# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S539
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

CHURCH AND CULTURE
Ov. 11-02

539

Ov. 11-03

To Condemn the Abortion Rights Ideology
as Heresy
WHEREAS, The Scriptures teach that man, both male and female,
is made in God's image (Gen. 1:27); and
WHEREAS, The Scriptures teach that God knits man in his
mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13–14); and
WHEREAS, The fifth commandment condemns murder, and God
says that murder is condemned because God created man in his own
image (Gen. 9:6); and
WHEREAS, Children are not something we choose for ourselves,
but more correctly a heritage from the Lord, which God freely gives
and takes away in his own grace and wisdom (Ps. 127; Gen. 30:2;
Job 1:21); and
WHEREAS, The eternal Word became flesh in the womb of the
Virgin (Luke 1:31–32); and
WHEREAS, The joy of Christ’s birth is also for the child inside
his mother's womb (Acts 2:39), as attested by the account of John
leaping in Elizabeth’s womb (Luke 1:41, 44); and
WHEREAS, The eternal Word becoming flesh in the womb of the
Virgin is essential to how sinful man is saved (Gal. 4:4–5; 1 Tim.
2:5), since, as Gregory of Nazianzus put it, “For that which He has
not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His
Godhead is also saved (Critique of Apollinarianism, par. 5).”; and
WHEREAS, Jesus died also for unborn babies who are made in
God's image (1 John 2:2); and
WHEREAS, Saying that the value of an unborn baby’s life is
dependent upon the choice of the mother, rather than on the will of
God who created and redeemed the child, is a heresy, which attacks
the very heart of the Gospel (Rom. 9:16); therefore be it
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in
convention declare the pro-choice and abortion-rights ideology to
be a heresy, which no Christian in good conscience can hold; and
be it further
Resolved, That Synod in convention condemn all so-called
Christian ministers who sanctify abortion in their teaching and other
rituals as heretics preaching a false gospel, calling on them to repent
lest they face God’s fierce judgment, as Paul directs us to do to those
teaching a different gospel (Gal. 1:8–9); and be it further
Resolved, That we see the atrocity of abortion in our country as
a sign of God's coming judgment and therefore a time for us to
repent of our own sin, as Isaiah says in the presence of the Lord, “I
am a man of unclean lips who comes from a people of unclean lips
(Is. 6:5)”; and be it further
Resolved, That we continue to pray fervently for all who are
affected by abortion, both for the victims to be spared and for those
who have committed this evil to repent and find the great comfort
of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ blood and merit (1 Tim.
2:1–4); and be it finally
Resolved, That we affirm that God is the one who kills and makes
alive, who gives and takes away, so that we might receive all good
gifts, especially children, with fear, love, trust, and thanksgiving (1
Sam. 2:6).

To Condemn the Pro-Choice Ideology as Heresy
WHEREAS, The Scriptures teach that man, both male and female,
is made in God’s image (Gen. 1:27); and
WHEREAS, The Scriptures teach that God knits man in his
mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13–14); and
WHEREAS, The Fifth Commandment condemns murder and God
says that murder is condemned because God created man in His own
image (Gen. 9:6); and
WHEREAS, Children are not something we choose for ourselves,
but more correctly a heritage from the Lord, which God freely gives
and takes away in His own grace and wisdom (Ps. 127; Gen. 30:2;
Job 1:21); and
WHEREAS, The eternal Word became flesh in the womb of the
Virgin Mary (Luke 1:31–32); and
WHEREAS, The joy of Christ’s birth is also for the child inside
his mother’s womb (Acts 2:39), as attested by the account of John
leaping in Elizabeth’s womb (Luke 1:41, 44); and
WHEREAS, The eternal Word becoming flesh in the womb of the
Virgin Mary is essential to how sinful man is saved (Gal. 4:4–5; 1
Tim. 2:5), since, as Gregory of Nazianzus put it, “For that which He
has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His
Godhead is also saved” (Critique of Apollinarianism, par. 5); and
WHEREAS, Jesus died also for unborn babies who are made in
God’s image (1 John 2:2); and
WHEREAS, Saying that the value of an unborn baby’s life is
dependent upon the choice of the mother, rather than on the will of
God who created and redeemed the child, is a heresy, which attacks
the very heart of the Gospel (Rom. 9:16); therefore be it
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS)
in convention declare the pro-choice and abortion-rights ideology
to be a heresy, which no Christian in good conscience can hold; and
be it further
Resolved, That the LCMS in convention condemn all so-called
Christian ministers who sanctify abortion in their teaching and other
rituals as heretics preaching a false gospel, calling on them to repent
lest they face God’s fierce judgment, as Paul directs us to do to those
teaching a different gospel (Gal. 1:8–9); and be it further
Resolved, That we see the atrocity of abortion in our country as
a sign of God’s coming judgment and therefore a time for us to
repent of our own sin, as Isaiah says in the presence of the Lord, “I
am a man of unclean lips who comes from a people of unclean lips”
(Is. 6:5); and be it further
Resolved, That we continue to pray fervently for all who are
affected by abortion, both for the victims to be spared and for those
who have committed this evil to repent and find the great comfort
of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ blood and merit (1 Tim.
2:1–4); and be it finally
Resolved, That we affirm that God is the one who kills and makes
alive, who gives and takes away, so that we might receive all good
gifts, especially children, with fear, love, trust, and thanksgiving (1
Sam. 2:6).
Grace, Lexington, MO; Saints Peter and Paul, Sharon, PA

St. Paul, McGregor, IA; Trinity, Guttenberg, IA

2019 Convention Workbook