Pardon Me

Posted on Sep 8, 2011 in God | 1 comment

On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon. He said:

Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.[1]

This was Nixon’s response to the pardoning.  “This burden is the heaviest one of all to bear.  That the way I tried to deal with Watergate was the wrong way is a burden I shall bear for every day of the life that is left to me.”[2]  Though he was pardoned, he truly did not feel forgiven and freed from the shame and guilt of his actions.

Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be Richard Nixon?  The guilt and the shame that he felt must have been tremendous.  For his actions were horrible acts against the oath of pursuing justice as the president of the United States of America.  What a huge relief it must have been for Richard Nixon to be pardoned for all his offenses committed against the United States!  He no longer had to pay the penalty for his actions, yet he still bore its guilt and shame.

Like Richard Nixon, each of us has to deal with a real sense of guilt and shame in our lives and the penalty for the way we live our lives before God.  The Bible tells us that “none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10-12, 23).

Why is this the case?  God created man to be in perfect relationship with Himself.  Man was created to be righteous, in right standing and relationship with a holy and loving God.  Man was to enjoy and worship God while being dependent creatures.   However, Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God through their sin in the Garden.

What was the result?  The Bible says that after they ate of the fruit  “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7).  They hid from God and each other because of the shame and guilt that was now theirs because of their disobedience against God.  God’s wrath was now due their sins.  For Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death.”  We have all sinned, are due its penalty, and carry with us the guilt of that sin.

So before God, each of us is in a much worse position than Richard Nixon was in because of Watergate.  We are guilty of an eternal, cosmic offense!  So how can we be forgiven?  Can God just say, “I forgive you?”  Well, to understand justice and forgiveness, we must realize that when an offense is made a debt must be incurred.  For instance, if I were to punch my brother in the face, I would have obviously offended him and there is a debt that must be paid for there to be justice in our relationship.  Either my brother could punch me back, or he could tell others about how awful I am.  He could also do something else where he felt like he was able to “get even” or get justice.  My brother would have to do something to deal with the offense to bring about justice.  However, he would have one other option.  That option would be for him to incur the debt himself and forgive.  For him to forgive me means that he took the offense upon himself with the humiliation and everything.  He took it, absorbed the offense and did not “get even.”  My point is that whenever there is an offense in relationships someone must incur the debt.  Because of our sin, we are in a horrible state with a broken relationship with God. His wrath must be executed for there to be justice.

Yet Christ did something about this debt for His children.  He took it upon Himself for those who put their faith in Him.  Jesus Christ took the wrath of God upon Himself to appease God’s just demands.  He incurred the debt Himself so that His children would not have to face His wrath but could be brought back into right relationship with Him.  He took God’s wrath upon Himself on the Cross.  “For our sake he made him (Christ) who knew no sin to become sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Jesus Christ is our only hope for forgiveness.  Jesus Christ lived the life that we must live but did not.  He also died the death that we deserved, so that those who put their faith in Christ can be totally forgiven.  This is much greater than Richard Nixon’s pardon.  When Richard Nixon was pardoned, his offense was wiped cleaned.  Judicially, it was as if he had never committed the offense.  Yet, he was still dealing with the great guilt and shame of not being right, of doing a great wrong.  However, Christ forgiveness is so much more.  He not only forgives us but He declares us perfect and calls us to be a part of His family.  Christ not only wiped our record clean, but He credited us with His own record.  You have a slate that is full of Christ’s righteousness.  His entire perfect life is credited to your account. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).

If you truly understand this, this will be the most amazing news you have ever heard.  It will change the way you view your world and live your life.  Christ took our guilt and shame upon Himself on the Cross.  This brings great freedom and joy into our lives.  Through the Cross, we are no longer alienated from God but restored in our relationship with Him.  We no longer deserve His wrath because Christ took our sins upon Himself.  When God views the record of the lives of those He has forgiven, he sees Christ’s perfect life, not our sins.  Our sins have been “paid for in full,” and we are completely forgiven.  This is the best news ever!

Most all analogies breakdown when comparing them to the Gospel, but this situation gives us a partial picture of God’s forgiveness.  Imagine you are a troubled orphan teenager.  You get in a bad situation and you kill another guy about your age.  You find out that you killed the son of a wealthy man in town.  When you show up to court for trial you realize that the father of the boy you murdered was indeed the judge.  Wow!  You know the death penalty is coming.  However, when the verdict is announced you are astonished.  The verdict is guilty, but you are not the guilty one.  You are declared totally innocent.  The judge says that he will pay your penalty for you and go to jail on your behalf as the guilty one.  Not only does he declare you innocent and free you, but he adopts you into his family.  All that was his is now yours.  Unbelievable!  This is too good to be true.  That is so much more than just wiping your slate clean.  You have gone from an orphan deserving death row to a wealthy son who is part of a loving family.

It is only when you realize this type of forgiveness that you can learn to truly forgive others that have offended you.  Seeing Christ take your punishment on the Cross for you can move you to incur the debt when others offend you.  It is the Cross that must be the focal point of your life to know how deeply loved you are and to give you the power to see restoration in your relationships.