"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14
Contraception, or birth control, as it's sometimes called, comes in lots of different forms. Some forms specifically work to kill a fertilised egg after it has been formed.
One of the challenges we face is understanding at what point a person comes into being, because clearly, any birth control administered after the moment a person is made is murder so far as God is concerned, and therefore so far as we are concerned too.
Not A Bag Of Cells
Whilst our government, or society at large, may not see in that way, as Christians we must see it that way because God simply has too high regard for people for us to ignore the importance and centrality of the sanctity of life. From Cain's murder of his brother in Genesis, to the declaration of what God intends to do with murderers at the end of Revelation - God shows us his heart for people whom he has made in his own image.
We don't have any good reason to think that when a female egg is fertilised, that at that very moment a person isn't made. We simply have no other line from which to measure the point at which God sees fit to make a human being - with an eternal soul.
So, putting aside any key medical considerations which may be important, abortive, or abortifacient contraceptives are a form of murder. They are destroying that which God has made in his own image - a person - and that is very serious. Murderers will not inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:21). Any temptation to think of the fertilised egg as a 'bag of cells' and not a person is a way of massaging the conscience about something that should not be done!
Non-abortive Forms
But what about non-abortive forms of contraception? In the case of non-abortive types, the fertilisation process is being prevented. And whilst there will be lots of nuanced views about the use of preventative contraception, in principal there seems to be no good reason to think that non-abortive contraception isn't an acceptable way of not getting pregnant. The bible certainly doesn't prohibit the use of this type of contraception. In fact the bible records one use of contraception, and though God is angry with the man after the event, he's not angry with him for deploying contraception per se, but for the reason he deployed it (see Genesis 38:8-10).
Pausing For Thought
That account probably gives us some pause for thought about contraception and some questions we might ask before adopting the contraceptive approach.
What, for example, is the reason we would want to prevent a new child coming into the world? Children are, after all, a 'gift from the Lord' (Psalm 127:3). And you will never have a better gospel opportunity than with your kids! You simply don't get the kind of prolonged, in depth, face to face exposure with anyone else like you'll have with them.
A good principle, that we have tried to apply is: what, with the limited and prayerful wisdom God has given us, is best for the kingdom of God? Jesus said 'seek first the kingdom of God' (Matthew 6:33). The Apostle Paul applies this principle. In spite of the fact that the Proverbs say that 'he who finds a wife finds a good thing' (Proverbs 18:22), the Apostle can say, 'it is good for the unmarried to stay unmarried' (1 Corinthians 7:8). His point is, a single person has less concerns that get in the way of advancing the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 7:32-33). And so it might be with children also.
Perhaps a couple have been given a heart for the lost people of Iran and are on a trajectory to move there. Maybe in that situation children might not be a wise choice. Or, perhaps a couple already have several children, but every time the wife gives birth there are severe complications. Maybe in that situation it would be wise to refrain from having more children.
Concluding, however, that having children would be too much hassle or might get in the way of a life-long dream to travel the world, probably wouldn't be reasons that are rooted in a desire for God's kingdom and his glory, but in selfish desires.
So, couples will need to try to work through the question of contraception prayerfully, thinking in a Godly way, how many, if any, children is going to best serve God's cause. And then proceed in faith.
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