In order that we may preserve our God-given heritage, the
faith once delivered to the saints, especially the doctrine and
experience of entire sanctification as a second work of grace, and also
that we may cooperate effectually with other branches of the Church of
Jesus Christ in advancing God’s kingdom, we, the ministers and lay
members of the Church of the Nazarene, in accordance with the principles
of constitutional legislation established among us, do hereby ordain,
adopt, and set forth as the fundamental law or Constitution of the
Church of the Nazarene the Articles of Faith, the General Rules, and the
Articles of Organization and Government here following, to wit:
ARTICLES OF FAITH
I. The Triune God
1. 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.
II. Jesus Christ
2. 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.
III. The Holy Spirit
3. 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.
IV. The Holy Scriptures
4. 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.
V. Sin, Original and Personal
5. 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.
5.1. 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 the heart is fully cleansed by the
baptism with the Holy Spirit.
5.2. 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.
5.3. 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.
VI. Atonement
6. We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by
the shedding of His own blood, and by His 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.
VII. Prevenient Grace
7. 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
VIII. Repentance
8. 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.
IX. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. We believe that adoption is that gracious act of God
by which the justified and regenerated believer is constituted a son of
God.
12. 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.
X. Entire Sanctification
13. 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."
14. 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.
XI. The Church
15. 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.
XII. Baptism
16. 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.
XIII. The Lord’s Supper
17. 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.
XIV. Divine Healing
18. 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.
XV. Second Coming of Christ
19. 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.
XVI. Resurrection,
Judgment, and Destiny
20. 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.
* Biblical scripture references supporting each of these
beliefs are available
