I read a few posts on the website where you talked about how Christians are not to expect sinless perfection in themselves. This was very encouraging to me! I have been raised in the Nazarene church. Nazarenes have a lot of really great strengths, but sometimes it can be tough, as they believe that Christians can get to a place in their lives where they no longer struggle against sin. They honestly believe that one can be sinless. This is hard for me, as I still see sin in my life. I see moments of sexual desire, selfish or prideful thoughts, and moments of disrespect toward my parents when I’m in a grouchy mood. I’ve walked with the Lord in close fellowship with Him for close to six years, and I still see struggles with sin. In the Nazarene church, this would indicate a problem.<\/p>\n
What do you think?<\/p>\n\t
The Nazarene church subscribes to the idea that there are two levels of salvation: the regular salvation when you become a Christian and one they refer to as being sanctified. To come to this conclusion, they treat sanctification as different from justification.<\/p>\n
“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\u00a0a second work of grace<\/strong>, … ” [Church of the Nazarene, “Articles of Faith<\/a>“].<\/p>\n
“We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God,\u00a0subsequent to regeneration<\/strong>, 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 or infilling of the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the\u00a0cleansing of the heart from sin<\/strong>\u00a0and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service.” [Church of the Nazarene, “Articles of Faith<\/a>“]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The problem is that the New Testament does not make a distinction between believers who are sanctified and those who are not. All believers are sanctified “that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me<\/em>” (Acts 26:18). Being saved at baptism is interconnected with all aspects of salvation, including sanctification. “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:11). “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:25-26). The Nazarenes try to side-step this issue by claiming there are different types of sanctifications. That is why you see them refer to “entire sanctification.” The phrase is derived from “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 5:23). So an elaborate system of multiple level salvation and the accompanying doctrine is created from what is imagined Paul meant by his prayer.<\/p>\n
Nazarenes don’t claim that an entirely sanctified person cannot sin but rather that they are less likely to sin. However, they also claim that it is possible for a person to reach a level where a person does not sin. “The possibility of deliverance from all sin and of renewal in God’s image permeates Holy Scripture” [Howard Culbertson, Roger Hahn, and Dean Nelson, “How Entire is Entire Sanctification?<\/a>“].<\/p>\n
There is a flaw in this idea. Christians are warned against thinking they have conquered sin. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall<\/em>” (I Corinthians 10:12). The reason is that Satan isn’t going to give up on Christians. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world<\/em>” (I Peter 5:8-9). While Christians work hard not to sin, the fact is that sin can and does happen despite our best efforts. Hopefully not often.<\/p>\n
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.\u00a0If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us<\/strong>. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u00a0If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.<\/strong>\u00a0My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous<\/em>” (I John 1:5-2:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Notice that this cleansing from all sin is not based on obtaining a special level of sanctification but for all Christians who are willing to humble themselves and confess their sins to God.<\/p>\n
What I think is that the Church of the Nazarene is well-intentioned, but it is not accurate in all its teachings. See Why I Am Not a Nazarene<\/a>\u00a0for some details. I’ve always been puzzled by this group. I have had a few polite discussions with members of this group, but I get far more vicious notes than from most other groups. See\u00a0Questions and Answers regarding the Church of the Nazarene<\/a>. I would like to invite you to consider being just a Christian without the denominational trappings. See:\u00a0We Are Simply Christians Without Being Members of Any Denomination, You Can be Too!<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I read a few posts on the website where you talked about how Christians are not to expect sinless perfection in themselves. This was very encouraging to me! I have been raised in the Nazarene church. Nazarenes have a lot of really great strengths, but sometimes it can be tough, as they believe that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[439,56,179],"class_list":["post-45183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church-of-the-nazarene","tag-perfection","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25651,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-too-left-the-nazarene-church-but-over-legalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":45183,"position":0},"title":"I too left the Nazarene church, but over legalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading your letter online and, like your \"I left the Nazarene church,\" I left on the other hand because I found the practices to be legalistic. I find your letter to be greatly encouraging. Thank you and God bless you. Answer: I'm glad the article was of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19114,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-am-not-a-nazarene\/","url_meta":{"origin":45183,"position":1},"title":"Why I Am Not a Nazarene","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by J. R. Bronger In June of 1972 my wife, Sue, and I were baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38). Like many of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we came out of religious error. Our involvement was with the Church of the Nazarene, headquartered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25247,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/help-me-understand-more-about-the-flaws-in-the-church-of-the-nazarene\/","url_meta":{"origin":45183,"position":2},"title":"Help me understand more about the flaws in the Church of the Nazarene","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a music minister, called preacher and leader. I currently serve with the church of the Nazarene. I am shocked by the truth you revealed. I have been looking for this, but I really need help to understand it more. I have been feeling deeply uncomfortable with some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84204,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sinless-perfectionism\/","url_meta":{"origin":45183,"position":3},"title":"Sinless Perfectionism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappalear via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 31, 1987 Some brethren are saying today that they believe the \"walk\" of the faithful saint is negated if he commits even a single sin inadvertently (or against his will). This, of course, would include the sin of teaching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14585,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-think-you-have-the-right-to-judge-your-fellow-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":45183,"position":4},"title":"You think you have the right to judge your fellow man","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was raised in the Church of the Nazarene, but my husband was raised in the Church of Christ.\u00a0 I cannot believe that you continue to perpetuate the untruths, misconceptions and basic misinterpretations of the Bible.\u00a0 The Church of Christ does not believe in the forgiveness of sin and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24859,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-the-bible-teach-that-you-can-be-saved-without-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":45183,"position":5},"title":"Doesn’t the Bible teach that you can be saved without baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your article, \"Why I Am Not a Nazarene,\" as I have been researching the\u00a0Wesleyan Nazarenes and was considering attending there as a member but I am having doubts. However, I read your article and where it says\u00a0\"No one is saved without being baptized with water\" is\u00a0not biblical.\u00a0\u00a0One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}