Agreed on most points.. though you're more gentle in your response than I usually am. I do feel the obligation though to publicize what scriptures say about the sabbath and the feast days as part of that invitation...to have information ready when the one who God calls is ready to come to the party.
Romans 14 I think is misunderstood and in the context of the time and the chapter. My understanding is that it isn't giving carte blanche to not observe the days of the Lord and to observe others...it's referring to something else...tradition has made it into something it's not. But you can see it's an uphill struggle to share that viewpoint.
However, I reject the forced (or even socially pressured) Gentilization of Jewish Christians as being every bit as much a false gospel as the forced Judaizing of Christians.
Hopefully not TMI, but I think it's best to be open and honest on these issues to avoid misunderstanding.
No, it's all good though I don't consider that gentiles keeping the feasts of the Lord as being judaizing but rather as what God intended. Not sure if that's what you meant but thought I would cover it. As you can imagine being a sabbatarian who keeps the feast days I run into and communicate with many messianics. Glad to have you on the thread.
I do feel the obligation though to publicize what scriptures say about the sabbath and the feast days as part of that invitation...to have information ready when the one who God calls is ready to come to the party.
What I like to do is invite: I'll happily challenge every Christian I meet to keep the Feasts for a year as a way of educating and edifying themselves, and direct them to resources to help them do just that. But if someone doesn't bite or their understanding of Scripture is that this would somehow be detrimental to their walk with the Lord, I may cheerfully argue with them if they're the sort to enjoy it, but it doesn't mean that they're not my brother.
But you can see it's an uphill struggle to share that viewpoint.
It is. What do you think it's dealing with, out of curiosity?
No, it's all good though I don't consider that gentiles keeping the feasts of the Lord as being judaizing but rather as what God intended.
Ultimately, I agree, and have quoted Isa. 66 and Zec. 14 in support of that view. But since a) the Apostles did not emphasize the Feasts for the Gentile disciples (though neither did they disinvite them), b) Christians do generally have reasonable arguments for their particular practices in this regard that show their loyalty to the Author of Scripture, c) we're saved by trust in and loyalty towards a person, not a set of commandments or creeds, and d) I've found the invitation approach to be more fruitful, I go with that over attacking my Sunday-brethren's practices.
Frankly, given the state of the world right now, I don't see the fruit of the Spirit in--or any practical purpose for--brethren forming circular firing squads over this debate. I do see the need for continued reasoned debate, but I also realize that we're looking at a generational process to change some long-standing errors in the Church. Therefore, I see the first step is to get Christians of all stripes and practices to acknowledge the basic right of Jews to be saved as Jews and be encouraged to remain Jewish.
Once you get that acknowledgement, a lot of the grace vs. law issue automatically becomes reframed in such a way that a theological barrier is removed and a Christian can genuinely enjoy accepting an invitation to, say, Passover. We've been seeing the fruit of this "live and let live" approach for over a generation now. We've seen the result of taking a hard-line stance too: It just puts people's backs up and hardens them against enjoying the Feasts with the thought, "He's trying to take away the grace of God and put me under the law!"
Besides, Hashem was very gracious to me during the several years between the time Matthew 5:17-19 first smacked me between the eyes and when I first started keeping Torah. I needed that time to reconsider and re-evaluate the whole theology and tradition I'd been raised in, and to overcome the intellectual and emotional barriers. Had I gotten a hardline Messianic hammering away at me during that time, I'd probably have rejected it. Why should I not be equally gracious and let the Spirit work in someone who may just be starting down a new and difficult road?
Shalom