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.

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