Wednesday, February 14, 2001
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Wednesday, February 14, 2001 |
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God's law or man's law ... follow it and be blessed By REV JOHN HATCHER I am outraged with the outraged expressed over President Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich for his crimes against the United States. Why am I outraged? Because the Constitution of the United States, Article 2, Section 2, gives the President the authority "to grant Reprieves and Pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment." Clearly, the President acted within his just Constitutional authority. Was it justified? It does not have to be justified. It only has to be the law of the land. Of course, I am outraged with the grand theft committed the morning of Jan. 20 as movers, acting on orders from the President and his wife, stole furniture from the White House. Grand theft is a violation of the law. Former President Bill Clinton should be called into judicial accountability for theft, not for pardoning. Now, you may ask, "What does a religion column have to do with these kind of political matters?" It's illustrative of the place of law in the lives of a law-biding nation and in the lives of Biblically based law-biding Judeo-Christians. If his quoting of it is any indication, Jesus' favorite Old Testament book was Deuteronomy because he quoted it more than any other book of the Old Testament. Deuteronomy simply reiterates the law and laws of God, admonishing God's people to turn neither to the left or the right in following the law. In reference to the laws given for the people of God, the instruction is clear: "These commandments that I give to you today shall be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6: 6-9). For following the whole law, God promises the blessings of prosperity. Read this and be blessed: the Lord will give, "...a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plantthen you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord. ..."(Deuteronomy 6:10-12a). Follow the law and be blessed. That seems to be God's concept in a nutshell. The same system of law that awarded the election to George W. Bush gave President Clinton the power to pardon Rich and even his own brother of crimes against the United States. I say, let us continue to be law-biding citizens. But that holds even truer for the law of God. The law that grants forgiveness to every sinner for crimes against God also demands that each sinner forgive others for personal crimes. In fact, the law that permits God's grace at Christ's expense is the same law that says if we don't forgive one another, God refuses to forgive us (Matthew 6:15). The law that allows us to come boldly before the very throne of God also requires us to give 10 percent of our income to God through his local assembly called the church. Yet, we want to
Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville. |
