With Newt Gingrich’s declaration of his belief that life does not begin at conception, but implantation, he is sure to upset many evangelical Christians and Catholics. But I would make the case that there is a lot of biblical support for his opinion.
Not that the Bible states explicitly when life begins, but (and I think more importantly) it does tell the believer when there is a soul.
Leviticus 17:11
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”
Here the Hebrew word nephesh is translated life, but most of the time it is translated soul. It does not say how the soul could be in the blood. Is it in the red blood cells, in the white blood cells, in the platelets, or in the plasma? No matter. If blood is moving around, the soul is there. No blood, no soul.
So when does blood appear in the embryo? Cell differentiation does not begin until about 4-5 days after fertilization. Implantation occurs on the seventh day. By the twelfth day, there are the three germ layers that will become the various tissues of the embryo, one of which (the mesoderm) will form the blood cells for the embryo.
None of the germ layers would form were no implantation to occur. No one would mourn the loss of an embryo prior to implantation. It probably happens scores of times in a normal woman’s life. It is too early even to be called a miscarriage.
Principled biblical Christians should support pro-life candidates like Newt Gingrich and not reject him because he is more in line with God’s word than the “life begins at conception” hard-liners.
Life Begins at Implantation
Local vs Universal Church
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Terms |
Local Church Ecclesiology |
Universal Church Ecclesiology |
One Body/Many Assemblies Ecclesiology |
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The Church |
Every local covenanted assembly with its saved, baptized membership is “The Church” in a particular location. |
The whole family of God from Pentecost which may be organized into local branches and/or denominations. |
Is the one body of Christ when specified as such in the Bible. Usually, in the Bible the term is applied to a local assembly. |
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The One Body |
Each local scriptural assembly is one body whether made up of Jews, Gentiles or both. (1 Corinthians 12:13) Or followers of Calvin or Wesley or Scofield or Darby. (1 Corinthians 1:12-13) |
The spiritual unity of all believers in Christ. |
The spiritual unity of all believers in Christ. |
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One Baptism (Ephesians 4:5) |
The one common baptism by which saved persons are baptized into the local body of Christ, the local Church, which is performed by the Holy Spirit at the same time as the church-appointed administrator baptizes the person in water. (Not baptism IN the Holy Spirit.) |
All believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit into one spiritual universal church when one accepts Christ as their savior through faith. At the same time, they are baptized by Christ in the Holy Spirit, and they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, sealed, and regenerated. The one baptism spoken of is not in water. |
All believers in Christ were baptized in the Holy Spirit into the unique body of Christ when Jesus baptized the church in Jerusalem in the Holy Spirit, not when they accept Christ as their savior through faith. (1 Corinthians 12:13) To fulfill the goal that things done in the heavenly are similarly done on earth, every believer should become joined to a visible local assembly by baptism in water. (Matthew 6:10; It has been given to the church to bind things on earth that shall have been bound in heaven. (Matthew 16:19) We as the local assembly are given the task of aligning things on earth with things that happen in heaven. Baptism in water on earth is a confession of the spiritual baptism that has already been accomplished in Heaven. (1 Corinthians 10:1-2) |
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Baptism in/with the Holy Spirit |
This is the act which empowered the local church at Jerusalem in Acts 1, which was never repeated individually or corporately. It enabled the church at Jerusalem to multiply churches, and fulfill the great commission in all the world. |
A special anointing of the Holy Spirit given for power in service either at the point of salvation. (Or as some charismatics say, as a subsequent experience.) |
The spiritual, heavenly baptism that happened on Pentecost that we join into at salvation, by which we are joined to the one body of Christ. (Acts 1:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:13) |
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Water Baptism |
The God-ordained method of adding regenerated individuals into the body of Christ and joining them into His death and into His covenant blessings. It is the New Covenant sign of membership in the Lord’s church. (Rom 6:3) |
An optional, irrelevant performance showing the gospel (death, burial, and resurrection of Christ), which could be taken as a desire for the individual to become a disciple. |
The earthly fulfillment of the heavenly baptism that joins an individual to a local assembly, fulfilling all righteousness. (Matthew 3:15) |
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The Local Church |
The God-ordained mission organization to take the gospel to the world. It holds the keys to the Kingdom, or covenant promises. It is the New Covenant nation. |
Any gathering of two or more believers meeting in Christ’s name. You could do church in your car on a trip if you have two believers. |
The God-ordained mission organization to take the gospel to the world. It holds the keys to the Kingdom, or covenant promises. It is the New Covenant nation. |
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The Lord’s Supper |
The God-ordained New Covenant meal celebrated by a Local Church membership entered by the New Covenant sign of baptism. |
Celebrates the New Covenant, restricted to believers in Christ who are not under discipline. |
The God-ordained New Covenant meal celebrated by a Local Church membership entered by the New Covenant sign of baptism. |
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How saved |
By grace through faith in Christ alone |
By grace through faith in Christ alone |
By grace through faith in Christ alone |
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How presented blameless |
Kept in His body by continuing in the faith received. If we forsake the faith, we are removed from the Local Assembly and are not presented in His body. (Col 1:23) |
We cannot be removed from the universal church because that would be like losing our salvation. |
We cannot be removed from the one body of Christ because that would be like losing our salvation. But we can be excluded from the bride and the Kingdom. We are kept in His future bride by continuing in the faith received. If we forsake the faith, we are removed from the Local Assembly and are not presented in His body. (Col 1:23) (Maybe there will be the bride body and the Christ’s body in the Kingdom.) |
Late-Tribulation Split Rapture
With new last-days scenarios being introduced practically every week, I wanted to throw out my two cents.
