38 East Rebecca Street, East Palestine, Ohio 44413 



What is a "Nazarene"? :: What We Believe :: Articles of Faith
 



What is a "Nazarene"?

Every church has its distinctives -- practices or beliefs that set it apart from other groups. Sometimes this is confusing to people. They say, "If the Bible is true and Jesus was who He claimed to be, why are there so many different churches with so many different beliefs?" We are optimistic enough to believe that will all the differences in beliefs and practices, most Christian congregations still agree on 90-95% of Christian teaching, and that the other 5-10% we do not agree on falls in this category of "distinctive".

While we get our name from Jesus of Nazareth, you might be asking what in the world is a modern-day Nazarene? Well...

¤  We are not Baptists, but like the Baptists, we believe in calling people to repentance and to witnessing to their new life in Christ through public baptism.

¤  We are not Presbyterians, but like the Presbyterians, we believe in the power of the preaching of the Word Of God to bring about change in people's lives.

¤  We are not Lutherans, but like the Lutherans, we believe in salvation through Jesus Christ on the authority of Scripture alone, in salvation by faith alone and in salvation as gift of God's grace alone.

¤  We are not Charismatics -- No, we do not "speak in tongues" -- but like the Charismatics we believe in the gifts of the Spirit, who gives people the power to live a Christ-like life and to make a real difference in their world.

¤  We are not Episcopalians -- although John Wesley was a lifelong Anglican -- but like the Episcopalians we take worship seriously (we just choose to be a little less "formal" in our worship services).

¤  We are not Quakers or Moravians, but like these pietistic groups, we believe in living a careful life that testifies to the watching world that we belong to the Family Of God.

¤  We are not United Methodists, although we have our roots in the Methodist tradition that grew out of John Wesley's revival movement in the 1700's. We have good fellowship with our United Methodist "cousins", but we are organizationally separate for historical reasons.

  • We are a warm and friendly group of people who desire, with God's help, to live holy lives that bring honor and glory to Him. In three words our theology is "JESUS IS LORD!"

  • We look to the Bible as our primary source for direction in our worship and our lifestyles.

  • We are life-centered in our teaching and sensitive to the needs and concerns of others.

  • We give people opportunities to put their faith in to action through various avenues of service.

  • We are honored to take our place among the many who are called Christians.

  • We laugh and cry together, rejoice and grieve together, grow together, and walk in faith together.

  • We aim to be a family for all who love Jesus, the Nazarene.

     We want you to know there is room for you in the East Palestine Church of the Nazarene Family of Faith. Our mission is to be a Beacon of Hope to the community. We can only be a Big Beacon as we join our little lights together. Come help us.
 

What We Believe*

   1. We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, He, as God is Holy, and is triune in essential being and revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

   2. Jesus Christ -- became incarnate by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, are united in one person the God-man. He died for our sins, and He rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven and there He intercedes for us.

   3. Holy Spirit -- ever present and efficiently active in and with the Church convincing the world of sin, regenerating those who repent & believe, sanctifying believers and guiding into all truth as it is in Jesus.

   4. Holy Scriptures -- we believe in plenary inspiration. The Bible, inerrantly reveals the will of God concerning all things necessary to salvation.

   5. Sin -- came into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Actual and Personal sin is a voluntary violation of a known law of God, by a morally responsible person.

   6. Atonement -- Jesus by His suffering and the shedding of blood, made a full atonement for all human sin.

   7. Free Agency -- God created the human race with the ability to choose between right and wrong. We believe God's grace is freely bestowed on all enabling all who will to turn from sin to righteousness. We believe that all persons may fall from grace and apostatize and unless they repent be hopelessly and eternally lost.

   8. Repentance -- a sincere and thorough change of heart in regard to sin, is required of all who have sinned.

   9. Justification, Regeneration, Adoption -- are simultaneous in the experience of seekers after God.

  10. Entire Sanctification -- is the act of God, by which believers are made free from original sin, and brought into a state of entire devotion to God, and the obedience of love made perfect.

  11. The Church -- the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. It is called by God to worship, and abide in unity. It is to continue the work of Christ, in the world.

  12. We believe in Christian Baptism

  13. We believe in and celebrate the Lord's Supper.

  14. Divine Healing -- while we believe in medicine, we seek healing as God's gift. We encourage the anointing with oil and prayer for the healing of the sick.

  15. Second Coming -- we believe Christ is coming again. He will take those who believe home to heaven.

* These statements are abridged from the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene
 

The complete Articles of Faith can be accessed through the above link.

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ARTICLES OF FAITH

PREAMBLE

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:

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.

(Genesis 1; Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 5:16; 6:1-7; 40:18-31; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19-20; John 14:6-27; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 4:4-6; Ephesians 2:13-18)

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.

(Matthew 1:20-25; 16:15-16; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1-18; Acts 2:22-36; Romans 8:3, 32-34; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:12-22; 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Hebrews 1:1-5; 7:22-28; 9:24-28; 1 John 1:1-3; 4:2-3, 15)

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.

(John 7:39; 14:15-18, 26; 16:7-15; Acts 2:33; 15:8-9; Romans 8:1-27; Galatians 3:1-14; 4:6; Ephesians 3:14-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 3:24; 4:13)

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.

(Luke 24:44-47; John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
 
 
 
 



 

  
 

 

 

 

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