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Articles of
Faith - Church of the Nazarene
1.
The Triune God
We believe in one eternally existent, infinite
God, Sovereign of the universe; that He only is God, creative and
administrative, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose; that He, as God, is
Triune in essential being, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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2. Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say the Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God and very man, the God-man.
We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and took again His body, together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.
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3. The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third
Person of the Triune Godhead, that He is ever present and efficiently active
in and with the Church of Christ, convincing the world of sin, regenerating
those who repent and believe, sanctifying believers, and guiding into all
truth as it is in Jesus.
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4. The Holy Scriptures
We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.
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5. Sin, Original and
Personal
We believe that sin came into the world through the disobedience of our first parents, and death by sin. We believe that sin is of two kinds: original sin or depravity, and actual or personal sin.
We believe that original sin, or depravity, is that corruption of the nature of all the offspring of Adam by reason of which everyone is very far gone from original righteousness or the pure state of our first parents at the time of their creation, is averse to God, is without spiritual life, and inclined to evil, and that continually. We further believe that original sin continues to exist with the new life of the regenerate, until [eradicated] the heart is fully cleansed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit.2
We believe that original sin differs from actual sin in that it constitutes an inherited propensity to actual sin for which no one is accountable until its divinely provided remedy is neglected or rejected.
We believe that actual or personal sin is a voluntary violation of a known law of God by a morally responsible person. It is therefore not to be confused with involuntary and inescapable shortcomings, infirmities, faults, mistakes, failures, or other deviations from a standard of perfect conduct that are the residual effects of the Fall. However, such innocent effects do not include attitudes or responses contrary to the spirit of Christ, which may properly be called sins of the spirit. We believe that personal sin is primarily and essentially a violation of the law of love; and that in relation to Christ sin may be defined as unbelief.
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6. Atonement
We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, and by His [meritorious] death on the Cross, made a full atonement for all human sin, and that this Atonement is the only ground of salvation, and that it is sufficient for every individual of Adam's race. The Atonement is graciously efficacious for the salvation of the irresponsible and for the children in innocency but is efficacious for the salvation of those who reach the age of
responsibility only when they repent and believe.
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7. [Free Agency] Prevenient Grace
We believe that the human race's creation in Godlikeness included ability to choose between right and wrong, and that thus human beings were made morally responsible; that through the fall of Adam they became depraved so that they cannot now turn and prepare themselves by their own natural strength and works to faith and calling upon God. But we also believe that the grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all people, enabling all who will to turn from sin to righteousness, believe on Jesus Christ for pardon and cleansing from sin, and follow good works pleasing and acceptable in His sight.
We believe that all persons, though in the possession of the experience of regeneration and entire sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost.
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8.
Repentance
We believe that repentance, which is a sincere
and thorough change of the mind in regard to sin, involving a sense of
personal guilt and a voluntary turning away from sin, is demanded of all who
have by act or purpose become sinners against God. The Spirit of God gives
to all who will repent the gracious help of penitence of heart and hope of
mercy, that they may believe unto pardon and spiritual life.
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9. Justification, Regeneration,
& Adoption
We believe that justification is the gracious and judicial act of God by which He grants full pardon of all guilt and complete release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as righteous, to all who believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior.
We believe that regeneration, or the new birth, is that gracious work of God whereby the moral nature of the repentant believer is spiritually quickened and given a distinctively spiritual life, capable of faith, love, and obedience.
We believe that adoption is that gracious act of God by which the justified and regenerated believer is constituted a son of God.
We believe that justification, regeneration, and adoption are simultaneous in the experience of seekers after God and are obtained upon the condition of faith, preceded by repentance; and that to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.
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10. Entire
Sanctification
We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.
It is wrought by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service.
Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by faith, preceded by entire consecration; and to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.
This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as "Christian perfection," "perfect love," "heart purity," "the baptism with the Holy Spirit," "the fullness of the blessing," and "Christian holiness."
We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature character. The former is obtained in an instant, the result of entire sanctification; the latter is the result of growth in grace.
We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the impulse to grow in grace. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and improvement in Christlikeness of character and personality. Without such purposeful endeavor one's witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost.
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11.
The Church
We believe in the Church, the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, the covenant people of God made new in Christ, the Body of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through the Word.
God calls the Church to express its life in the unity and fellowship of the Spirit; in worship through the preaching of the Word, observance of the sacraments, and ministry in His name; by obedience to Christ and mutual accountability.
The mission of the Church in the world is to continue the redemptive work of Christ in the power of the Spirit through holy living, evangelism, discipleship, and service.
The Church is a historical reality, which organizes itself in culturally conditioned forms; exists both as local congregations and as a universal body; sets apart persons called of God for specific ministries. God calls the Church to live under His rule in anticipation of the consummation at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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12. Baptism
We believe that Christian baptism, commanded by our Lord, is a sacrament signifying acceptance of the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to be administered to believers and declarative of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and full purpose of obedience in holiness and righteousness.
Baptism being a symbol of the new covenant, young children may be baptized, upon request of parents or guardians who shall give assurance for them of necessary Christian training.
