The Second Coming

This week Captain America: Civil War was released on Blu-ray and DVD, and my preordered copy arrived on Thursday. I’m a sucker for the superhero movies. Even when stacked up against traditional action movies, there’s just something about the superhero genre that draws me in. However, if there is one drawback to superhero movies it’s that you know they will never kill off the main characters.

Even in the comic books, there have been times when superheroes have died, but they always find some loophole to bring them back. Whether it’s the Lazarus Pit or the use of a doppelgänger or evil twin, the heroes always seem to come back. In fact, this goes well beyond just the simple idea of life and death. Most superheroes that were created in the 50’s and 60’s are still alive and well today having only aged a few years. It seems that these characters have found the secret to immortality.

The idea of immortality is a funny thing. As we grow older, each of us longs for the days of our youth. Each of us desires to live on and to remain young. It’s like the farmer whose farm was right next to the train tracks. Each day the train would zoom past on the track at high speeds and each day the farmer’s dog would chase it. One day a friend asked, “What makes your dog do that?” “I don’t know,” replied the farmer, “but I often wonder what he’ll do with the train if he ever manages to catch it.”

Indeed, we all seek after a longer life, but what would we do with it if we ever able to achieve it? Jesus says that small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and that few will find it. This topic of heaven and hell, eternal life versus eternal damnation is one that our society increasingly doesn’t want to talk about. However, Christ makes it clear that he will return, and he will bring judgement with him.

In the Manual for the Church of the Nazarene, the last two articles of faith deal with Christ’s second coming and the judgment and reward that it will bring. Article #15 speaks to the second coming of Christ and details how we understand that it will happen. It states, “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.”

We’ve seen movies and read books about this topic. The Left Behind series has sparked much conversation about how it all will happen. While the details differ from what the fictional books present, the scriptural claim is the same. We know that Christ will return. In Acts, after Jesus ascends into heaven, two men from the Lord tell the people gathered, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). Likewise, Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3).

These statements have cause the imaginations of Christians to run wild. What will it look like when we’re taken up with Jesus? What will become of those left behind? When will these events happen? Some have speculated the answers to these questions and have spun fantastical tales of what they believe it will be like. Others attempt to pinpoint an exact date. However, scripture clearly tells us, “for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). We cannot expect to know when these events will take place, and anyone that tells you that they know is only fooling themselves. When asked this question by his disciples, Jesus responded, “the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Luke 12:40).

However, here is what we do know. According to 2 Peter, the end will be marked by scoffers who will follow their own evil desires and claim that Christ’s return will never come. They will cite evidence in an attempt to prove that those who trust in him are foolish. 1 Thessalonians tells us that when that day comes, those who are asleep in Christ, meaning those that have passed before us, will be called up before those that are still alive at the second coming of Christ. And on that day it will be said, “‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (Revelation 1:7-8).

Likewise, Christ himself says, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12). Along with Christ’s return, the message is clear that he will also bring judgement, rewarding each person according to what they have done. People inside and outside the church like to quote John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We’ll even go as far as to quote John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” However, after these two verses, Jesus’ conversation still continues. He goes on to say, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ” (John 3:18-20).

Our God is a loving God and he is a just God. Mankind already stands condemned. God did not condemn us. We condemned ourselves. He is a just God which is why when Abraham pleaded for the lives of the people in Sodom saying “Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). God relented and said that he would not destroy the righteous with the unrighteous. That is why, when Christ comes again, he will judge each person based upon their own merits. For “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already.”

We’re given good idea of what this will look like. The apostle John writes in Revelation, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. […]  Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:12-13; 15).

Jesus’ return and judgement are coming, and he tell us that when that day comes he will separate the people, the righteous from the unrighteous. On that day, when he judges the earth, he will say to the righteous, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34). To the unrighteous he will say, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41).

We don’t like to think or talk about questions or topics that make us feel uncomfortable, but these discussions need to be had. The question facing each one of us is this, to which side will he separate you? Will you stand with the righteous and receive the reward you are due, or will you stand condemned with the unrighteous.

“Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15). Those who trust in Christ for their salvation have nothing to fear. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18). Is your name written in the book of life? It’s not written there by default. If you don’t know for certain that your name is written in the book of life, I would encourage you to place your trust in Christ Jesus for your salvation and the forgiveness of your sins. Only those who trust in him on the day of judgement will hear the words, “you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance.” I encourage you today to make certain that you will be counted among the righteous.

