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Clip: If you aborted your baby, there is hope!

Jim Butler · 2022-01-23 · Exodus 20:13 · 411 words · 3 min

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Summary

Expository

The church must preach both the sixth commandment's condemnation of abortion and the gospel of Christ's blood that offers genuine forgiveness and hope to all who have sinned.

The sixth commandment exposes abortion as a grievous violation of God's law, but the law's condemnation does not have the final word. This clip applies the gospel directly to those who have participated in abortion, grounding the offer of forgiveness in the atoning blood of Christ, the faithfulness of God to cleanse all unrighteousness, and the universal call of Christ to come to him. The church's responsibility is to preach both law and gospel together — the law that wounds and the gospel that heals.

Key quotes

Where the law is preached, the gospel comes on its heels to bring the balm of Gilead to those needy sinners that have been bruised, broken, and battered by that law.
There is hope in the blood of Jesus. There is redemption in the blood of Jesus. There is forgiveness in the person of our Lord Jesus.
When we bring that law to bear upon sinners concerning this revolting practice of abortion, let us be there with the gospel of free and sovereign grace to tell sinners there is hope, there is life.

Applications

  1. If you have participated in abortion or any grave sin, come to Christ in repentance — he will in no wise cast you out.
  2. Confess your sin to God, trusting that he is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
  3. Preach both law and gospel together: do not offer comfort without honest confrontation of sin, nor condemnation without the remedy of Christ's blood.
  4. Examine your heart concerning the sixth commandment — hatred without warrant is itself a transgression that requires repentance and forgiveness.

Questions this sermon answers

Is there forgiveness for someone who has had an abortion?

The speaker affirms clearly that there is hope, redemption, and forgiveness in the blood of Jesus Christ for all who confess their sin, citing 1 John 1:9 and Christ's promise to cast out none who come to him.

How should the church address the sin of abortion?

The church must preach the law to expose abortion as a violation of the sixth commandment, and then immediately follow with the gospel of free and sovereign grace, offering the balm of healing to those bruised and broken by their sin.

Does hatred in the heart violate the sixth commandment?

The speaker teaches that hating others in the heart without warrant is a failure to keep what God requires under the sixth commandment, not only the outward act of killing.

The Church's Gospel Responsibility

the religious and the political class every step of the way. And then finally the church needs to herald the gospel. The church needs to preach the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, that cleanses us from all sin. See, at times when we gather together and persons find themselves in a situation like this, they may reflect on the past, they may reflect upon bad decisions that they made in their youth, they may reflect upon previous horrors that they committed, but understand this.

The psalmist said, if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. There is hope in the blood of Jesus. There is redemption in the blood of Jesus. There is forgiveness in the person of our Lord Jesus.

If you have sinned this sin, if you have participated in this sin, if you have sinned in other sins, if you have hated people in your hearts without any warrant, you have not done what God has said relative to the sixth commandment. There is hope in our blessed Savior. Scripture says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Brethren, I think where the law is preached, the gospel comes on its heels to bring the balm of Gilead to those needy sinners that have been bruised, broken, and battered by that law to understand that there is hope to be had in the person and in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And everyone, the Bible is clear, everyone who comes to me, Jesus says, I will in no wise cast out. He says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That last great day of the feast in John's gospel, he says, if any man thirsts, let him come and drink. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, he is preaching to Jerusalem's sinners.

He tells them their number one sin, him you crucified by lawless hands. And yet he's able to say to them, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. So when we bring that law to bear upon sinners concerning this revolting practice of abortion, let us be there with the gospel of free and sovereign grace to tell sinners there is hope, there is life, there is

Scripture References

Study notes

Theological terms

  • Law and Gospel×2
  • Remission of Sins
  • Repentance
  • Sixth Commandment
  • Sovereign Grace