"amish grace" vs. god's grace

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AMISH GRACE

vs .

GOD'S GRACE

As I type this, my eyes are still a little puffy and wet after

watching the immensely painful Lifetime movie, Amish Grace, which premiered on Sunday evening, March 28,2010. There's nothing as devastating as losing a child,especially due to human evil, as was experienced by theAmish families portrayed in this movie based on the 2006shooting tragedy in Nickel Mines, PA.

As in real life, immediately after the shooting deaths of their daughters, the Amish families in the community expressedtheir forgiveness of the murderer who had committed suicideat the scene of his crime. In the movie, an Amish elder tellsthe man's widow that this forgiveness is proscribed by God inMatthew 6:14: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your

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heavenly Father will also forgive you. This quotation fromour Lord Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry to Israelgoes on to say in v. 15: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.The fact that the Amish, as is widely known, live by the

precepts that God gave exclusively to his chosen nation of Israel at a time in her prophetic calendar in which she wasunder the final installment of curses for her disobedience(Lev. 26 ), is evidence that the Amish mistakenly believe thissituation is still going on, although that program was

temporarily set aside by God and a new offer of salvationapart from the law and the curses of Israel is now being madeto individuals who believe the gospel of grace givenexclusively to Paul by the risen Lord Jesus Christ for us.

The Amish faith is one in which its members feel itnecessary to obey the commandments that the Lord JesusChrist gave to Israel, even though he said, I am not sent butunto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matt. 15:24).Unless the Amish keep themselves a separate and peculiar

people that follow in the footsteps of the earthly Jesus as heinstructed his covenant people in what they must do in order to prove their worthiness of their promised earthly kingdom,they believe they have no right to call themselves saved. Intheir zeal to please God by their performance, many go so far as to eschew nearly all modern conveniences, such aselectricity and owning motor vehicles. This they must do inaddition to trusting that God sent a saviour, the Lord JesusChrist, to die for sin.

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In the made-for-TV movie, a news reporter asked this elder how his congregation could forgive the shooter even thoughhe had shown no remorse for his actions. The elder replies,Forgiveness comes from an open heart. It comes withoutconditions or it doesn't come at all. For those of us whorecognize that we are living in the dispensation of the grace of God in which he offers salvation as a free gift with no stringsattached to any who will simply trust that his Son has done itall for us by offering for our sin his shed blood on the cross,

and rising again from the grave, the elder's description of forgiveness perfectly reflects the attitude of God toward theworld of sinners today. (2 Cor. 5:19).

Curious when you think about it. This elder's description of Amish grace is far more gracious than his religious idea of God's grace! Does he think the Amish are more gracious thanGod? It's my prayer, and I know that it's yours as well, thatAmish people and unsaved people everywhere will seethe truth of the mystery revealed to Paul for all of us today,which is based entirely on the fact that, by grace are yesaved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph. 2: 8, 9).