寻求堕胎之后的赦免与自由 (Finding Forgiveness and Freedom After an Abortion)

无论是在社会上的和教会里,有成千上万的男女,忍受因堕胎带来的罪恶感之折磨;如果你是曾经堕胎,或曾建议过别人堕胎的女性,这个文章是为你写的;如果你是男人——曾经参与到堕胎的决定,或许是为你的女友、妻子、女儿、或是其他人——这也是为你而写的。

想要消除罪恶感却不处理罪的原因,是徒劳无功的;只有否认现实,才能逃避恶感。你需要的是一个永久的解决办法来处理罪恶感的问题,一个面对现实而不是逃避的办法。

好消息是,神爱你并且愿意原谅你的堕胎,无论你是有意或无意的。然而,在欣然接受好消息之前,我们需要知道坏消息;坏消息是:道德上的罪是真实的。我们每个人都在许多道德的事上有罪、得罪了神,堕胎只是其中之一,“因为世人都犯了罪,亏缺了神的荣耀。”(罗马书3:23)。

罪是达不到上帝的圣洁标准,使我们与神隔绝(以赛亚59:2)。“因为罪的工价乃是死。惟有神的恩赐,在我们的主基督耶稣里乃是永生。”(罗马书6:23)。

耶稣死在十字架上,祂是唯一能够替我们的罪受罚,以满足神的圣洁要求(哥林多后书5:21)。祂从死里复活,击败了罪,战胜了死亡(哥林多前书15:3-4,54-57)。

当耶稣为我们死在十字架上时,祂说:“成了!”(约翰福音19:30)。“成了”的希腊文翻译,是写在欠债字据上的用字,意思是“付清了”。

因为基督在十字架上为我们所做的工作,神慷慨的赦免了我们。

“东离西有多远,他叫我们的过犯,离我们也有多远。”

——诗篇103:12

“我们若认自己的罪,神是信实的,是公义的,必要赦免我们的罪,洗净我们一切的不义。”

——约翰一书1:9

“如今那些在基督耶稣里的,就不定罪了。”

——罗马书8:1

救恩是一份礼物,“你们得救是本乎恩,也因着信,这并不是出于自己,乃是神所赐的。也不是出于行为,免得有人自夸。”(以弗所书2:8-9),这份礼物不是出于我们的功德或努力,唯独依靠基督为我们的牺牲,神赐我们赦免、与永生的礼物,但这却不是自动临到我们身上的,要得到这份礼物,我们必须选择接受它。

你或许会想:“但是我做了这些事,我不配被赦免。”一点也不错,我们没有人配得赦免,如果我们配得,我们就不需要赦免了,这就是恩典的意义。

一旦被赦免,我们就可以盼望在永恒中与基督和我们属灵的家人同在(约翰福音14:1-3;启示录20:11-22:6)。你可以期盼与你所爱的、被基督宝血所遮盖的人团聚,包括你堕胎失去的孩子(帖撒罗尼迦前书4:13-18)。

神不希望你因为堕胎或其他所做的错事,而一直的惩罚自己;你的责任是接受基督的代赎,不要再犯。无论你做了什么,没有什么罪能大过神的恩典。祂见过我们最糟糕的景况,却还是爱了我们,神的赦罪之恩是无限的,没有什么自由比得上蒙赦免的自由。

加入堕胎后的治疗小组可以很好的帮助到你。你可能会怨恨那些曾经虐待过你的男人,或是原谅那些在堕胎的决定上帮助过你的人(参考马太福音6:14-15)。有一些专门为女性设计的堕胎后圣经学习,也有为男性设计的。在美国有许多的在线资源可以帮助你找到你需要支援的小组。

你需要成为治疗团体的一员,就是基督徒的家——教会。(如果你已经是一间教会的成员,跟某人分享你的堕胎经历,寻求你需要的特殊帮助。)你可能因为你的过去,在基督徒面前觉得不自在。但你不该为此难为情。一个真正以基督为中心的教会,不是圣徒的展示中心,而是罪人医院,你加入为伍的,是跟你一样不完美的人。教会的大部分成员不是自义的人;而那些自义的,是需要被怜悯的,因为他们不明白神的恩典。

