A-威斯敏斯特信仰告白與改革宗長老教會見證
The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Reformed Presbyterian Testimony
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B-大要理問答 B-1
​The Larger Catechism B-1

C-小要理問答 C-1
 The Shorter Catechism C-1
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D-教會治理指引
Directory for Church Government

E-教會紀律手冊
The Book of Discipline

F-公共崇拜規範
The Directory of Public Worship

G-起誓G-1
 Vows

H-建議表格.H-1
Suggested Forms

I-憲章的歷史
   History of the Standards
  1871 年的盟約
  The Covenant of 1871

索引 J-1
Index

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WCF+RPs聲明

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testimony
​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 Con- fession 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 obe- dience 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 consumma- tion 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 de- layed 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 succes- sive 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 Cov- enant 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 Con- fession is based on, and subordinate to, Scripture. The truth it presents is of inestimable value for contemporary society.

10. However, changes in the appli- cation of truth are needed because of changing situations in each gen- eration. 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 Tes- timony 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 state- ments, but not for the rejections.
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12. All of these documents, the West- minster Confession of Faith, the Tes- timony 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. 







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聲明
​簡介

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​1. 上帝的聖約是祂仁慈的工具，用來實現祂的目的，即受造物應事奉祂。 啟示錄的聖約特徵出現在整本聖經中，並將六十六卷書結合在一起，形成一個統一的神的話語。 它給聖經的兩個部分起了名字：舊約和新約，或稱聖約（耶利米書 31:31-33；希伯來書 8:13）。 聖約概念是《威斯敏斯特信仰告白》和《北美改革宗長老教會證詞》的核心。





2. 聖約的啟示始於神與人的第一次對話。 神讓祂掌管萬物，成為祂的僕人和合作者，以實現祂對創造的目的（創 2:15）。 這個聖約指導了人類的活動，並應許人類透過服從上帝的話語而獲得生命。 因此，它是一個「生命之約」（簡明教理第 12 章），並因不服從而受到死亡詛咒而得到證實。 人要按照造物主的模式，透過工作和休息來表明他對上帝的依賴以及他對上帝目的最終實現的希望。 這個聖約要求人以他作為神的形象的全部能力來回應神。





3. 當亞當因不順服而破壞聖約時，死亡臨到了他和全人類，因為他們都被包括在聖約中。 但上帝推遲了最後的死刑判決，並應許透過女人的後裔來戰勝撒但。 人類征服地球的使命仍在繼續，但他必須在上帝對整個創造物的詛咒下痛苦地勞動。 神創造的目的將透過恩典之約來實現。





4. 聖經的其餘部分是透過一系列聖約逐漸展開恩典之約，每一個聖約都發展了前一個聖約的特定元素，並為更完整的成就做準備。 選民（最終包括所有國家）的呼召，是在與亞伯拉罕、以色列國和大衛所立的連續聖約中闡明的，要憑信心生活並順服。




5. 到了時候滿足，神就生下了他的兒子，為童女所生，是大衛的後裔。 祂代表祂的子民遵守生命之約，並獻上自己作為祭物，一次永遠代替他們而死，並為他們出現在天上上帝的寶座上。 因此，耶穌作為人服從，為人而死，並坐在天上統治萬物並帶領祂的聖約子民分享祂的寶座和榮耀（路加福音22:30）。



6. 在恩典之約中，所有人都被呼召悔改和順服。 藉著基督的功勞和聖靈使人知罪的工作，神的恩典使神的子民得救、成聖（利22:32；來2:11），並全心全意地事奉神。 因此，神總是向人伸出援手。 聖約的百姓在他們的元首耶穌基督裡彼此結合。 他們是聖約的兒女，在他們生活的各個方面共同見證祂的主權。 沒有任何事物超出他的管轄範圍。




7. 以色列常以與神立約來回應神，要忠於摩西所立的約（書 24），或在背道之後實行改革（歷代記 15:12；29:10；34:29-） 32；尼9：38）。 這些是人民與上帝之間的莊嚴協議，他們將在當時的特定情況下遵守祂所啟示的律法（尼9:38；10:29）。 雖然這些都是聖約，但它們與神給亞當、挪亞、亞伯拉罕、以色列、大衛的聖約以及新約有所區別。




8. 整個受造物都在上帝的聖約之下，透過中保基督和聖靈來實現祂的旨意（創世記9:9-16；詩篇114；耶利米書33:20-21；羅馬書8:20- 22）。

解釋
9. 《威斯敏斯特信仰告白》是長老教會和改革宗教會的歷史信條之一。 北美改革宗長老教會認為，這份信條是基於並服從聖經的。 它所呈現的真理對於當代社會有著不可估量的價值。




10. 然而，由於每一代的情況都在變化，真理的應用需要改變。 目前對基督教會至關重要的一些主題在 17 世紀是未知的。 因此，北美改革宗長老教會提出了將聖經真理應用於當代情況的見證。 這份聲明被放在與信仰告白文所在的平行欄位中。





11. 在適用的情況下，為了幫助這些文件的實用性，在大要理問答和小要理問答的每一章的標題處都做了註釋。 作為一般規則，為肯定的陳述提供證明文本，但不為拒絕的陳述提供證明文本。


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12. 所有這些文件，《威斯敏斯特信仰告白》、《改革宗長老會證言》以及《大要理問答》和《小要理問答》，在教會中具有同等的權威； 除非另有說明，早期文件應按照後來的文件來解釋。