Life in the Womb, the Lord of Life, and Our Christian Response
Abortion has been debated in the courts, in the culture, and in the church for many years. Many voices speak with confidence, but Christians must ask a deeper question: What has God said? The Bible does not speak to every modern policy question in direct terms, yet it gives us clear truths about God, human life, sin, moral responsibility, and the value of children in the womb. Those truths matter, and they must shape our thinking.
When we speak about abortion here, we are talking mainly about induced abortion, especially abortion chosen intentionally. Miscarriage is a tragic loss, but it is not the same moral question, since it is not something a person chooses or causes on purpose. The issue before us is whether ending the life of the unborn can be justified before God.
The Bible Must Govern Our Thinking
It is true that Scripture does not give us many direct statements about abortion itself. That is one reason people have reached very different conclusions. But the answer is not to ignore the Bible. The answer is to listen carefully to the passages that do speak to life in the womb, to God’s knowledge of the unborn, and to our duty before Him.
Exodus 21:22–25 and the Value of the Unborn
One of the key passages is Exodus 21:22–25: When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment. If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound. The passage describes men fighting and injuring a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely. The text then explains that if there is harm, the principle of just retribution applies. This is not a direct treatment of elective abortion, but it does show that injury involving the unborn is morally serious before God.
There have been two main interpretations of this passage. Some understand it as describing a premature live birth. Others take it as referring to a miscarriage. If it means a premature live birth, then the passage strongly points to God’s concern for the child in the womb. If it means miscarriage, then the passage still deals with accidental harm, not intentional abortion. Either way, this text should not be forced to say more than it says.
Some have argued that because the penalties in the passage are discussed differently, the fetus must not be fully human or a true person. But that conclusion goes too far. The passage itself does not settle every later question about personhood or ensoulment, and it certainly does not give moral permission for abortion on demand.
We must be careful here. Exodus 21 deals with accidental injury, not the deliberate ending of a pregnancy. So even if someone takes the passage in the direction of miscarriage, it still does not follow that induced abortion is acceptable. That is a leap the text does not support.
There is also good reason to understand the passage as speaking of premature birth rather than miscarriage. The Hebrew wording often points to a child coming out alive, not to a lost pregnancy. If that is the right reading, then this passage gives even stronger support to the truth that the child in the womb is precious before God.
So, what can we say with confidence? Exodus 21 does not directly answer every question about induced abortion. But it does show that what happens to the unborn matters to God. It does not give biblical support for elective abortion, and it certainly does not treat the life in the womb as meaningless.
Psalm 139 and God’s Personal Work in the Womb
Psalm 139 speaks with striking beauty about life before birth. David says, For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). This means the unborn child is not “just tissue.” The unborn are under the creative hand of God. From conception onward, we are dealing with human life that belongs to the Lord, life that is sacred because God Himself is at work in the womb.
This truth appears elsewhere in Scripture. The Lord said to Jeremiah, I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born (Jeremiah 1:5). Concerning Jacob and Esau, God spoke of them while they were still in Rebekah’s womb (Genesis 25:23). We also hear the same note in Psalm 127:3: Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, offspring, a reward. The point is clear: God knows, forms, appoints, and values the unborn.
Psalm 51:5 also matters here: Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. David is not blaming his mother for conceiving him. He is confessing original sin. Why is that important? Because guilt before God belongs to persons, not to mere biological material. The unborn child is not less than human. The child in the womb stands in Adam and therefore needs the same grace every one of us needs.
Taken together, these passages lead us in a clear direction. The unborn child is not non-human. The unborn are known by God, formed by God, and are objects of His concern. Scripture does distinguish accidental loss from deliberate action, but it gives us no encouragement to treat induced abortion lightly. To end unborn life is to deal with a life that stands before God.
And even where people continue to debate the precise moment of ensoulment, one fact remains unavoidable: abortion ends the life of a child who, left to grow, would take his or her place in this world under the providence of God. That should sober us. It should humble us. It should make us slow to speak casually about what God has made.
Theological Truths We Must Not Ignore
One great issue here is the glory of God. Scripture teaches that even severe weakness or disability can become the stage on which God displays His power. In John 9:3, Jesus said of the man born blind, Neither this man nor his parents sinned, Jesus answered. This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. That means we must never assume that a child’s suffering or disability makes that child less valuable or less able to serve the purposes of God.
Think about what that means. If parents had known in advance that the man in John 9 would be born blind, would that have made his life disposable? Of course not. The very life some might have judged too hard, too costly, or too broken was the life through which Christ displayed the works of God. We are not wise enough to look at an unborn child and decide that his or her life cannot carry divine purpose.
Again and again, God has used children with deep needs, severe limitations, and unexpected hardships to sanctify families, awaken compassion, build Christlike endurance, and bring Himself glory. What the world may call a burden, God may use as an instrument of grace. We dare not erase a life simply because it may involve sacrifice.
A second truth is the promise of God’s providence. Romans 8:28 says, We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. That does not mean every circumstance is easy. It does mean that the believer never faces hardship outside the wise and sovereign hand of God. An “unwanted child,” in the language people sometimes use, may become one of the clearest instruments of God’s good purposes in a home. We must also remember Psalm 127:3: Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, offspring, a reward.
Our Bodies, Our Responsibility, and the Lord’s Authority
It is true that a woman is not the property of the state, the culture, or other people. She bears real dignity and real moral responsibility before God. But once conception takes place, another life is present, and that life also belongs to the Lord. The same God who made the woman also made the child within her. Therefore, self-determination cannot be the highest principle. The Creator is Lord over the womb.
The unborn are not invisible to God. They are known by Him, formed by Him, and precious in His sight. Let the church never surrender this truth. Let us protect life, support mothers, strengthen fathers, care for families in crisis, and hold out the grace of Christ to those who carry sorrow, regret, or guilt. And if anyone is tempted to think there is no mercy after sin, hear the gospel: there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ for all who repent and believe. Therefore, let us choose what honors God, defend those who cannot defend themselves, and walk in both truth and compassion before the Lord.
Copyright © 2006–2026 by Miguel J. Gonzalez Th.D.
Dr. Miguel J. Gonzalez is the Founder and President of Reasons for Faith International Ministries. He served as a pastor for ten years in Charlotte, NC and has taught in churches and conferences throughout the United States. He currently hosts the Time in the Word and Truth To Live By podcasts and writes at KnowingChristianity.blogspot.com.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
