Who are the Nazarenes?
We are…
A Christian People
we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in affirming the historic Trinitarian creeds and beliefs of the Christian faith. We value our Wesleyan-Holiness heritage and believe it to be a way of understanding the faith that is true to Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.
we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in affirming the historic Trinitarian creeds and beliefs of the Christian faith. We value our Wesleyan-Holiness heritage and believe it to be a way of understanding the faith that is true to Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.
A Holiness People
We believe that the Holy Spirit’s infilling of our lives cleanses us from all sin, renewing us in the image of God, empowering us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves, and producing in us the character of Christ.Holiness in the life of believers is most clearly understood as Christlikeness.
We believe that the Holy Spirit’s infilling of our lives cleanses us from all sin, renewing us in the image of God, empowering us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves, and producing in us the character of Christ.Holiness in the life of believers is most clearly understood as Christlikeness.
A Missional People
We are a sent people, responding to the call of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go into all the world, witnessing to the Lordship of Christ and participating with God in the building of the Church and the extension of His kingdom (Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:1).
We are a sent people, responding to the call of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go into all the world, witnessing to the Lordship of Christ and participating with God in the building of the Church and the extension of His kingdom (Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:1).
What We Believe
Our Articles of Faith
As part of a Wesleyan-Holiness denomination, our beliefs are defined by the Church of the Nazarene’s articles of faith. Our denomination has also published this condensed version of our beliefs.
- We believe in one God who has expressed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- We believe that the Holy Scriptures communicate God’s message of salvation and is authoritative in all matters related to faith and Christian living.
- We believe that humanity is born with a fallen nature, and is, therefore, inclined to evil.
- We believe that the love and grace of God has been extended to every person through the atonement of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- We believe that Christian experience is more than a change of mind. It is accompanied by a transformation in the life of the believer, and by assurance that is grounded in both the Holy Scriptures and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.
- We believe in a second work of grace in the life of the believer. The Scriptures name this second work as “sanctification”. Sanctification is the work of God by which believers are brought into a state of complete devotion to God. It is preceded by a moment in which the believer consecrates their entire life to God. We believe that the Holy Spirit gives witness to the sanctified life, and that the sanctified life expresses itself in our actions, attitudes, and service.
- We believe that our Lord will return, our mortal bodies will be raised, and Christ will judge the earth.
- We believe that all who live for Jesus Christ have an eternal future. Our belief in such a future includes both the fulfillment of God’s creative purpose as well as the accountability of all persons endowed with the power of choice.
- We believe that unless one experiences God’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, their future is one of eternal separation from God.
For more information about the Church of the Nazarene, please visit our denominational website.