The Great Physician

I read a story this week by Christian author Philip Yancey. Yancey recounted a story in the life of a man named Richard. He had been looking for evidence to prove to him the existence of a living and active God when one day, by chance, he stumbled upon a mass healing service being broadcast on television. The service was being conducted by Kathryn Kuhlman, and as he watched he was mesmerized by the people who come to the stage and recounted their healing experiences. He said that in that moment his doubts melted away. He had found the evidence that he had been looking for.

Weeks later when Kathryn Kuhlman was holding another service in a neighboring state, so Richard skipped class and did everything he could to be in the audience. In his book, he describes the atmosphere as you could hear people quietly praying, some even in different languages. He recalled that every so often you would hear a shout of “I’m healed!” from somewhere in the auditorium.

One person in particular caught his attention. He was awestruck when he saw a man who had been carried in on a stretcher walk across the platform and profess his story of healing. The crowd cheered as he walked on stage, and the man proceeded to give his name and to tell the audience that he was a physician from Milwaukee. He had been diagnosed with an incurable form of lung cancer, and he had been given only six months to live. He went on to praise God and to tell the group of people how that night he was able to walk for the first time in months. He proclaimed before everybody that he believed God had healed him that night.

As Richard watched, he knew that if God could heal that man he had wonderful things in store for him. In that moment, he wrote down the name of the physician on the stage and determined to follow-up with him. Exactly one week later he called directory assistance in Milwaukee and asked for the doctor by name. They connected him, and a woman answered the phone. He explained who he was and who he was looking for, telling the woman that he had admired the doctor and had wanted to speak with him ever since he had seen him at the Kathryn Kuhlman event. He explained that he had been very moved by his testimony.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. Then the woman spoke in a low, flat voice. She pronounced each word very slowly, “My… husband… is… dead.” She immediately hung up the phone without another word. The realization sent his world spinning. It was like the wind had been knocked out of him. He staggered into the next room where his sister was sitting. She asked him what was wrong, but he was unable to speak. He had staked his life on the certainty that this man had been healed by the living and active God, and now he didn’t know what to believe.

I’m sure that each of us have had a situation like this, and if you haven’t there’s a good chance you will. Situations like this beg the question, how do we come to terms with this concept of divine healing? We see repeatedly in scripture Jesus, as well as God’s prophets, healing the sick and raising the dead. If you ask the elders of the church today, each one will attest that they believe that God has the power to heal the sick. They may even have stories of loved ones who’ve been healed.

I remember one such story as a child. My Grandpa Kakert had had numerous heart attacks, and he wasn’t in the best of health. He had gone to the doctor for something and they determined that he had an irregular heartbeat. Since these types of things can be dangerous, the doctor had determined that in his case the best option was to undergo a procedure that would stop his heart and start it again, hopefully correcting the irregularity.

I was a child at the time, so I don’t have all of the details, but as you can imagine, this was a risky procedure. My mom and her siblings were beside themselves with the idea that their father might not make it through the procedure. I remember that as a family and as a church we prayed that God would take care of my grandpa.

When the day of the procedure arrived, the doctors and the nurses began to prep my grandpa for the procedure, but as they took his vitals they discovered something interesting. Over the time of the previous appointment and the procedure, which hadn’t been very long due to the seriousness of the condition, his heart had begun to beat regularly. The procedure to stop and restart his heart was no longer necessary because he had been healed.

However, with as many stories as we have about people being healed, we have just as many stories like that of Richard where the people involved are ultimately lost. As we begin to look at this topic and the doctrine of divine healing in the Church of the Nazarene, we will be falling back on our understanding of who God is, who we are, and how we attempt to understand the relationship between the two.

In previous discussions we’ve looked at the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Through this we see that there are many ways in which we come to an understanding of God as he reveals himself to us. Ultimately our understanding rests upon scripture, but we also look to the history of the church (tradition), our God-given ability to reason, as well as our own experiences. Through these four areas we begin to develop a comprehensive understanding of divine healing.

As we look at scripture, we see accounts of healing over and over. In 2 Kings we see Naaman being healed of leprosy after being told to dip himself into the Jordan River seven times. It took faith on his part before the healing took place. Likewise, in the gospel of Luke we’re told of a woman that had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. Upon touching Jesus’ clothes she is healed. When confronted, Jesus tells her that it was her faith that had healed her.

