Can women who've had abortions be right with God?

The word "abortion" is not found in the Bible, but it does tell us about a man who probably could relate very well to women who've aborted their children, or to anyone who's participated in an abortion. His name was David.

2 Samuel 11 records how David lusted after another man's wife. He committed adultery with her, got her pregnant, and abused his kingly authority by having her husband killed so he could marry her. Earlier in his life David had been called "a man after God's own heart" (1 Sam. 13:14), but now that close relationship was broken.

If we were to jump ahead to long after David was dead and buried, we'd find he became the standard by which other kings of Israel were judged. Except for killing an innocent man and taking his wife, it was said he "did right in the eyes of the Lord" (1 Kings 15:5). How could a person with murder on his record be right with God? God hates murder! (Exodus 20:13, Proverbs 6:16-19)

We find the answer in 2 Samuel 12. When David was confronted about his sin, he fully confessed it. He'd been covering it up, but now he admitted he'd sinned against God. David would suffer the consequences of his sin the rest of his life, but verse 13 tells us very clearly that God forgave him.

David later wrote two poems about his experience (Psalm 32 and Psalm 51). They reveal the turmoil he'd felt before confessing, and the joy he felt afterward. This can be your experience too, no matter what you've done.

The same was true of the people who crucified Jesus. In Acts 3:14-19, the Apostle Peter accused them of killing the One who'd come to give life...of condemning to death the only One who'd never sinned...of demanding a killer go free in His place. They were guilty of His death. They'd acted in ignorance, but that was no excuse.

What now? Were they forever guilty? The worst people who'd ever lived?

No! Even they could be saved from sin and death. Peter told them to "repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

Return to joy

That was good news for them back then, and great news for all of us today. What should you do? Isaiah 55:6-7 says it like this:

Seek the Lord while He may be found;
call on Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

God doesn't want anyone to die in their sin, but for all to repent and live (2 Peter 3:9). His Son Jesus died on the cross to make this possible. Dying on the cross means He paid the penalty for our sin (1 Peter 2:24 and 3:18). We no longer must die for our own sins. It is finished!

Just as the forgiven sinner feels great joy, so there is great joy in heaven when lost sinners repent. Read Luke 15 to see what we mean.

To experience the joy of forgiveness, do as Peter and Isaiah said we all should do ... as David did. Repent and turn to God from sin. Then rejoice! Begin to really live. And know that there will be a great party going on in heaven.

Joy through tears

There’s another example of forgiveness in Luke 7:36-50. We don’t know the background of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears...we don't know what she did, but the Bible says she had to be “forgiven much.” Whatever it was, she was well-known as a "sinner."

Perhaps you can relate to a person whose sin was so great it caused her to cry enough tears to wash Jesus' feet! They were tears of gratitude for forgiveness as well as shame over her sin.

Consistent with His Father’s character, Jesus didn’t push her away, but neither did He ignore her sinfulness. He accepted her tears and defended her from accusers. He told her she was forgiven. She could leave the encounter confident that God no longer held her sins against her. Jesus fully paid her debt on the cross.

Do you also have much to be forgiven? Do you seek assurance that Jesus forgave your entire debt of sin, including abortion? Confess your sinfulness to God and then rest in the reality of His forgiveness.

These passages will be helpful to you: Romans 8; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; 1 John 1:9-2:2. And then, as Jesus said to other sinners, He also says to us: “Go and sin no more!”