Breitbart may not be the most "unbiased" source, so their headline is likely not helpful: Eugenicists Rejoice: 72 Percent of Aborted Mississippi Babies are Black. The facts, on the other hand, are disturbing without their bias. The CDC reports that more than 71% of babies aborted in Mississippi are black. And it's not a "Mississippi thing". In New York City, among African Americans, 24,758 were born in 2012 and 31,328 babies were aborted. That is more babies killed than born. And in New York City, more than 42% of the abortions were black children. This may not seem startling on the surface until you realize that 36% of all abortions in this country were performed on minority women who constitute only 13% of the female population (ages 15-44). My point? There's something terribly wrong.
Now, there are debates on the subject and lots of perspectives. What's the cause? Is it a racial problem or a poverty problem? Is the poverty problem a racial problem? Or is it a problem of unstable homes1? Are you a racist for noticing the problem?
And I'm not here to clear up the questions. I think the answers are much simpler than that. It's not a black/white, poor/rich, unstable/stable relationship question. It's much, much worse. We've taught our children for nearly a hundred years that life isn't of much value2. We've devalued any genuine source of a moral code. In place of these values, we've substituted self-gratification and the entitlement mentality that says "I deserve ..." with "... whatever I feel like I want" as a completion of the thought. Today, anyone who suggests otherwise is considered unworthy of respect or consideration.
Is the problem of abortion a problem of race or poverty or some other social factor? No. It is a problem of sin made worse by a culture that has embraced it and further exacerbated by embracing the deceitful heart (Jer 17:9) and the debased mind (Rom 1:28) over God's truth. Make it whatever problem you want, but I believe you'll find at its core that it's a sin problem, and our society has almost no means of dealing with that problem anymore since we've jettisoned the notion that God has answers. Without Christ, these questions loom large and answers aren't forthcoming and it doesn't look good for future generations.
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1 Blackdemographics.com reports that 69% of pregnancies among black women are unintended and 85% of abortions are on unmarried women.
2 In the 1940's, as young American men were going off to defend freedom both in Europe and the Pacific, they discovered that teaching them to shoot at targets did not equip them to shoot at men. In WWII only 15-20% of riflemen would shoot at exposed soldiers. By the time we got to Vietnam, it was 90% because they had been trained to overcome their resistance to killing. Through various means, we have taught subsequent generations to be better and better killers with less and less concern over human life.
8 comments:
You write as though you believe that sinful behavior is chosen, rather than part of the "sinful nature" of man. How can that be?
Isn't behavior chosen? If it is not, then in what sense can God hold us responsible?
Yes, I write as if sinful behavior is chosen because I believe it is and because that's what I see in Scripture. The Bible recognizes the sinful nature of Man and still requires the correct choices be made, so it would appear that God doesn't see a contradiction in it.
I don't see a contradiction, either. This doesn't allow for "total depravity", though. If it does, but those that are "unconditionally elected" must make correct choices, what's the downside if once they're saved they're always saved?
Since I don't subscribe to "once saved always saved", I can't answer. (I subscribe to the Perseverance of the Saints ... not the same thing.) Since I do subscribe to "Total Depravity" (Gen 8:21; Psa 51:5; Psa 58:3; Isa 64:6; Jer 17:9; John 6:65; Rom 3:10-18, 23; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1-3; etc.), I don't see that it is excluded.
If you'll please substitute "the saints will persevere" in place of "once they're saved they're always saved" my question will remain: what's the downside to making bad choices?
Your question only remains if you fail to comprehend the Perseverance of the Saints (which is why I put the link for you). Not the same thing.
What I got from your link was that the elect won't sin, otherwise they weren't elected in the first place? I almost assumed that they'll make bad choices but not bad enough to conclude that they weren't elected in the first place, but I won't put words in your mouth. How then can John write that we can "know that we are in Him"? (1 John 2:5)
I appreciate your well-thought-out answers and I hope not to be needlesslessly argumentative. Most people caricaturize opposing views, which is certainly unprofitable. We're not on the same page but I begin with the assumption that you have answers for my questions.
Wow! That's what you got? Since I don't believe the Bible teaches that the elect won't sin and I don't believe (therefore) that the elect won't sin, it is clear that I rank high among worst communicators around. Truthfully, I can't even imagine what I would have said that would suggest that the elect won't sin. I don't believe in Sinless Perfectionism. Nor can I subscribe (as I've seen others do) to the differentiation between "sin" and "bad choices". So I ought to correct whatever I said to give you any of that kind of impression, but I haven't a clue how I could have communicated so horribly as to get you there.
The Perseverance of the Saints says that 1) salvation is always on the basis of forgiveness and righteousness in Christ (rather than any kind of sinlessness on our parts) and that 2) we are called by God to "work out your salvation", but that 3) God will insure that we do the work required to be saved. (This two-sided perspective of "work" and "God will insure" is found most clearly in Phil 2:12-13, but is all over the New Testament.) "Conditional Security", the view that you can and some do lose salvation, ignores the many passages that say that God cannot lose any, and "Once Saved Always Saved" ignores the many Scriptures that warn us to remain faithful, to work, to examine, to obey. Until those two sides of the question found in the Bible are put together, you don't have a complete answer.
Your question, then, was "If all the elect are ultimately saved, what's the downside of sinning?" Scripture warns that those who sin with impunity ("make a practice of sin" -- 1 John 3:9) are not born of God. The downside of sinning with impunity is that it demonstrates no change of heart and, therefore, no salvation (1 John 2:19). The upside of obedience is not salvation (accomplished by faith in Christ, not works), but reward and joy.
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