5/8/2023 0 Comments Stand to reason![]() When I was teaching a summer course at a seminary in Africa, a student of mine made a perceptive observation along these same lines. As Wayne Grudem has said, "it is okay to place less emphasis on some good activities in order to focus on other good activities." And for kingdom purposes, it might be wise to regulate the size of one's family and to regulate when the new additions to the family will likely arrive. For kingdom purposes, it might be wise not to get married. God has made this a world in which tradeoffs have to be made and we cannot do everything to the fullest extent. It is wrong to reason that since A is good and a gift from the Lord, then we must pursue as much of A as possible. Just because something is a gift from the Lord does not mean that it is wrong to be a steward of when or whether you will come into possession of it. In response, it can be pointed out that the Scriptures also say that a wife is a gift from the Lord (Proverbs 18:22), but that doesn't mean that it is wrong to stay single (1 Corinthians 7:8). It is very important to delight in the reality that "children are a gift of the Lord." But some people go further and argue from this that since children are gifts from God, it is wrong to take steps to regulate the timing and number of children one has. Is birth control consistent with the truth that children are a gift from the Lord? Should natural family planning be preferred to "artificial" contraception?.Shouldn't we let God determine the size of our family?.Is birth control consistent with the truth that children are a gift from the Lord?.Some of the major theological objections that have been made to birth control can be categorized according to the following questions: There are, of course, some Christians who would disagree with this position on birth control. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them" (Psalm 127:3-4). Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Any attitude which fails to see that children are a good gift from the Lord is wrong: "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord the fruit of the womb is a reward. What is important is our attitude in using it. Psalm 119:1, 9 on the sufficiency of Scripture). The Bible nowhere forbids birth control, either explicitly or implicitly, and we should not add universal rules that are not in Scripture (cf. Desiring God and Bethlehem Baptist Church have no formal position on birth control, but John Piper and most of the pastors on staff believe that non-abortive forms of birth control are permissible.
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