While the Reformed Presbytery in North America (General Meeting) uses the name because of its claim to be the only true continuation of the RPCNA,[4] most of these other churches are more distantly related and use the term for other reasons.

Reformed Presbyterians believe that the supreme standard for faith and practice is the Bible, received as the inspired and inerrant Word of God.

Members of the communion follow a historical-grammatical interpretation of the Bible, which is reflected in many of their stances on moral issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and gambling laws.

Specifically, they believe that the state is under obligation, once admitted but now repudiated, to recognise Jesus Christ as its king and to govern all its affairs in accordance with God's will.

Reformed Presbyterians have been referred to historically as "Covenanters" because of their identification with public covenanting in Scotland, beginning in the 16th century.

In response to Charles I of England's attempts to change the liturgy and form of government in the churches, which the free assemblies and the English Parliament had previously agreed upon, a number of ministers affirmed those previous agreements by signing the "National Covenant" of February 1638 at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh.

The majority of the English Long Parliament were amenable to these terms; many MPs were Presbyterians, while others preferred allying with the Scots to losing the Civil War.

In the period of the Commonwealth (1649–1660) that followed the Civil Wars, Oliver Cromwell put Independents in power in England, signalling the end of the reforms promised by the Parliament.

[17] While the majority of the population participated in the established Church following the Restoration, the Covenanters refused to conform, instead holding worship services called conventicles in the countryside.

[18][19] Nevertheless, the Covenanters continued to assemble and preach at conventicles, and suffered greatly from persecution during the reigns of Charles II and James VII.

[20] Between 1660 and 1690, tens of thousands of Scottish Covenanters fled persecution to the Irish province of Ulster, where they eventually formed the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland.

They objected that the settlement was forced upon the Church and did not adhere to the previously-agreed Solemn League and Covenant, insofar as the state continued not to acknowledge the kingship of Christ.