Okay, thanks for the replies.
Thank you back for the extra info!
I come from a basic foundation in Baptist theology, so that may be my conflict and inability to be sure from whence this minister comes.
Gotcha. But when it comes to salvation by grace through faith alone, there should be no difference between us on the big issues like "do I work because I'm saved or in order to be saved?" Every Protestant should be able to answer clearly and unequivocally the former. But as you no doubt know (just read here in CF), this isn't the case because most folks really don't know what they believe (thank God we're not saved by perfect theology either!). But the point is, when it comes to this issue of Christians keeping the law, we should be on the same page.
I have been to the church for 2 services, a dinner and a Bible study... and I'm so leery of preachers who are not preaching the Gospel... well, I just don't plan on joining anywhere that I may be butting heads with the leaders!! A few things, sure, we can disagree about..but not knowing from whence this guy comes...and he states things differently than I 've ever heard a reformed minister preach (and mind you I sat under Dr D James Kennedy...) sigh.
Gotcha. Well, if this is a PCA church, then the pastor and the elders vow to uphold the
Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF). If he's not, then he is breaking his vow and he needs to be called on it. The WCF is crystal clear that
we do not believe that we are saved by works of the law. So again, if he is saying you should be keeping the law in order to be saved or even that you're obligated to keep old covenant ceremonial laws, he is out of line with the WCF and out of line as a pastor of a PCA church.
If you're not familiar with it, I'd urge you to read the WCF to see what the PCA confesses, especially the following sections which deal with what you're talking about:
Chapter XVI Of Good Works
Chapter XIX Of the Law Of God
Chapter XX Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty Of Conscience
So all that being said, if it turns out this pastor is indeed out of line or after reading the WCF you find him to be contradicting it, ask him about it. If he is indeed out of line, I urge you talk to the elders and bring up your concern. The pastor is accountable to the elders who are themselves bound by the WCF to uphold it. If it really is an issue and the pastor refuses to correct his teaching, God willing, the elders will discipline him. If not, you're best off finding another church, because this is not a good example of what a confessional Presbyterian Church is all about.
No worries!
Oh another thought God gave me in study: IF God's original plan for us to serve Him best was through the Law, why did he not implement it in the Garden???
No, he began with what He said was ideal: total freedom in the garden.
When that didn't work (due to man's free will) he changed the economy.... expelled from the garden they then had hardships and had to make offerings... when that failed to work for man (Noah) he then instituted more regulations... and again when that didn't work, (Tower of Babel) he gave Abraham guidelines and then later, he instituted an even more rigorous economy...Moses... 613 rules and regulations to show man that he cannot keep the law, he is not righteous in his own way and needs a Savior.... and that stayed until Jesus came and redeemed us, and again the economy of God changed and we no longer have the law but grace and mercy.
If this is what he's teaching, he's out of line with Reformed thought here. In Reformed thought, there's really only two covenants when it comes to salvation. The Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Faith. The former refers to
the covenant made with Adam and Eve. Since the fall though, we've all, everyone one of us, been under the Covenant of Faith. Paul is very clear about this in Romans:
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.
Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
(Romans 4:1-12 ESV)
So you see, even the Jews under the covenant at Sinai were ultimately saved not by keeping the Law, but by grace through faith...just like we are. This just refers to the issue of "how we are saved." There are of course different expectations given to different groups, but these expectations cannot justify them before God or wash them of their sins. So the Children living under the covenant of Sinai had different expectations than we do now, but they, like us, are not saved because of what they do, but by the grace of God which is actualized through faith alone. Does that make sense?
As I mentioned though, I'd recommend you read the WCF (if you can handle the KJV like language). Also, R.C Sproul's
Essentials of the Christian Faith is a good intro to Reformed theology as is Louis Berkhof's
A Summary of Christian Doctrine. In fact the latter is available freely as an eBook over
here. You don't need to be a hard core theologian or anything, but knowing the essentials is important so you can know when someone is going off the deep end.
In any case, I hope this helps sister and I hope that this pastor is not out of line. It sounds really fishy, but again, let's hope and pray for the best. If not and you can't resolve it, go somewhere where you will find the Word preached and the Sacraments administered. My wife and I have had to leave many churches we liked because of pastors who couldn't even get Sola Gratia -> Sola Fide right, so I feel your pain. But seriously, is that too much to ask? Heck, you can even be a classical Arminian for all I care, but please just get this crucial doctrine right...we can argue about the rest later....
God bless and feel free to keep us posted on how this unfolds.