The Lord spoke of the “days being shortened” in his Olivet discourse referring, of course, to the days of tribulation. (Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20) And the ones for whom the days will be shortened are “the elect”. But according to the prevailing view, the church will be raptured before the tribulation. (The pre-tribulational view) So, if the elect is to be understood as the church, how might the days of tribulation be shortened? The church must be present for part of the tribulation period in order for Jesus’ statement to be meaningful.
And how will the days be shortened? There is an explicit time period given multiple times in the Bible for the End Times. The 70th week of Daniel is a seven-year period, at the middle of which the anti-Christ will be revealed and will persecute the people of God. The anti-Christ will be given 42 months during which time he will be ruler over the people on the earth. (Revelation 13:5) And the anti-Christ’s time begins at the midway point of the last seven years before the second coming of Christ to rule and reign with His saints. (Daniel 9:27) So this is referring to the second 3-1/2 years of the tribulation period.
Then there is the matter of the “woman clothed with the sun” of Revelation 12, who is protected in the wilderness for 1260 days. Who does the woman represent? Is she the remnant of the Jews, or is she the church, or a portion of it? We must begin with the man-child who is brought forth in Revelation 12:5. This sounds like an apt description of Christ Jesus. But that would make the woman be Mary, and she never was hidden in the wilderness for 1260 days. Or it could be Israel, since Jesus was born to that nation. But, who else is told that he will rule the nations with a rod of iron? Revelation 2:26-27 promises this to the overcomers. So I believe that the man-child is a company of overcoming Christians who are raptured to God’s throne at the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation period, and that the woman is the remnant End Times church which will go through the bulk of the rest of the tribulation.
This escape is not the rapture foretold in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which comes later. No, this event–occurring at the time when Satan and his angels are cast down to the earth–is the Escape of Luke 21:36, of which we will need to be watchful and prayerful in order to be counted worthy. It is the Escape promised to the church of Philadelphia. (Revelation 3:10) So who out of the church would be left behind? There are many Christians who do not have much treasure stored up in heaven, but they think they are rich. (Revelation 3:16-19) They will be given extra time to store up heavenly rewards and maybe even be martyred for the name of their Savior.
The parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-12) supports this view of the mid-tribulation escape, by the fact that the bridegroom comes at midnight (Matthew 25:6), and that some are taken and some are left (Matthew 25:10). In another passage about the tribulation, there is a description of two working in a field, with one taken, and one left. (Matthew 24:37-44; Mark 13:14-19; Luke 17:26-36; Luke 21:20-24) Comparing between the gospels will lead the careful student to conclude that the timing of this separation coincides with the time that the Jewish residents of Jerusalem are fleeing to the mountains in a mad rush because the anti-Christ has desecrated the temple and turned his sights on them. The timing of this abomination of desolation is (you guessed it) the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation.
But, for their sake the days shall be shortened. How? Soon after the abomination of desolation occurs in Jerusalem, the first four trumpet judgments will come upon the earth from the sky. Hail and fire mixed with blood burning up a third of the tress and grass, a great burning mountain falling into the sea, and a great burning star poisoning the rivers and springs lead to a catastrophic change in the rotation of the earth, causing the day to lose one-third of its time, and the night also. (Revelation 8:12) Then the earth would rotate in a 16-17 hour period, but the month and the year would still keep their former lengths of time. It would take 42 days from new moon to new moon, making a 42-day lunar month.
And with there still being 12 months in a year, we can now calculate how long the woman must wait in the wilderness until the rapture of all the Christians who are alive and remain until the seventh trumpet. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52) If the days are shortened to 16.75 hours soon after the 3-1/2 year point, then 1260 days will be 30 months into the last 42 months, meaning that there will be one year for God to pour out the bowl judgments upon the followers of anti-Christ after the Christians are raptured, and the dead in Christ are resurrected. Could this be the meaning of the phrase “the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion”? (Isaiah 34:8)
I hope this all makes sense, and prompts the reader to make spiritual preparation to be ready for whatever comes, whether it be determining in his heart to be the overcomer, being master of his fleshly lusts, or developing prayer habits to be able to survive the long night. Just know that the Lord will provide for His own, for those who call to Him out of a contrite heart.