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Hebrews 10:11-25

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

By: The Rev. Dr. W. Ross Blackburn

Pro life work is gospel work. In fact, it can really be no other. The reasons for this are found in the epistle for this Sunday. Hebrews 10 quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34, a cardinal passage in the OT where the Lord promises to make a new covenant with Israel, because Israel broke the former covenant, given principally in the Ten Commandments. The New Covenant makes two promises, both of which alert us that pro-life work must always be gospel work.

First, in the New Covenant, the Lord promises to put His law in their hearts and on their minds. The law, which was once external, being written on tablets of stone, will now be internal, written on their hearts. In other words, the people of God will be given an inclination to obey the law. Without the inclination to obey, we will always find a way around laws imposed from the outside. Regarding abortion, Roe v. Wade did this by defining “person” in such a way as to exclude the unborn, so that abortion would not violate the 14th amendment, which states that persons are not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Dred Scott v. Sanford did the same thing a century earlier with slavery. Man in sin can be very clever in finding his way around laws externally imposed that he does not want to obey. Laws written on stone will always be broken.

Secondly, in the New Covenant, the Lord promises complete forgiveness of sin. This also is crucial, for those who have been involved in abortion will not be able to repent unless they believe that they can be forgiven and freed from their sin. Abortion is a terrible weight, and it cannot be undone. But it can be forgiven. And unless a father or mother, or another who has been party to an abortion, knows that God forgives abortion, it will be easier to rationalize a past decision and remain hard to the millions of others facing the same circumstances. But there is no freedom there, for only the truth can set us free. That the truth does set us free can be seen in the lives of sinners of all kinds, who in repenting have found life, and that abundantly.

These are why political efforts, as important as they are, can never completely address the tragedy of abortion. Only the Gospel can do that. For those of us who celebrate Holy Communion, let us make sure God’s people know that Jesus’ words “This is my blood of the New Covenant, shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins,” are words of forgiveness and life for all, including those who have been involved in abortion.