This is a common theme throughout biblical healings. Either the person healed sought after God through faith or were required to perform some sort of task by faith. We even see the opposite happening. In 2 Kings we read of King Asa who suffered with a foot disease for many years prior to his death. During that time he did not seek the Lord, and he was not healed.

As we comb through these biblical references we can see a theme that tells us, “If you have faith you will be healed.” Some have even taken that and begun to preach it in churches across the world. I’ve been in church services where an evangelist with the gift of healing lays hands on people to heal them. Many people reported experiencing healing by his hands, but those that did not were dismissed because “they didn’t have enough faith.” Is that true? Our own reason and experience seems to tell us that sometimes God doesn’t heal those who have faith, but what does the bible say about that?

In the gospel of John Jesus and the disciples come upon a man who was born blind. Jesus ends up healing him, but up until this point in his life he had not been healed. Are we to understand that in this moment he finally had gained enough faith to be healed? Likewise, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that he was given a thorn in the flesh in order that he might not become conceited. He says that he asked God three times to remove it but God replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Are we to understand that Paul didn’t have enough faith to be healed? The man that was called by God to be the apostle to the Gentiles and who wrote a significant portion of the New Testament was filled with the Holy Spirit but didn’t have enough faith to be healed of a thorn in the flesh?

Instead it seems more reasonable to say that while God’s healing requires faith on the part of the person being healed, God has the final say of if, when, and where that person will be healed. There are times when, like Paul, God says, “my power is made perfect in your weakness.” While lack of healing may indicate a lack of faith, it’s just as likely to mean that God has a plan to glorify himself through your weakness.

In regard to divine healing, Article of Faith #14 in the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene states, “We believe in the Bible doctrine of divine healing and urge our people to offer the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick. We also believe God heals through the means of medical science.” Often when we think of divine healing we envision the lame walking, the deaf hearing, and the blind receiving sight. We think on all these things and mourn the thought that we don’t see healing like that today. Even in the story of Richard, what was believed to be a healing from lung cancer ended in the loss of a husband.

However, when we narrow our definition of divine healing to only include those of miraculous, biblical proportions, we neglect a great deal of God’s hand at work in this world. I’m reminded of an illustration in which a man is living in his house. There is word in the news of an imminent flood, but the man had a vision of God reaching his hand down and saving him from the flood, so he remained in his house.

As the flood waters began to rise, his fleeing neighbors ask if he needs a ride. Confident in his vision, He tells them that God will save him, so he watches as his neighbors drive away in their pickup truck. In time, the first floor of his house begins to flood, so he moves up to the second floor, all the while praying that God would save him. As he looks out his window, a boat comes by and offers him a ride. The man remembers his vision and refuses stating that God will save him.

As the flood waters continue to rise, the man is forced to go up to the roof of his house. Once again he prays that God would deliver him. Shortly after a helicopter comes by and offers the man a ride to safety, but once again the man refuses stating that the Lord would rescue him. Eventually the man is unable to withstand the waters any longer, and he is swept away and drowns.

When he wakes up at the pearly gates of heaven, the first thing he says to God is, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else did you want me to do for you?”

Not all divine healing looks like a miracle. Many times it can look perfectly ordinary. In 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul doesn’t lay hands on Timothy to heal his ailing stomach. Instead he recommends a medicinal remedy. Likewise, through advances in technology and medical science, we are able to see the paralyzed walk again. Those who are deaf are able to hear, and those who are blind are able to receive their sight. While we may not see a spectacularly miraculous healing, God is still at work healing those in need. In the Church of the Nazarene, we believe that God uses these medical advances and the wisdom of doctors and nurses to heal the afflicted.

However, even with modern medicine, not every case has a happy ending. I’m reminded of Pastor Kent Sperry from the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in town who recently lost his mother. They had faith, and they prayed for healing. Some would say that healing never came, but those of us in the church know differently. We are more than just our physical bodies, and when we go to see our savior we know that he will give us a new body, a glorious body, a body that will not get sick and will not decay.