一个好的教会教导的是圣经真理,会给你爱、接纳、和支持。

你可以做的一件健康的事是,向正面临不幸怀孕的女性伸出援手,神最终会使用你的经历装备你,让你帮助他人,与他们分享神的爱。我和我的妻子有些好友曾经堕过胎,但透过他们反堕胎、关爱生命的努力,给了其他女人他们当初想要却未能得到的帮助;讲说他们的故事不仅拯救了婴儿的性命,和母亲因堕胎而来的痛苦,更带来了医治。你也可以这样做。

 

原文链接:https://www.epm.org/blog/2015/Jun/3/forgiveness-after-abortion

作者简介:Randy Alcorn(系统有)

本文简介:想要消除罪恶感却不处理罪的原因,是徒劳无功的。

本文分类:基督徒生活

本文标签:Eternal Respective Ministries,堕胎,福音,

译:丽文;校:胡天津。


Finding Forgiveness and Freedom After an Abortion

Millions of women and men, both in society and in the church, are suffering under the guilt of abortion. If you’re a woman who’s had an abortion, or advised another to have one, this blog is for you. If you’re a man who’s been involved in an abortion decision—whether it concerned your girlfriend, wife, daughter, or anyone—it’s also for you.

It’s counterproductive to try to eliminate guilt feelings without dealing with guilt’s cause. Only by denying reality can you avoid guilt feelings. You need a permanent solution to your guilt problem, a solution based on reality, not pretense.

The good news is that God loves you and desires to forgive you for your abortion, whether or not you knew what you were doing. But before the good news can be appreciated, we must know the bad news. The bad news is that there’s true moral guilt, and all of us are guilty of many moral offenses against God, of which abortion is only one. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Sin is falling short of God’s holy standards. It separates us from a relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Jesus died on the cross as the only one worthy to pay the penalty for our sins demanded by God’s holiness (2 Corinthians 5:21). He rose from the grave, defeating sin and conquering death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 54-57).

When Christ died on the cross for us, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word translated “it is finished” was written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant “paid in full.”

Because of Christ’s work on the cross on our behalf, God freely offers us forgiveness.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Salvation is a gift: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This gift is not dependent on our merit or effort, but solely on Christ’s sacrifice for us. God offers us the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, but it’s not automatically ours. In order to have the gift, we must choose to accept it.

You may think, “But I don’t deserve forgiveness after all I’ve done.” That’s exactly right. None of us deserves forgiveness. If we deserved it, we wouldn’t need it. That’s the point of grace.

Once forgiven, we can look forward to spending eternity with Christ and our spiritual family (John 14:1-3; Revelation 20:11-22:6). You can look forward to being reunited in Heaven with your loved ones covered by Christ’s blood, including the child you lost through abortion (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

God doesn’t want you to go through life punishing yourself for your abortion or for any other wrong you have done. Your part is to accept Christ’s atonement, not to repeat it. No matter what you’ve done, no sin is beyond the reach of God’s grace. He has seen us at our worst and still loves us. There are no limits to His forgiving grace. And there is no freedom like the freedom of forgiveness.

Joining a group for post-abortion healing can help you immensely. You may have bitterness toward men who used and abused you and forgiveness issues towards those who helped you with your abortion decision (see Matthew 6:14-15). There are post-abortion Bible studies designed for women, and others for men. Many online resources can help you find the support group you need. (See www.healinghearts.org and http://afterabortion.org/help-healing/; call 1-888-486-HOPE for free confidential advice.)

You need to become part of a therapeutic community, a family of Christians called a church. (If you’re already in a church, share your abortion experience with someone to get the specific help you need.) You may feel self-conscious around Christians because of your past. You shouldn’t. A true Christ-centered church isn’t a showcase for saints but a hospital for sinners. The people you’re joining are just as human and imperfect as you. Most church people aren’t self-righteous. Those who are should be pitied because they don’t understand God’s grace.

A good church will teach the truths of the Bible, and will provide love, acceptance, and support for you. If you cannot find such a church in your area, contact EPM and we’ll gladly do what we can to help you.

A healthy step you can take is to reach out to women experiencing unwelcome pregnancies. God can eventually use your experience to equip you to help others and to share with them God’s love. My wife and I have a number of good friends who’ve had abortions. Through their caring prolife efforts they’ve given to other women the help they wish someone had given them. Telling their stories has not only saved children’s lives, and mothers from the pain of abortion, but has helped bring healing to them. It can do the same for you.

Photo by Luma Pimentel on Unsplash

Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over sixty books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries