For it is not the prerogative of the church to define either its status or activity. It is Christ’s church, not humankind’s. It is Christ, therefore, who declares both that his church shall have a government and what the nature of that government will be. This he has done through the inspired Scriptures. The principle of “Scripture alone” (as opposed to the prelatic Scripture plus tradition) must prevail for determining both the type of government and how it should function. Thus as in the worship service, so also in its structure and government, we have the “regulative principle” of Scripture.

David W. Hall & Joseph H. Hall, Paradigms in Polity: Classic Readings in Reformed and Presbyterian Church Government, 4.