God heals in many ways, from calling Nahum to perform a task to Paul telling Timothy to take medicine. There are also times when God’s healing is done through glorification in heaven. Our’s is not to question why he chooses one way over the other. We know our God is powerful and that he bring about his will in a number of different ways.

Instead, we find our role in James 5:14. Ultimately, our place is to seek him for the healing of friends and loved ones. That is why our manual states that we are “to offer the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick.” We are to lift them in prayer and anoint them with oil, just as he has commanded us.

The Sacraments

One thing that has always fascinated me has been the differences between different religions, but particularly, I’ve found it interesting to look at the differences between different Christian denominations. Beyond the simple liturgical differences of public worship, I want to understand how our understanding of God and scripture compares to that of others.

Therefore, I found it interesting when I discovered that while we in the Church of the Nazarene recognize only two sacraments, baptism and Communion (the Eucharist), the Catholic church recognizes seven different sacraments, baptism, confirmation, Communion, penance, anointing of the sick, ordination, and matrimony. It’s not that we don’t recognize the other five as important. We just don’t consider them to be sacraments. This caused me to wonder, what is a sacrament? What qualifications are used to determine if a group recognizes seven or just two?

To answer this question, we’ll first look at the definition of a sacrament. Depending on where you look, the answer will differ slightly. The Webster dictionary defines a sacrament as “a Christian rite that is believed to have been ordained by Christ and that is held to be a means of divine grace or to be a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality.” Likewise, the Google definition reads, “a religious ceremony or act of the Christian Church that is regarded as an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual divine grace.”

With these two definitions we begin to see a common theme. A sacrament is a means of grace which is an outward sign of an inward spiritual reality. On top of that, seeing as how Christ is the head of the church, we look to him for the outward signs which he has ordained and which we should recognize.

Throughout the gospels, we can clearly see that Christ called for his followers to participate in baptism as well as the Eucharist. It’s possible that he officiated a wedding ceremony, but we don’t have any record of it. To be a sacrament it must be ordained by Christ and an outward symbol of a spiritual divine grace.

However, as we looked at last week, a word’s meaning goes deeper than just the dictionary definition. Just like ekklesia, the word sacrament has a rich history spanning back to the ancient Roman Empire. In secular terms it indicated an oath, in particular a military oath.

Back in the summer of 1999 I embarked on a journey that would change my life. I traded in my blue jeans and t-shirt for army greens. As with anything in life worth doing, Army Basic Training was not a walk in the park. We had late nights and long days. We woke up before the sun and marched miles in full battle gear weighed down by over fifty pounds of gear. It was a long, tough road, but in the end I made it through.

I remember when graduation day finally came I was so excited. They dressed us in our best and inspected us to make sure we looked our best. We were then taken to a large auditorium where we were initiated as full members of the United States Army. As a part of that ceremony we were all led in an oath of allegiance to the United States and the United States Army.

This is the context in which the word sacrament originated. Back in the Roman world soldiers would give an oath of allegiance, a sacrament, when joining the army. The early church adopted this word because, as they saw it, faith in Jesus Christ was the same as enlistment into the army of God. Therefore, through the sacraments we are declaring an oath of allegiance to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is what a sacrament is, and the first way we do that in the Church of the Nazarene is through baptism. Baptism, a sacrament signifying acceptance of the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ, is a declaration of a believer’s faith in Jesus as Savior. Baptism is therefore a symbol of what has already taken place. It symbolizes your acceptance of Christ’s death and resurrection as the atonement for your sin. It symbolizes the oath that you have taken that he will be your God and you will be his child.

We see throughout scripture the call to be baptized. In Acts 2:38 Peter calls the new believers to repent and be baptized. We see that Jesus himself went to John the Baptist to be baptized, and in his final words to his disciples he commissioned them to make disciples in all nations and to baptize them.

One thing that I love about the Church of the Nazarene is that, because we understand that baptism is an outward symbol of an inward, divine grace, the formalities of the outward symbol aren’t extremely important. I’ve talked to pastors who’ve told me of churches that have split over the details of how baptisms should be performed. One pastor even told me of a group that started their own church because they believed the only acceptable form of baptism was complete immersion face down.

In the Church of the Nazarene, we don’t get into all of those details, because the real power has already taken place before the baptism even occurs. In the Church of the Nazarene, baptism may be administered by sprinkling or pouring water over the person or immersion, according to the choice of the applicant. Most people typically choose immersion due to the visual symbol of being buried and raised to life with Christ, but whether it be due to personal preference or medical requirement, there are other options available. Again, the significance lies not in the type of baptism in which you partake but in the fact that you are declaring to the world the oath that you have taken with God.

