Friday, January 27, 2012
For those struggling with guilt over a past action there is a path to forgiveness and redemption.
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[Darris McNeely] Earlier this week on our Beyond Today dailies we had covered two sessions on the subject of abortion . This came in the wake of the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade , which legalized abortion in the United States. In those two other sessions we pretty well established our position on the subject of abortion from the BibleThe books (Greek, "biblia" ) that are acknowledged as canonical (authoritative) by the early Christian Church. It includes both the books of the ancient Hebrew prophets and those of the apostolic witnesses to Jesus Christ. advocating a culture of life rather than a culture of death. But the question has come up, what about women who have had abortions? How do they reach forgiveness and a reconciliation and a clearing of themselves as they desire to come away from those feelings and deal with the guilt that they have had?
[Steve Myers] Oh, it's a big—it's a big issue because those things weigh on you when you've been faced with such a challenging situation, just getting rid of the guilt. How do you get rid of the guilt, whether it's abortion for that matter, or any of these weightier sins that just seem to be just a burden? You know, how do you deal with that? Is there a way that you can come away from that and put it behind you—put it in the past?
[Darris McNeely] Well, there is a way that you can. And, as a pastor, I've counseled with women over the years who have had abortions and who themselves have had to work through this guilt in their relationship with God, and a new relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. One of the scriptures that has always been helpful to turn people to is in Psalm 103:12 where it says—well, beginning in verse 11, "For as the heavens are high above the Earth, so great is His mercy towards those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:11-12). God forgives upon true repentance; He removes—not only from His sight, but from His memory—sin of any type and even a sin of abortion. And so that guilt is removed and forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus Christ just like any other sin can upon true repentance.
[Steve Myers] I think one way to imagine it, you know, if you were to talk to God about that sin that you have repented of and you've truly repented of that sin, turned the other way, and it is in the past and you are walking His way, if you were to ask God about that, I think God would say, "What do you mean? I don't recall that. I don't remember that," because He puts it away from Him. And I think Colossians 1:21 makes that very point. When we're repentant and we ask for forgiveness, you know, what does God think about that? Here's what it says, "You were once alienated and enemies." You know, when we're in our sins that's where we're at. And he says, "In your mind wicked works." Yet, once we repent he goes on, "He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight" (Colossians 1:21-22). Well, you talk about a change—from being weighted with guilt, from being under the death penalty, all the way to being holy and blameless. And that's how God looks at you when you're repentant. So, can you get rid of that guilt? Boy, when we understand how God views us—absolutely. He does forgive and He puts it behind Him and He sees us as He looks at His own Son, Jesus Christ—as holy and blameless.
[Darris McNeely] I think the word "holy" there, Steve, is the important phrase to frame this entire subject of abortion, putting it within the larger context in the subject of holiness. Abortion has to do with morality and our walk in life, and our relationship before God. Strive to be holy as God is holy and we can avoid even getting to the point where those decisions become a part of our life.
[Steve Myers] That's BT Daily . We'll see you next time.
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