Introduction and explanation

Introduction

1. God’s covenants are His gracious instruments for the accomplishment of His purpose that the creation should serve Him. The covenant character of revelation appears in all the Scripture and binds the sixty-six books together in one unified Word of God. It gives the two divisions of the Bible their names, the Old Testament and the New Testament, or Covenant (Jer. 31:31-33; Heb. 8:13). The covenant concept lies at the heart of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America.

2. Covenant revelation began with God’s first conversation with man. God made him ruler over all things, His servant and colaborer in achieving His purpose for the creation (Gen. 2:15). This covenant directed man’s activity and promised him life through obedience to God’s Word. Thus it was a “Covenant of Life” (Shorter Catechism 12), confirmed by the curse of death for disobedience. By work and rest, after the pattern of his Creator, man was to demonstrate his dependence on God and his hope of final consummation of God’s purpose. This covenant required man to respond to God to the full capacity of his being as the image of God.

3. When Adam broke the covenant by disobedience death came upon him and all mankind since they were included in the covenant. But God delayed the final sentence of death, and promised victory over Satan through the seed of the woman. Man’s mandate to subdue the earth continued, but he must toil in grief under the curse that God placed upon the whole creation. God’s purpose for creation would be accomplished through the Covenant of Grace.

4. The remainder of Scripture is the gradual unfolding of the Covenant of Grace through a series of covenants, each developing a particular element of the one preceding it and preparing for a more complete accomplishment. The call of the elect people, ultimately to include all nations, to live by faith in obedience was set forth in successive covenants made with Abraham, the nation of Israel, and David.

5. In the fulness of time God brought forth His Son, born of a virgin, of the seed of David. He obeyed the Covenant of Life on behalf of His people and offered Himself as a sacrifice to die, once for all, in their place and to appear for them on the throne of God in heaven. Thus Jesus obeyed as man, died for man and sat down in heaven to rule over all things and bring His covenant people to share His throne and glory (Luke 22:30).

6. In the Covenant of Grace all men are called to repentance and obedience. By the grace of God through the merit of Christ and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, God’s people are saved, sanctified (Lev. 22:32; Heb. 2:11), and given one mind and heart to serve Him. Thus God is always reaching out to men. The covenant people are bound to one another in their Head, Jesus Christ. They are children of the covenant bearing witness corporately to His lordship over every sphere of their life. There is nothing outside of His dominion.

7. Israel frequently responded to God by covenanting with Him to live in faithfulness to the covenant given through Moses (Josh. 24), or to bring about reform after apostasy (2 Chron. 15:12; 29:10; 34:29-32; Neh. 9: 38). These were solemn agreements between the people and God that they would observe His revealed law in particular circumstances in their day (Neh. 9:38; 10:29). Though these are covenants, they are to be distinguished from the covenants given by God to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel, David and from the new covenant.

8. The whole creation is under God’s covenant to accomplish His will through Christ, the Mediator, by the Holy Spirit (Gen. 9:9-16; Ps. 114; Jer. 33:20-21; Rom. 8:20-22).

Explanation

9. The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the historic creeds of the Presbyterian and Reformed churches. The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America believes that this Confession is based on, and subordinate to, Scripture. The truth it presents is of inestimable value for contemporary society.

10. However, changes in the application of truth are needed because of changing situations in each generation. Some current topics of vital importance for the Christian Church were unknown in the 17th century. Therefore, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America presents its Testimony applying Scripture truth to the contemporary situation. This Testimony is placed in a column parallel to that which contains the Confession.

11. Wherever applicable, to aid in the usefulness of these documents, notations are made at the heading of each chapter to the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. As a general rule, proof texts are provided for the positive statements, but not for the rejections.

12. All of these documents, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, are of equal authority in the church; except that where noted, earlier documents are to be interpreted by the later ones.