With that being said, we would be amiss if we didn’t discuss infant baptism. Some denominations believe that we must baptize children as soon as possible after birth so that we might wash them of their sin lest they die and spend eternity separated from God. While we in the Church of the Nazarene see merit in child baptisms and will do them upon request of the parent, our understanding of it is quite different.

Like I’ve already stated, baptism is a symbol of what has already taken place in the heart. Therefore, the act of baptizing a child does not wash away their sin and ensure a heavenly dwelling place for that is an inward divine grace. Instead, we fall back on our understanding of sin. Romans 4:15 tells us, “And where there is no law there is no transgression.” This goes back to our definition of sin from John Wesley, “A willful transgression against a known law of God.” Through this we understand that a child is not capable of understanding the law. God has written it on their hearts, but they have not yet reached an age at which they can rightly distinguish right from wrong. They may understand that taking a toy from their sibling lands them in timeout, but they don’t understand why it is wrong.

As such, we understand that in their innocence a child is pure. There is no need to wash away their sins, because Christ’s blood already covers them in their innocence. There will, however, come a day when each one will understand right from wrong and good from evil. We call that the age of accountability. I’m not going to attempt to put a number on it, because I believe it can be different for each child. However, once they reach that age, they will be held accountable for their actions and will be in dire need of a savior just like you and me.

Where does that leave us on infant baptism? The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene states, “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.” With or without baptism, an infant is pure and innocent. In this church, the sacrament of infant baptism is an oath to God by the parents before the congregation that they will do everything in their power to guide their child in the fear of the Lord.

Many people would argue that this baptism is not a decision of the child, is fundamentally different from baptism, and is therefore not baptism at all. For people with that understanding we also perform baby dedications in which the parents stand before the congregation and swear an oath to God that they will do everything in their power to guide their child in the fear of the Lord.

Now that we understand baptism, we will move on to the sacrament of Communion. The Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, or Communion is commanded of Christ in three of the four gospels. It is something that the early church clearly took seriously because we see references to it throughout the book of Acts as well as the epistles. Jesus commissioned this sacrament as a symbol of the new covenant between God and man. It declares for us Christ’s sacrificial death which has brought us new life.

Communion is not something to be taken lightly. As I stress every time we partake, it is distinctively for those who reverently appreciate its significance and hold Christ as the Lord and Savior of their lives. However, while it is a holy and sacred sacrament, just like other sacraments, it is an outward expression of an inward, divine grace.

There is nothing magical about the elements. We use Welch’s grape juice and unleavened wafers. There are those who believe in a doctrine called transubstantiation. This doctrine holds to the belief that upon consumption of the bread and the wine the elements physically become the body and blood of Christ. This belief is likely due to Jesus’ statements in which he said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.” (John 6:56) and the last supper in which he states, “This is my blood,” and “This is my body.”

The truth is, as Jesus said these words, he was standing with his disciples with his physical blood flowing through his physical body. Though they may not have understood everything he was saying at that moment, I doubt they truly believed Jesus has poured out his blood into a cup and made them drink it. They understood the bread and the wine to be symbols, and once Jesus sacrificed himself and they were empowered by the Holy Spirit, they understood it all.

Above all, Communion, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, just like baptism, that has been ordained by Christ, an outward expression of an inward, divine grace. All the significance contained within the bread and the cup come from the oath that you declare to the Lord before his group of witnesses. It is a reaffirmation of the covenant that you made with him and that you declared to the world through your baptism.

Ekklēsia

What is the church? Growing up in church, it was a word that was used fairly often. On Sundays and Wednesdays we all went to church. My mom had keys to the church. As I grew up and started my own family, we would have birthdays and other kinds of parties at the church.

It was a common phrase, and most of the time when we used it we were referring to the church building. However, in Sunday School and on Wednesday nights, we would repeatedly be taught that the people are what really make up the church and not the building. This didn’t stop us from using the word church when referencing the building, but there was always that distinction in my mind.

