Biden will commute sentences of nearly 2,500 drug offenders

President Biden announced today that he will commute the sentences of nearly 2,500 inmates serving long prison terms for nonviolent drug offenses. According to the New York Times, this is the broadest commutation of individual sentences ever issued by a US president.

In recent weeks, he has also commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal death row. He set what was a single-day record of 1,500 commutations for those moved to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic. He notes that his latest commutation is for offenders who received harsher sentences for drug crimes than they would under current practices. He is considering additional pardons in the coming days.

Of course, his most famous (or infamous) commutation was the full and unconditional pardon he issued for his son Hunter last month, after repeatedly insisting he would not do so. His action erased a federal conviction for illegally buying a gun and a guilty plea to tax evasion charges.

My purpose is not to take a partisan position on today’s news but to consider it a parable pointing to an intellectual and spiritual issue we all face. This issue is foundational to our peace, well-being, and joy. It can be the path to God’s best or the barrier to flourishing.

When we understand the opportunity it presents, we can experience the “abundant” life Jesus offers (John 10:10). But only then.

“Canceling the record of debt”

Circumcision was the sign in the Old Testament of a person’s covenant relationship with God (cf. Genesis 17:9–14). Baptism serves the same purpose in the New Testament (Colossians 2:11–12). Both are irreversible: a person cannot be uncircumcised or unbaptized. As such, they point to the irreversible result of salvation in Christ: when we are “born again” spiritually we cannot then be “unborn” (cf. John 3:3), any more than a child can reverse their physical birth.

In this sense, God has already pardoned our sins:

You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13–14; cf. 1 John 4:10).

What he has done for us at salvation, he continues to do for us in response to our present-tense repentance: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). This does not give warrant to continue sinning and repenting, since such repentance is not genuine if it does not intend to stop sinning. Nor does forgiveness necessarily remove the consequences of sin in this life and lost rewards in the next (1 Corinthians 3:11–15).

Nonetheless, the moment we confess our sins, we are pardoned for them. There is no “sentence” to commute.

How does God’s forgiveness of our sins relate to our forgiveness of others and ourselves?

Breaking the cycle of vengeance

Commuting one’s sentence is a good picture of biblical forgiveness. Mr. Biden did not pretend the crimes were not committed. Nor did he excuse the behavior that led to these sentences. Rather, he chose not to punish the criminals any longer. This is what we do when we forgive others and ourselves. And it is what God does when he forgives us.

The difference between the president’s action and biblical forgiveness is that we are to extend our pardon as soon as the crime occurs.

Jesus taught us: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15a). Respond immediately to the sin he has committed. Do not let time go by while he and you are punished by his actions.

Then, “If he listens to you, you have gained your brother” (v. 15b). But even if he does not, Jesus taught us to forgive him “seventy-seven times” (v. 22), a metaphorical reference to unlimited forgiveness. We are to do so for his sake, but for our own as well. Choosing to pardon breaks the cycle of vengeance and releases us from the prison of revenge. It extends to others the grace we have received from God.

Here’s the problem: our fallen human nature—the “will to power” by which we strive to be our own god (Genesis 3:5)—tempts us to forgive only after the other person has suffered the consequences of their sin for a while. We are happy for them to be in “prison” for a time before we commute their sentence. In this way, we get to “have our cake and eat it,” complimenting ourselves for forgiving as Jesus teaches while noting with satisfaction that the other person has at least paid for their crimes to some degree.

This, of course, is not true forgiveness. It is not grace but legalism, giving the person forgiveness to the degree that we believe they have earned it through the punishment they have suffered.

As I wrote in response to the Laken Riley Act: 

Biblical forgiveness is not pretending that we were not injured, overlooking the sin, excusing the behavior, or trying to forget it happened. It is pardoning the criminal, choosing not to punish the crime. Again, we do this for their sake but especially for our own.

In addition, part of why Scripture commends the importance of a system of justice that can pass judgment on crimes and those who commit them is to better allow us to practice such forgiveness in our own lives (Romans 13:1–7).

Why we don’t forgive ourselves

We often delay forgiveness for ourselves as well but for a different reason. Again, our “will to power” wants to be in charge of our lives. We don’t like owing a debt to others. If you run into my car, I can forgive what you did and trust that my insurance will take care of the damage. But if I run into your car, I feel the need to pay for the damages myself. There’s something in us that doesn’t want to be indebted to others, that claims with the poet, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”

We extend this desire for self-sufficiency even to God. Rather than be in his debt when he forgives our sins, we punish ourselves for them. We live in guilt long enough to feel that we have paid our debt, then we accept his forgiveness. We castigate ourselves until we feel justified in accepting grace.

Few of us do this intentionally, of course, but if you’re like me, this is a subconscious but very real experience. And it robs us of the joy of the Lord and the abundant life of Christ found only in his grace.

The key is to admit our sinful, prideful desire to absolve ourselves of our sins. It is to ask God to forgive us for our unwillingness to be forgiven and then to empower us to love ourselves as he loves us.

“Love” is the first “fruit” of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). When we are submitted to the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), we experience this fruit as he manifests the character of Christ in us (Romans 8:29). And we discover that we are able to love our Lord, our neighbor, and ourselves as he loves us (1 John 4:19).

“NO FISHING ALLOWED”

So, let me ask you: Are you paying for sins Jesus has already forgiven? Sins you have confessed, for which you have been pardoned, but for which you have imprisoned yourself? He commuted your sentence the moment you confessed your crime to him. But the key to open your prison door is in your hand.

The prophet asked, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love” (Micah 7:18). As a result, “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (v. 19).

Corrie ten Boom commented on this promise: “God takes our sins—the past, present, and future and dumps them into the sea and puts up a sign that says, ‘NO FISHING ALLOWED.’”

Why do you need her assurance today?