right, and that person wouldn't be a law keeper (imo).
do you strive, as much as possible, to do what they say? like, for example, can putting on tassels be wearing a wwjd bracelet?
I'm sorry, I'm not as good at embedding quotes as Elin is, and it's probably more difficult on a phone, so my post will not include a full copy of your post (it's missing my quotes to which you are responding).
My friend, my walk of faith is a life long journey to follow the Messiah and walk as He walked. Since He walked in obedience to the Father's will, His walk being the expression of that will, the goal of my walking after the Messiah will in turn be an expression of that same will. I believe that in the Messiah there was no sin; sin being transgression of the Torah-Law. As the Messiah was obedient to the Father, I want to be obedient as well.
My walk of faith is not perfect; we all make mistakes. My walk doesn't need to be perfect; the Messiah was perfect and removed any condemnation that would come upon me by me confessing Him as the anointed one and having faith in the power of His atoning sacrifice and resurrection. Now that I have come to faith, I do not want to continue in sin but want to grow in following the Father's will after the Messiah's footsteps, in which there is no sin.
I don't see a contradiction in the Father's will as expressed in the Torah-Law and the will in which the Messiah walked. Do I fully understand that will and walk in complete obedience to it? No, it's a life long journey, a process of being reformed to the mind of the Messiah, and I'll never walk perfectly. Thankfully I have a judge who doesn't demand perfection and understands my heartfelt desire and is gracious to save despite my incomplete understanding and failing. But I do believe He desires for us to have a repentant heart and a desire to learn from Him and follow Him.
I believe that when the Torah-Law was revealed at Sinai, it had in it the will of God for His people. If the commands of God say to do something or not do something, then it is to our benefit. When the command says not to murder, I believe that God's will for us is to not murder and that is to our benefit and, in this case, also to the benefit of our neighbor who is not being murdered by us. Or when it says to honor our mother and father, it is again God's will for us and to our benefit. All of this should be the result of loving God and loving our neighbor, that we are led to do the things God wills for us and not to do the things He doesn't will for us. I believe a rote following of God's commands apart from love is not what the Father intends. So He instructs through His prophets, the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit how to follow the full meaning of His commands and reach the goal.
At times, this leads me to be at odds with my fellow brothers and sisters in faith. For example, I believe when God said not to eat unclean animals, this was an expression of His will and for our benefit. The Messiah abided in the Father's will by not eating unclean animals, and I do the same as I follow in the Messiah's footsteps. Of course, there are other factors to consider, such as the High Priesthood in the Messiah, the destruction of the Temple, concepts of types and anti-types, etc.. This is all part of the walk and learning what it means to follow Him. So it's not as black and white as reading the Torah and attempting to do everything it says devoid of understanding the full picture. Not all of the commands ever applied each to every single person anyways, so now there must be even more consideration because of the different circumstances we are currently in: no functioning Levitical priesthood, no standing Temple, being a non-Jew who does not live in the land of Israel, etc. So, I assume an honest investigation into the matter of God's will as expressed in the commands and followed by the Messiah, and not merely a dismissal of "the Law."
On the topic of tassels, I will honestly say that I don't yet have a position on it. I haven't got to that point yet in my walk to consider that command. After a cursory reading of the command, I can see why it is beneficial: to serve as a tangible reminder to follow God's will. Such reminders are good things while we are still in earthly bodies in the present world. One day we will be in new bodies in the world to come and will not need such reminders. The command raises many immediate questions for me: What constitutes a proper tassel? Should these tassels be on every garment or just some garments? Do these tasseled garments have to be worn daily or just on certain occasions? The text of Num. 15 doesn't give these details. Because of that, I have a greater appreciation for the Pharisees and teachers of the Torah-Law who must have had these same sorts of questions in mind as they considered how to abide in God's will concerning this command.
The problem, as I see it, is they got to the point where they concluded a pile of regulations concerning the "proper" way to follow God on this and other matters and then bound all these regulations on the people as if these regulations were the commands of God. We see this throughout the gospels on other issues of Sabbath observance, eating with unwashed hands, etc. Read the Talmud and you'll see a compendium of regulations not stated in the Torah-Law but considered by the rabbis to be binding "laws" on the people equal in status to the commands of God in the Torah-Law and sometimes viewed as more important. Thus, they are inappropriately exercising the authority of God to make such declarations. In this sense, God's will as expressed through the walk of the Messiah is indeed light since it does not include the leaven of the Pharisees and teachers of the Torah-Law with regards to additional regulations.
Returning to the example of a stop sign, I do not believe it accurately depicts the situation regarding tassels since it's a command that raises additional questions whereas a stop sign does not in most circumstances that I can think of. As I said, I don't currently have a position on this command because I have not yet studied it. But I'm not going to pretend like it never existed in the first place, as I wouldn't do for a stop sign placed on the road. One day I may study it out and take it to God in prayer, seek the counsel of others, etc. Even so, I may never arrive at how to perfectly carry it out, if such a thing even exists. Maybe the vagueness of the command is open room for following God's will on the matter in different ways. But this isn't the same as completely ignoring it. Or, to be perfectly honest, I may never get to it and die never having explored it. Thankfully my salvation is based on the Messiah's sacrifice and God's unmerited favor and not my ability to keep commands. Praise God for the Messiah or we would all be doomed! So we all walk humbly with God as we learn to take up His ways and leave ways opposed to Him behind us.
I hope this answers your question, but more importantly gives you a better understanding of where I am coming from.