As we continue looking at the foundational doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene, we come to this very topic of the church. As with any biblical word, the best place to look for answers is in the Bible. Particularly, since Scripture states that Jesus is the head of the church, it would be a good idea to see what Jesus had to say about it.

You may be surprised to discover that Jesus really had little to say about “the church.” In fact, within the four gospels, Matthew; Mark; Luke; and John, the word church is used only three times. All three of those instances appear within two verses which are both contained within a single book. In Matthew 18:17 Jesus gives instructions on dealing with sin in the church, and in Matthew 16:18 we see one of the most well-known instances of the word church in the bible. Jesus states, “on this rock I will build my church.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t go into any more detail than that regarding what the church is except to say that “the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

In order to better define the church we will first begin by taking a look at the word “church.” In the greek language from which our english bibles are translated, the word used by Jesus in Matthew 16:18 as well as Matthew 18:17 is the word ekklēsia. In all modern translations of the bible, this word is translated as “church,” but that’s a mistranslation.

The history of the word “church” is quite fascinating. I’ll try to briefly cover it, but I would encourage you to Google it for yourself. Our word church actually stems from the greek word kuriakos, which means “belonging to the Lord.” This word is found in 1 Corinthians 11:20 when Paul speaks of the Lord’s supper. Usage of this word originates in the fourth century and the Roman Emperor Constantine.

After his conversion he began ordering the construction of churches which were called kuriakos, or the Lord’s. This word eventually morphed into the word church, and seeing as how this word specifically used for the building, this is was the beginning of the confusion about what is the church.

Coming back to the word ekklēsia, when translated it means an assembly or a congregation. This lends credibility to the idea that the real church is not the building, but rather the people. This is the same word that was used by Jewish scholars translating the Old Testament into greek when they referred to Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai. So, if you wanted to have a more accurate translation, each instance in which ekklēsia is translated as “church” in the bible should technically be changed to “assembly.” Doing so may actually clear up the whole church building confusion.

However, the meaning of the word ekklēsia goes deeper than a simple gathering of people. Ekklēsia is actually a compound word made up of the words ek, meaning “out of” or “out from” and klēsia meaning “to call.” So, the rough translation would read, “those called out from.” This wasn’t a word that Jesus made up just for the purposes of God. It was a common word used throughout the Roman empire for a group that was called out from among the community for a specified purpose.

I grew up in a small town. The town wasn’t big enough to have its own fire department, but it was also far enough out-of-town that it couldn’t rely upon the surrounding cities in the case of house or brush fires. Instead, what we had was a fire station that was completely staffed by volunteers. My dad, being one of the volunteer firefighters, would spend time training and preparing to fight fires within the community. They would have weekend training events and drills to help prepare them for the real emergencies.

When a real emergency arose, everybody in town knew it. The town wasn’t very big, so the siren on the fire station could easily be heard from all corners. However, at my house we often knew what was going on well before siren sounded. Each volunteer firefighter carried a pager that would alert them to local emergencies. When that pager would go off my dad would drop whatever he was doing and head straight for the fire station. It didn’t matter if we were eating dinner or doing yard work. When that pager went off, he was gone, called out from the community in order to accomplish a mission.

This was the idea of ekklēsia. Common, everyday people who have been called out from their daily lives in order to accomplish a greater mission, whether it was to deal with a local emergency or to make decisions for the community. This is the context in which Jesus stated that he would build his ekklēsia, “those called out from,” his church. Obviously, we are called to different roles and levels of authority, but each member of the ekklēsia has been called out from their lives of sin for the purpose of accomplishing the same mission. Jesus gave us this mission when he commissioned the apostles telling them, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Making disciples takes on many forms, from evangelism to education and acts of compassion to bearing witness to the kingdom of God. We have been called as Christ’s church to confess that he is Lord, to be in unity with each other and fellowship with the Spirit, but ultimately our is plain and simple, to make disciples.

We talk about this a lot in the church. I could stand out in the foyer on any given Sunday and ask people as they leave, “What has the church been called to do?” The vast majority of people would tell me that we are to make disciples. However, as much as we know that it’s our task, as much as we know that it’s our mission, the church in America is failing to do just that.

Nine out of ten churches in North America are losing ground in the communities in which they are located. They are either declining or growing more slowly than their respective communities (Thom Rainer, Who Moved My Pulpit? http://thomrainer.com/whomovedmypulpit/). Reaching out and making disciples is not an option. It is the purpose for which we have been called out, both at our local church as well as in the global church. If we are not working toward the mission given to us, can we really consider ourselves to be the ekklēsia?

