About - Commitments
The covenantal institutions God has ordained
The Church
We are bound in a relationship with God in Christ in the New Covenant, expressed concretely in the life of the Spirit in the Church. Thus, the reformed faith insists that by definition the believer is in covenant with other Christians by virtue of being in covenant with his Lord. Therefore, we have a responsibility to identify with an assembly of believers in membership, taking seriously our commitment to it.
The Family
Marriage is, by definition, a covenant relationship. The reformed faith has thus always nurtured marriage and families. It does this by equipping husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, to fulfill their biblical roles. We place emphasis upon spouses and parents teaching and raising kids and loving one another, encouraging each father to be the “theologian” of his family, teaching and catechizing the little lambs around his table.
The Republic
From the beginning we have been bound to govern one another mediately under God in the Civil Covenant, first promulgated by God to Noah (Genesis 9:1-17). This involves far more than voting for president every four years and thinking we have discharged our duties to the civil government. The prime directive of government is the administration of justice and mercy (Deuteronomy 16:19-20; Micah 6:8). History has demonstrated that the best form of government is the Christian Republic. The Church is obliged to be fully engaged supporting a Christian Republic and calling the civil authorities to repentance when they stray from its biblical principles.
Substantial, reverent worship
The apex for every Christian week is Sabbath worship.
It is the duty of all Christians to present themselves with all of the family in the assembly of the saints to render praise to God, submit to the life changing discipline of the Word preached and the Word made visible in the sacraments of baptism and holy communion, sing the songs and Psalms of the Kingdom, confess doctrine, and give of our earthly goods for the support of the church.
We are called out of the world for these few moments to live in a world fragrant with the air of the coming Kingdom of God. Thus, we seek to provide the true laborers of worship (you, the saints) with all of the ordained elements of worship so that we might provide the true audience of worship (not you, but God) with worship that will be pleasing to Him.
Consistent, biblical teaching and doctrine
Christianity depends for its eternal, life saving message upon an objective, written revelation from God himself: the Bible. We hold to the inspired, inerrant Word of God as the supreme source and fountainhead for doctrine and teaching.
As a summary and aid to understanding the major teachings of the Bible and in subordination to it, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church embraces the historic creeds of the Church and, in particular, theWestminster Confessional Standards, consisting of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger Catechism, and the Shorter Catechism. These serve as brief, systematic summaries of what the church has taught and believed over the centuries.