Baptism may be administered by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, according to the choice of the applicant.
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13. The Lord's Supper
We believe that the Memorial and Communion Supper instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is essentially a New Testament sacrament, declarative of His sacrificial death, through the merits of which believers have life and salvation and promise of all spiritual blessings in Christ. It is distinctively for those who are prepared for reverent appreciation of its significance, and by it they show forth the Lord's death till He come again. It being the Communion feast, only those who have faith in Christ and love for the saints should be called to participate therein.
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14. Divine Healing
We believe in the Bible doctrine of divine healing and urge our people to seek to offer the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick. We also believe God heals through the means of medical science.
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15. Second Coming of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that, if we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.
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16.
Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny
We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that the bodies both of the just and of the unjust shall be raised to life and united with their spirits-"they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
21. We believe in future judgment in which every person shall appear before God to be judged according to his or her deeds in this life.
22. We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly believe in, and obediently follow, Jesus Christ our Lord; and that the finally impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell.
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Covenant of Christian Conduct
The Christian Life
The church joyfully
proclaims the good news that we may be delivered from
all sin to a new life in Christ. By the grace of God
we Christians are "to put off [the] old self"—the old
patterns of conduct as well as the old carnal mind—and
are to "put on the new self"—a new and holy way of
life as well as the mind of Christ. (Ephesians
4:17-24)
The Church of the
Nazarene purposes to relate timeless biblical
principles to contemporary society in such a way that
the doctrines and rules of the church may be known and
understood in many lands and within a variety of
cultures. We hold that the Ten Commandments, as
reaffirmed in the New Testament, constitute the basic
Christian ethic and ought to be obeyed in all
particulars.
In listing practices to
be avoided we recognize that no catalog, however
inclusive, can hope to encompass all forms of evil
throughout the world. Therefore it is imperative that
our people earnestly seek the aid of the Spirit in
cultivating a sensitivity to evil that transcends the
mere letter of the law; remembering the admonition:
"Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every
kind of evil."
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We
hold specifically that the following practices should
be avoided:
refrain from entertainments that are subversive of the
Christian ethic.
Our people, both as Christian individuals and in
Christian family units, should govern themselves by
three principles.
One
is the Christian stewardship of leisure time. A
second principle
is the recognition of the Christian obligation to
apply the highest moral standards of Christian living.
Because we are living in a day of great moral
confusion in which we face the potential encroachment
of the evils of the day into the sacred precincts of
our homes through various avenues such as current
literature, radio, television, personal computers, and
the Internet, it is essential that the most rigid
safeguards be observed to keep our homes from becoming
secularized and worldly. However, we hold that
entertainment that endorses and encourages holy living
and affirms scriptural values should be affirmed and
encouraged. We especially encourage our young people
to use their gifts in media and the arts to influence
positively this pervasive part of culture. The
third principle
is the obligation to witness against whatever
trivializes or blasphemes God, as well as such social
evils as violence, sensuality, pornography, profanity,
and the occult, as portrayed by and through the
commercial entertainment industry in its many forms,
and to endeavor to bring about the demise of
enterprises known to be the purveyors of this kind of
entertainment. This would include the avoidance of all
types of entertainment ventures and media productions
that produce, promote, or feature the violent, the
sensual, the pornographic, the profane, or the
occultic, or which feature or glamorize the world's
philosophy of secularism, sensualism, and materialism
and undermine God's standard of holiness of heart and
life.
This necessitates the
teaching and preaching of these moral standards of
Christian living, and that our people be taught to use
prayerful discernment in continually choosing the
"high road" of holy living. We therefore call upon our
leaders and pastors to give strong emphasis in our
periodicals and from our pulpits to such fundamental
truths as will develop the principle of discrimination
between the evil and good to be found in these media.
We suggest that the
standard given to
John
Wesley by his mother, namely,
"whatever weakens your
reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience,
obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of
spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of
your body over mind, that thing for you is sin,"
form the basis for this teaching of discrimination.
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refrain from Lotteries and other forms of gambling,
whether legal or illegal. The church holds that the
final result of these practices is detrimental both to
the individual and society.
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Refrain from
membership in
oath-bound secret orders or societies.
The quasi-religious nature of such organizations
dilutes the Christian's commitment, and their secrecy
contravenes the Christian's open witness.
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Refrain from all forms
of
dancing that detract from spiritual growth
and break down proper moral inhibitions and reserve.
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Refrain from the use of
intoxicating liquors
as a
beverage, or trafficking therein; giving influence to,
or voting for, the licensing of places for the sale of
the same; using illicit drugs or trafficking therein;
using of tobacco in any of its forms, or trafficking
therein.
In light of the Holy
Scriptures and human experience concerning the ruinous
consequences of the use of alcohol as a beverage, and
in light of the findings of medical science regarding
the detrimental effect of both alcohol and tobacco to
the body and mind, as a community of faith committed
to the pursuit of a holy life, our position and
practice is abstinence rather than moderation. Holy
Scripture teaches that our body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit. With loving regard for ourselves and
others, we call our people to total abstinence from
all intoxicants.
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