WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?

Selected Scriptures

I. WHEN DOES PHYSICAL LIFE BEGIN?

1. At all points from conception, Jesus was considered a person
2. David affirms being a sinner (therefore a person) from conception (Psalm 51:5)
3. A pregnant woman, even in the very earliest moments of her pregnancy, is said to be “with child” in several places in the Bible (i.e. II Samuel 11:5)
4. God makes no distinction between the unborn child and the born child
5. Each person has been personally knitted together by God in the womb (Psalm 139:13)
6. “Rebekah his wife conceived . . . the CHILDREN struggled together within her” (Genesis 25:21-22)

1. Very early in the pregnancy (Matthew 1:18,20,23)
2. Very late in the pregnancy (Luke 2:5)
3. Shortly after the birth (Luke 2:16)

1. In the Old Testament a child is called by the Hebrew word yeled both BEFORE birth (Exodus 21:22) and AFTER birth (Exodus 21:4)
2. In the New Testament a child is called by the Greek word brephos both BEFORE birth (Luke 1:41,44) and AFTER birth (Luke 2:12)

II. WHEN DOES SPIRITUAL LIFE BEGIN?

1. (Ephesians 2:1-3) You were dead in your sins
2. (Ephesians 2:4-9) You were made alive through faith in Jesus Christ