filled with remorse.  He would never do such a thing again.  Concerning this sin, David recorded in the 51st Psalm: 

 

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:  according unto the multitude of they tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions:  and my sin is ever before me.  Against the, the only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:  that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest…Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.   Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with they free spirit (1-4, 10-12).

 

Ah, there’s proof right there that a person doesn’t just “believe in Jesus” and—Poof!—the person is “saved” for good.  The bible teaches no such doctrine.  It is a satanic doctrine.  Paul, the apostle whose writings those who break God’s law and still wish to be saved like to twist (II Peter 3:16-17) also realized that he, as well as anyone, could lose the promised salvation, if he didn’t continue a Godly and obedient life (I Corinthians 9:27).  In I Corinthians 9:24-26, Paul likens living a Spirit-filled obedient life to a race, and we all know that a person doesn’t win the prize at the beginning of a race.  No, no. The person must run with all he has and give it his best, and then at the end, if he ran a good race, he receives his prize.  The person must not lose his endurance during the race.  As Jesus put it, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13).  Jesus taught that the way to life is narrow and that few in this time would take the narrow path (Matt. 7:13-14).  He said that many would seek to enter into the kingdom of heaven and would say, “Lord, Lord, I’ve done this for you, and I’ve done that.”  They might say, “I went to church every Sunday (Satan’s substitute for God’s Sabbath day),” or “I gave much to the poor,” or “I cast out devils in your name, Lord,” or “I translated the bible for the people,” or “I preached and won many people to you,” and many other excuses why they think they should be able to enter in.  But, Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you:  depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”  If a person is called to the truth about the gospel of the kingdom of God and knows he should repent from breaking God’s law and does not, then that person is going to find himself being told by Jesus to depart from Him into the lake of fire.  “Iniquity” means “lawlessness” or “sin,” which is breaking God’s law, commandments, and statutes (I John 3:4). 

 

It’s even a worse shame for someone who actually had God’s Spirit and tasted of salvation to fall away and be overcome again by the world (II Peter 2:20-22; Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-29, 38).    Those who do not keep God’s law will not inherit eternal life (Romans 2:6-13; 6:16, 23; 8:9; I Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-6; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Hebrews 5:9; 6:4-6; 10:26-31, 38-39; James 5:19-20, II Peter 2:20-22; 3:9-18; Revelation 3:5; 21:7-8; 22:12-15; Exodus 32:33; Psalm 1:6; 5:5-6; 15:1-2; 34:16; 37:9, 20, 22, 27-31, 38; 119:155; Proverbs 2:21-22; 10:30; Isaiah 24:5-6; 66:24; Ezekiel 18:4, 20-21, 23, 26-28, 3—32; Hosea 4:6; Malachi 4:1-6; Matthew 4:17; 5:7-20; 7:21-23; 19:17; 24:12-13; Mark 1:15; Luke 25-28; 13:3; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30 and more).

David certainly knew He was in danger of losing salvation, if he did not repent. Even those with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can slip up as long as they are in the bodies of flesh.  Something such as David did showed that He was not walking with God as he should.  I do wonder whether David had slowly backslidden over a period of time, such as months or a year or more.  Though possible, it seems unlikely to me that he would have been fully in tune with God just the day before he saw Bathsheba and then allow himself to fall for her.  When I’m walking close to God, I don’t find myself tempted to do something of that caliber.  But, over a period of time I experienced a gradual losing of zeal and closeness to my Father in heaven, and then I fell into a major sin, namely being lured into a cult.  It was very short-lived, as was David’s great sin, because I came to my senses, realizing the great error, and fully repented with great heartfelt repentance.  I felt so shameful and was in disbelief that I could ever have fallen into such a mess.  I’m sure David probably had those feelings afterward, as well.  It hurts to know that we messed up, that we did not please our Father and that we ever did something so awful. 

David repented greatly and asked for restoration, and then he picked himself up and continued back to his original Godly life, which includes teaching transgressors God’s ways.  “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.   Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with they free spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (Psalm 51:10-13).  Certainly David could not teach transgressors God’s ways, when he was in the business of transgressing and doing things contrary to God’s Word, but after repentance and restoration, He planned to go back to doing God’s work—to teach transgressors God’s ways so that sinners would be converted to Him.

A person who does not keep God’s law is defined in the bible as a “wicked” person.  A person who keeps God’s law is defined in the bible as a “righteous” person.  I highly recommend you read Ezekiel chapter 18.  It explains that God does not have pleasure that the wicked should die (verse 23).  This is also mentioned in the NT in II Peter 3:9.  But, repentance is required for eternal life.  This is not a teaching of salvation by works.  The law has never saved anyone.  No one in history was saved by works or keeping the law.  This is because one sin (James 2:10) is all it takes to reap the wages thereof (Romans 6:23), and ALL (except Jesus the Christ, Yahushua the Messiah) have sinned (Romans 3:23).  A person could be saved by keeping the law, if that person kept the whole thing without ever breaking it—not once.  That’s why we are saved by grace through faith that Jesus’ sacrifice will atone for our sins.  But, not everyone receives God’s grace.  Genesis 6:5-7 talks about the earth being filled with wicked (lawless) men.  Verse 8 says that Noah found grace in God’s eyes, because Noah was blameless and walked with God (verse 9).  Paul made it clear that grace does not give a person the right to sin (Romans 6:15).  Jude 4 warns that some crept in and turned grace into a license to sin.  Repentance is required to enter the kingdom of God.  When Jesus began to teach about the kingdom of God, He started out by saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2, see also Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15).  In order to receive the Holy Spirit, one must repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38).  The Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey God (Acts 5:32).  If a person is called to God’s truth but rejects it and never repents, then that person does not receive grace.  If a person knows the truth but never repents, that person will be thrown into the lake of fire.  God doesn’t want it to be that way, but that’s what will happen.  God has a great plan of salvation, though, which the vast majority of people do not understand.  His plan is aimed to save most of mankind, but there have been some and will be some more who will absolutely not accept and live by God’s ways. 

For those who already have God’s Spirit, their judgment time is now (I Peter 4:17), as well as for those who have been called in this lifetime but have rejected God’s ways (I Peter 4:18).  If you have God’s Spirit and have found yourself in sin, repent and overcome so that you do not lose your prize—eternal life in God’s universe.  Ezekiel 18:26 says that when a righteous man turns away from righteousness and commits iniquity and dies in them, he shall die in his iniquity (will not inherit eternal life).  But verse 27 says that when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness and doeth that which is lawful and right, he will save his soul alive.  James teaches in the book that goes by his name that if anyone turns a wandering brother who has erred from the truth, back to the truth, that person has saved his brother from death (5:19-20).  The messages to the churches in Revelation chapters two and three warn God’s people to repent where they have slipped into error and to overcome so that they do not lose eternal life.  Chapter 3:5 says, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” 

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are reading this and have taken a wrong turn in your walk with God and have committed sin, then repent and overcome.  Run a good race, as Paul said; and as Jesus said, endure to the end.  Do not let your threatened abortion be fulfilled.  Restore your spiritual gestation and hold onto that promise of future birth as a spirit-bodied child of God.

 

 

 

 

           

 


[1] Elaine Stillerman, “Prenatal Massage During the First Trimester,” Massage Today Vol. 6 Iss. 1 (2003)