A true pardon is only something a King can grant and herein lies very good news for us all, including Hunter Biden- The King of the Universe grants a full, complete, just, and satisfying pardon, to all those who place their trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as their substitute.

I have always found it interesting how the Constitutional Convention of 1787 overwhelmingly agreed that the president of the United States should have “Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States.” Sure, there were some limitations to this power, but it seems more like the privilege of a king than a power for an elected executive leader. A bit strange for people shedding a monarchical system.

As President Biden was preparing to leave office last month, he started handing out pardons and commutations like candy. Every president does this on their way out, so his actions are no surprise.

One of his pardons has particularly drawn considerable criticism. The president pardoned his son Hunter after repeatedly pledging not to. The sweeping nature of the pardon for Hunter Biden is unprecedented. Specifically, he was pardoned for his conviction by a jury in Delaware and a guilty plea in California. Additionally, and shockingly, he was also pardoned for federal crimes “he committed or may have committed” between Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 1, 2024. Wow! No president has ever issued his own son a pardon for federal crimes, let alone a pardon so expansive.

Whatever you think about a president’s ability to grant reprieves and pardons, be honest with yourself for a moment. If your son was in similar trouble and you had the authority to grant him a pardon, would you? I think I probably would. I love my sons. I would be frustrated with them for doing so many bad things, but if I had it in my power to give them legal relief, I might well do it. I suspect I would feel responsible to a large degree for their moral failures. I would think their character flaws were due in part to my deficient parenting. Sure, I would absolutely rip them for what they did and continually warn them about slipping up again, but I would likely grant the pardon.

Still, President Biden’s pardon of his son makes me cringe. It doesn’t feel right. I am sure he blames himself for Hunter being so terribly dysfunctional and out of control. As he has thought a hundred times before, he hopes this massive act of grace toward his son might finally set him straight. If you remove the father-son dynamic to this situation, the pardon of Hunter Biden makes most rational people wince and question such a power being given to the president. Again, it seems like the stuff of monarchies, not representative democracies.

Joe Biden’s presidential pardon of his son is radically different from the forgiveness our heavenly Father has granted to us.

President Biden is pardoning his son for crimes (sins) Hunter committed against others without restitution or payment given to those victims. Hunter Biden received a pardon that ignores full justice, that is why it rightly feels so wrong. No payment whatsoever has been made for his sins. Joe Biden has not and cannot provide any kind of atonement for Hunter’s sins. He just used a power given to him through his office. President Biden’s pardon strikes us as unsatisfying and unjust, for good reason, even if it is “legal.”

If you are a Christian by faith in Christ, God the Father has pardoned you for all your sins. Those sins were primarily against Him. God provided full payment for your sins by giving His only Son as your substitute. For your sake, God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him you might become the righteousness of God (1 Corinthians 5:21). Christ gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2). God’s righteousness and justice have been satisfied fully through Christ. We stand amazed by what God has done for us in Christ, and we can sense that while is it is a great mystery as to why God would do such a thing, it is magnificent, and all glory belongs to Him. The father/son story in our salvation is not about a father pardoning his son.  Instead, it is about a Father not sparing his own son but giving him up for us all (Romans 8.32).

Hunter will likely live the rest of his life with a strange sense of undeserved status. He will know it really is not fair that he has been freed from the massive legal consequences of so many crimes. If his conscience has a modicum of sensitivity, he will bear the weight of guilt for what he did to his victims and the suffering he caused. He may be legally free, but he will not likely be psychologically unburdened.

On the other hand, for believers in Jesus, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1). God has said to us, because of Christ, I will be merciful toward your iniquities, and I will remember your sins no more (Hebrews 8:12). If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).

A true pardon is only something a King can grant and herein lies very good news for us all, including Hunter Biden- The King of the Universe grants a full, complete, just, and satisfying pardon, to all those who place their trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as their substitute.

Dr. Tony Felich is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and serves as the Pastor of Redeemer PCA in Overland Park, Kansas.