Will God forgive me for having an abortion?

Psalm 51:9-14Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. . . . Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.

1 Timothy 1:15-16This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.

David, God’s anointed king, committed adultery, then murdered someone to cover up that adultery. Paul murdered and imprisoned believers before his conversion. Sin leaves scars. Paul and David’s actions both harmed many lives, and that harm could not be undone. Yet Paul and David both recognized that harm. They sincerely repented, and God forgave them, restored them, and used their lives for good. In the same way, abortion is a sin with lasting consequences, but it is not a sin outside God’s grace.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The early church had a great deal of baggage: sexual sin, abusive behavior, and likely abortions and infanticide (common in ancient Rome). Yet God still called these people to himself. Their baggage didn’t disqualify them—and your baggage doesn’t disqualify you, either.

Psalm 51:1–2, 7Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. . . . Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:16-17You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

Isaiah 1:18“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”

Ephesians 3:18May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

1 John 1:9If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us.

King David wrote Psalm 51 as he wrestled with the guilt of his adultery and murder. We, too, can know God’s forgiveness—for any sin—when we confess our sins to him. God can cleanse and heal us from any and all sin, no matter how big or terrible it might be. No matter what we may have done in the past, God can restore us to wholeness through his amazing, boundless love.

Psalm 51:1-2, 17Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. . . . The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

Psalm 103:12He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Isaiah 1:18“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.”

You may experience great guilt and shame over your abortion. You may wonder if God feels that shame about you too. Take heart. If you have repented and trusted Jesus as your Savior, your record is clean and spotless in God’s eyes. Your sins are as far from you as the East is from the West.