Spiritual Kinship between Protestants and Those Who Deny Learning New Knowledge

Mr. Armstrong practiced a way of life of striving to keep the commandments of God, of believing God more than man or tradition, and of learning new things as God taught him from the Bible.  But some in the Church of God deny that way of life.  They say we are to stop believing God first and, instead, believe the Church, our Church traditions, our leaders and ministers, and the writings and teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong.  They also say we are to stop learning new things from God.  People who want to learn from God have "itching ears", they say.

I am not an expert in the Protestant religions, but I have often heard that many of them say that we do not have to keep God's commandments because Jesus Christ kept them for us.

I see a spiritual kinship between these two groups - between Protestants who say we don't have to live as Christ lived and Church of God members who say we don't have to be willing to learn new knowledge.

One says, we don't have to keep the commandments because Christ kept them for us.  The other says, we don't have to learn new things from the Bible because Mr. Armstrong did that for us.

Both groups miss the same point.

Jesus Christ practiced a way of life, a way of keeping God's commandments.  We are to practice the same way of life He did, not a different way of life - we are to keep the commandments of God as Christ did.  He set the example we are to follow.

"For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (John 13:15).

"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master" (Matthew 10:24-25).

"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40).

Likewise, Mr. Armstrong practiced a way of life.  That way included faith in God and His word, the Bible, more than faith in any church, any tradition, any minister, or any church leader.  It also included willingness to learn any new knowledge God taught him in the Bible.  That is the right way of life, and the fruits show it.  We are to practice that same way of life, the way of life Mr. Armstrong taught by his word and by his example.  We are to practice the same way of life He did, not a different way of life - we are to believe and learn new things from the Bible.  He set the example we are to follow.

But some may say, we don't have to believe the Bible that way because Mr. Armstrong did it for us.

Does that not sound similar to what some Protestants may say, we don't have to keep the commandments of God because Christ did it for us?

In both cases, they abandon a way of life taught by the example of the one they supposedly honor.  

What is more important, a list of true doctrines, or the way of life that produced those true doctrines?