Sunday, August 26, 2018

Red Ragtop

The reason that I am posting this blog today is to expose the futility of following singers like Tim McGraw. Jesus Christ alone is Lord, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. (Mt 28:18)

As a Registered Nurse it is my job to teach patients, families and the public about their bodies and how to take care of them. As a Christian it is my duty to make disciples and teach them all that Jesus commanded, (Mt 28:18-20) building on no other foundation except that of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. (Ep 2:19

The apostle Paul said that the Christian is not without law, as some claim, (Rm 3:8) but under the law of Christ. (1 Cor 9:21) Paul also said that we fulfill the law of Christ when we bear one another’s burdens. (Gal 6:2)

In a book that I read during the summer, The Law of Christ: A Theological Proposal, the author, A. Blake White proposed five points regarding the law of Christ:
  1. The law of Christ is the law of love.
  2. The law of Christ is Christ’s example.
  3. The law of Christ is the teaching of Christ.
  4. The law of Christ is the teaching of Christ’s apostles.
  5. The law of Christ is the whole canon interpreted in light of Christ.1
A few months ago I saw a Music Video by the country singer Tim McGraw. The song that he sings in this Music Video is called Red Ragtop. The song is about a young couple's decision to have an elective abortion and afterwords having no regrets.


If you would rather not watch the music video, click this link for the lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/red-rag-top-lyrics-tim-mcgraw.html#ixzz4HRVLbNek (Links to an external site.)

Here is the truth regarding the beginning of human life:
At the very moment of conception within the mother’s womb there is a single cell that contains a DNA helix that is not the DNA of the mother. The genome of the mother and the father combine to form a completely new DNA helix that has never existed before. DNA is the programing to build an organism. In this case, the DNA in the mother’s womb (that is not hers) is the DNA to build a human being. “Such arguments, of course, are based in natural theology; it employs the data of general revelation only.” The question is, what is the biblical position on the personhood of the unborn. In his book, Christian Theology, Erickson gave five passages that have been employed throughout church history to give a biblical position on the personhood of the unborn; two Psalms passages, two New Testament passages and one Law passage:
1. Psalm 51:5, in this passage David acknowledges his sinfulness from conception, thereby indicating that he was a human being from conception.
2. Psalm 139:13-16, in this passage David speaks of God knitting him together in his mother’s womb and of God knowing him before he was fully formed, again indicating that a fetus is a human being.
3. Luke 1:41-44, tells of how John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb by the greeting of Mary who was carrying Jesus. This could be seen as a sign of prenatal faith, the faith given to human beings by the Holy Spirit.
4. Hebrews 7:9-10, the writer of Hebrews speaks of how Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek and said that Levi paid tithe because he was still in Abraham at the time. This could be understood as God seeing every person that would exist as a human being even before conception.
5. Exodus 21:22-25, Jack Cottrell demonstrated through exegetical work on the Hebrew word יָצָא (yatsa) that Exodus 21:22-25 means, “if there is destruction of the fetus.”
Erickson concludes by saying, “Indeed, none of the passages we have examined demonstrates conclusively that the fetus is a human being in God’s sight.” However, he goes on to say that there is enough evidence to say that it is likely. The reason that scripture never explicitly says, the fetus in the mother’s womb is a human being is because it was not necessary. Everyone knows that what is being carried in a mother’s womb is a human being; those who deny it are simply “suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.”2
The arguments that this Tim McGraw declares in the song for deciding to have an elective abortion are four fold, none of which considers the life of the baby in the womb: 1) They were both immature. 2) He could not support a family. 3) She was in school; therefore, having a baby would disrupt her life plans. 4) Having a baby would bring embarrassment because the world is cruel. 

At no time in the song is there a consideration that the green-eyed girls womb contained a human being created in the image of God. All four of these arguments are invalid when one considers that abortion is the intentional taking of a human life by malice of for thought.

It seems that hidden in the song is a knowledge that what they did was wrong, and not just wrong but a horrendously evil act of selfishness. I shudder to think of forgetting something like that. I have done a great deal of evil in my life, though my sins are paid in full by Christ on the cross I have not forgotten them. The Lord does forget them for His sake, (cf. Is. 43:25) but it is by the grace of God that I do not (cf. Ez. 36:31) or I may repeat them in my unregenerate flesh. Therefore, I think that it is the curse of God to do something like that and forget it.

There is forgiveness of sin for all who repent and believe in the gospel. (Mk 1:15) God is abounding in grace and truth but he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. (Ex 34:6-7) We have all sinned, (Rom 3:23) yet while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8) The penalty for sin is the eternal death, (Rom 6:23a) the lake of fire, (Rv 21:8) it is what we all deserve, but the free gift of God which no one deserves is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23b) Jesus commanded sinners to follow him, (Mt 16:24) and said that his burden is light. (Mt 11:30) Keep this thought in mind, your actions will always follow your beliefs. (Jas 2:18) Therefore,  confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. (Rom 10:9) “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21 & Rom 10:13)




1 A. Blake White, The Law of Christ: A theological Proposal, (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2010), 83.
Mike Peek, “Personhood of the Unborn,” The Nurse Theologian, accessed, August 26, 2018, http://www.thenursetheologian.com/2017/11/the-personhood-of-unborn_26.html.