Definition

This study treats two related themes: how the church worships God, and how the church is governed. Reformed worship is ordered by the regulative principle: God may be worshiped acceptably only in the way he has himself appointed in Scripture, and whatever is not commanded is forbidden in his public worship. Reformed government is presbyterian: Christ rules his church through officers — teaching elders (ministers), ruling elders, and deacons — exercising authority not individually or by prelacy but jointly in graded courts (session, presbytery, and assembly). To this government Christ has committed the keys of the kingdom for the ministry of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, and the exercise of discipline.

Why It Matters

Worship and government are not adiaphora to be settled by preference. Worship concerns the honor of God, who is jealous for the manner of his own service; the regulative principle guards the church from both the idolatry of false worship and the tyranny of human invention binding the conscience. Government concerns the rule of Christ over his church; the question is whether the King has appointed a polity, and if so, what it is. The Reformers contended that Christ alone is head of the church, that his Word alone binds the conscience in worship, and that he has appointed a government of elders. These convictions liberate the church from human dominion and submit her wholly to her Lord.

Biblical Foundation

Worship

God’s jealousy for prescribed worship runs through Scripture. The second commandment forbids worshiping God by images of human devising (Exod. 20:4–6). Nadab and Abihu offered “unauthorized fire… which he had not commanded them,” and were consumed (Lev. 10:1–2). The Lord declares, “you shall not worship the LORD your God in that way” (Deut. 12:31), and forbids adding to or subtracting from his word (Deut. 12:32). Christ condemns worship that follows “the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). True worship is in spirit and truth (John 4:24), according to God’s appointment.

Government

Christ committed the keys of the kingdom to his church (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). The apostolic churches were governed by a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5), who are also called overseers (episkopoi), so that elder and bishop name the same office (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5–7).

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. (Titus 1:5)

Deacons were appointed to serve the church’s ministry of mercy (Acts 6:1–6; 1 Tim. 3:8–13). Matters of dispute were settled not by a single bishop but by an assembly of apostles and elders deliberating together (Acts 15), the pattern of presbyterial government in graded courts.

Key Components & Distinctions

The Regulative Principle of Worship

The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or any other way not prescribed in Scripture (WCF 21.1). What God has appointed for ordinary public worship includes: the reading and preaching of the Word, the singing of psalms with grace in the heart, prayer, the administration of the sacraments, and occasional oaths, vows, fasts, and thanksgivings (WCF 21.5). The principle protects worship from human invention and the conscience from man-made requirements, and it distinguishes the elements of worship (what God commands) from the circumstances (time, place, and order, governed by Christian prudence and the general rules of the Word, WCF 1.6).

The Offices of the Church

Christ has appointed officers for his church. The Reformed recognize the teaching elder (minister of Word and sacrament), the ruling elder (who joins in oversight and government), and the deacon (who leads the ministry of mercy). Elders are also called overseers; the office is one, exercised in two functions of teaching and ruling (1 Tim. 5:17). Officers are not lords over the church but servants of Christ and stewards of his ordinances.

Presbyterian Polity and the Courts

Government is exercised by elders gathered in courts, ascending in jurisdiction: the session (the elders of a local congregation), the presbytery (the ministers and ruling elders of a region), and the general assembly or synod (representing the whole church). This connectional structure embodies the parity of elders and the pattern of Acts 15, where a synod of apostles and elders decided a matter binding on the churches. No single elder or bishop holds sole authority; Christ rules through the assembled elders.

The Keys and Church Discipline

To the officers Christ has committed the power of the keys — the authority to open and shut the kingdom by the ministry of the Word and by discipline (Matt. 16:19; 18:15–20). Church censures proceed by admonition, suspension from the Supper, and, in the extreme, excommunication, always aiming at the recovery of the offender, the deterrence of others, the purity of the church, and the honor of Christ (WCF 30.3). Discipline is a mark of the true church and a means of grace to the erring.

