I TOO RECIEVED A PARDON

     It was Monday, Jan 20th at 7:30am. I woke up feeling glad that I did not have to get up at 5 o clock in the morning. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so being a national holiday the schools were closed which meant that I got a day off. 

    There was a lot going on in the news. Tik Toc a social media platform was just recently banned. Even though this day was a national holiday (and an important one at that I may add) President Trump was being sworn in to become the 47th President of the United States. However That was not what people were talking about when I grabbed my phone and got on Facebook. 

    I was shocked to see that in the last moments of Joe Biden's Presidency, Joe Biden had issued some last minute  pardons. 

    Many presidents in times past have used there last remaining moments in the white house to deliver certain pardons. This has been going on since George Washington was in office all the way to today. In fact President Joe Biden has issued the more pardons than any other president in history. Not bad considering that President Joe Biden only served as President for one term. Interestingly enough, the president with the second highest pardons issued is President Andrew Johnson who issued many of his pardons after the civil war. Presidential pardons

     Now what made these presidential pardons so controversial was not the timing of them. It was not the amount of pardons that he gave. The issue that many people were talking about was that these pardons where for people who have yet to be charged of any criminal activity. The people that Joe Biden had pardoned had yet to be charged or even prosecuted for any crime to be pardoned of. Joe Biden's Presidential Pardons

    Now President Joe Biden stated that these pardons was not an admission of guilt, but was simply a form of protection for what he believes is an attack against his family and friends. 

    The problem is however that no matter what President Biden's intention might have been. Historically and legally speaking an acceptance of such pardons is an admission of guilt. 

    The Supreme Court had gave its opinion on this matter in the case of Burdick vs. United States. They stated that a pardon carries with it an "an imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it". It was that quote that President Gerald Ford pulled out of his wallet to defend his decision to pardon the former President Richard Nixon. 

    In fact as President was leaving the White House just 4 years ago, he had thought about issuing a pardons for himself and his family along with mayor Giuliani before they were even charged. However President Trump refused to issue a preemptive pardon. Adam Schiff, California Representative, had several things to say about the possibility of Trump issuing pardons prior to a accusation or conviction.  You can hear what Adam Schiff said 4 years ago HERE

    All of this is interesting and there certainly have been many people talking about this online and will continue to talk about this for days and weeks later. I am sure that we will see about the legitimacy of these pardons issued by President Joe Biden. 

    As I thought about all of this, it dawned on me that I too have received a similar pardon. I have received a pardon before I entered the court and before I received my sentence. I received a pardon not from a president, but from God. I received a pardon for the sins I have committed and ever will committed, prior to being sentenced to an eternity in a place called hell. My pardon was not written on some paper, it was written on the cross of Calvary. My pardon was not written with some ink, but was written with the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

    President Biden's pardon was only for a select few, but God's pardon is offered for the entire world. President Biden's pardon cost him very little, yet God's pardon for our sins was purchased on the Cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ own blood. President Bidens pardon stated that it was not an admission of guilt, God's pardon demands that we are open and honest of our guilt of sin and repent of it. President Biden's pardon made the news, God's pardon for us made history. President Bidens pardon may or may not stand in the court of law, time will only tell, yet Gods pardon for our sins will last for all eternity. 

    “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.- (John 3:16-18)

    As I thought about all of this and the pardon that I had received so many years ago. I was reminded of another passage of scripture. 

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

(Matthew 5:25)

    This is a passage of scripture that talks about the importance of making things right between one another before we are taken into court. Yet I believe it also is applicable to getting things right between you and God as well. We need to accept God's gracious gift of salvation and be pardoned once and for all. We need to do this while we have the opportunity to do it. That opportunity is right now.