Historical Development

The apostolic church was governed by elders and deacons. Over the second and third centuries the single bishop emerged above the presbyters (the monepiscopate), and the medieval church developed an elaborate hierarchy crowned by the papacy, with worship increasingly governed by tradition and human ceremony. The Reformation recovered the headship of Christ, the sufficiency of Scripture for worship, and (in the Reformed wing) the parity of elders. Calvin’s Geneva and Knox’s Scotland established presbyterian order and reformed worship; the Westminster Assembly produced the Confession’s chapters on worship (21), discipline (30), and synods and councils (31), together with the Form of Presbyterial Church-Government and the Directory for the Publick Worship of God.

The Reformed & Confessional Position

The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture. (WCF 21.1)

The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his church, hath therein appointed a government, in the hand of church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate. To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power respectively to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners. (WCF 30.1–2)

For the better government, and further edification of the church, there ought to be such assemblies as are commonly called synods or councils. (WCF 31.1)

The Larger Catechism grounds the regulative principle in the second commandment, which requires the receiving and observing of all such religious worship as God hath instituted, and forbids worshiping God by images or any way not appointed in his Word (WLC Q. 108–109).

Contrasting Views

On worship: Lutheran and Anglican traditions follow the “normative principle” — whatever Scripture does not forbid may be employed in worship. The Reformed reply that God positively commands how he is to be worshiped, and that what he has not appointed is not to be added.

On government: Episcopal polity vests ruling authority in bishops in supposed apostolic succession, set over presbyters. The Reformed reply that Scripture identifies elder and bishop as one office and provides no warrant for prelacy. Congregational and independent polity locates final authority in the gathered local congregation, denying binding regional courts. The Reformed reply that Acts 15 establishes connectional government by assembled elders whose decisions bind the churches. Erastianism subjects the church to the civil magistrate; the Reformed affirm Christ’s sole headship and the church’s spiritual government distinct from the state (WCF 30.1).

Connections to Other Loci

Worship and government rest on the headship of Christ over his church and on the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The regulative principle flows from the second commandment and the doctrine of God’s glory. The keys and discipline belong with the means of grace and the marks of the church. The courts express the unity and catholicity treated under the nature of the church.

Christ & the Gospel at the Center

Both worship and government exist for the honor of Christ the King. He alone is head of the church; he alone appoints how he is to be worshiped; he alone has instituted the government by which his rule is exercised. The regulative principle guards the gospel by keeping worship centered on the Word and sacraments that proclaim Christ, rather than on human inventions that obscure him. Discipline guards the gospel by maintaining the purity of his church and seeking the recovery of the straying. Presbyterian polity confesses that no man — pope, prelate, or magistrate — may usurp the crown rights of King Jesus over his church.

Pastoral & Practical Significance

Believers are to worship God reverently and gladly in the way he has appointed, valuing the simplicity of Word, sacrament, prayer, and praise above the spectacle of human invention. They are to submit to the lawful oversight of their elders, esteeming them highly in love for their work’s sake (1 Thess. 5:12–13), and to receive discipline, when it comes, as the loving correction of Christ through his church. The connectional courts protect congregations from both isolation and tyranny, providing accountability, mutual counsel, and a path of appeal. The whole order serves the peace, purity, and edification of the church under her one Lord.

Key Terms

• Regulative principle — God is worshiped only as he commands in Scripture.
• Elements / circumstances — what God commands in worship / the prudential ordering of it.
• Teaching and ruling elder — the minister of Word and sacrament / the elder who governs.
• Session, presbytery, assembly — the graded courts of Presbyterian government.
• Power of the keys — Christ’s committed authority of Word and discipline.
• Excommunication — the highest censure, exclusion from the communion of the church.

Key Scripture References

• Leviticus 10:1–2 — judgment on unauthorized worship.
• John 4:24 — worship in spirit and truth.
• Matthew 18:15–20 — the process of discipline and the keys.
• Acts 15 — government by a synod of apostles and elders.
• Titus 1:5 — the appointment of elders in every town.

Further Study

• John Calvin, Institutes, IV.3–4, 10–12.
• Westminster Confession of Faith, chapters 21, 30–31.
• The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (Westminster).
• Guy Prentiss Waters, How Jesus Runs the Church.
• T. David Gordon and others, The Regulative Principle of Worship (various essays).