When was the last time that you were actively involved in mission of the church? When was the last time you told a non-believer about Jesus? When was the last time that a new believer walked through the doors of your church? If you have to think too long about these questions, I dare to say it’s because we aren’t fulfilling our mission. We gather each week in church buildings, but can we honestly say that we are the church, the ekklēsia, if we aren’t working toward the church’s mission?

Sanctification

Founded back in 1908, the Church of the Nazarene has over 2 million members around the globe. Over 60% of all Nazarenes and over 80% of the church’s 439 districts reside outside of the United States. Across six different continents you will find 53 educational institutions in 35 different countries. The Church of the Nazarene’s rich history spans back even before its founding, but even more important than how the was started is the question of why it was started.

During the 18th century, John Wesley, along with his brother Charles, journeyed to the American colonies as a missionary for the Church of England. Both men were disheartened by the state of the church and sought to renew the church through the focus on personal faith and holiness. Wesley’s emphasis on sanctification and being conformed to the image of Christ spawned a movement that founded the Episcopal Methodist Church as well as many others including the Wesleyan Church, the Salvation Army church, the Church of God, and the Church of the Nazarene.

This concept of holiness and sanctification is foundational to the Church of the Nazarene. Some of our doctrines are universally held by all Christian churches, but this one is what sets us apart from the Lutherans or the Baptists. If there was one word to describe the doctrine of the Church of the Nazarene, it would have to be holiness.

The doctrine of Christian Holiness or Entire Sanctification is covered in article of faith #10 in the Nazarene manual. It’s quite lengthy, so I’m not going to quote all of it. However, I want to take some time to discuss what it means and the scriptural foundation for this doctrine.

It starts by stating, “We believe that sanctification is the work of God which transforms believers into the likeness of Christ.” As we read through scripture we are told, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) and “be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). We read in Ephesians 1:4 that we are to be holy and blameless. Colossians 1:22 again says that we are to be presented to God as holy, without blemish. The theme runs throughout scripture, we are to be holy. But how do we get there?

Before we go any further, we must establish a few basic concepts. We are all fallen creatures. We established that when we discussed the topic of sin. Each of us has a sinful nature, or original sin, that causes us to have an inclination away from God and towards or own selfish motives. This original sin leads us to commit personal sins, lying, stealing, adultery, etc. Clearly we are not the holy creatures that breathed life into in the garden. We have this dirty, sinful nature that keeps pulling us away from God.

Another thing that we need to establish is the fact that Jesus was fully God and fully man. We established this when we spoke of the trinity. Jesus was God and was therefore perfect. Jesus was man, yet he was not the sinful, fallen man that we are today. Jesus was created as perfect, just as Adam was before him. He did not have this sinful nature, this inclination away from God. This is how he was able to live a perfect life.

Jesus came to earth for two reasons. The first was to shed his blood as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He did this by giving up his life on the cross. He also came to be our example and to show us the love of God. Jesus is the standard of perfection and holiness that we are to live up to. This is why he told his followers to be perfect just like him, but we have a problem. We aren’t perfect.

Jesus was perfect and lived a perfect life. He has called us to do the same, but we are burdened and weighed down by this sinful nature that keeps us from doing God’s will. We may want to do His will, but something within us keeps pulling us away. Jesus himself said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:20-23). How can we follow Jesus’ command to be perfect and holy if what’s inside of us is anything but perfect and holy?

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, tells us in his first epistle, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). Jesus’ blood is sufficient to purify us. Not only does it bring forgiveness, but it will also purify us from all unrighteousness. To clarify it further, 1 John 1:7 states, “the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” All sin, not some sin. Not just personal sin, but all sin, original sin and personal sin. God’s sanctifying grace purifies all of it. All of this happens in an instant when we realize our need and ask God to cleanse us, but it doesn’t stop there.

While we typically focus on the cleansing of the sinful nature when speaking of entire sanctification, there is more to it. God has called us to live a life pure and holy, and there’s really only one way to do that. We’ve established that we are not holy; we are impure. The only way that we can be made holy is through the power of God.

I remember sitting through a revival service as a teenager and hearing an evangelist speak on this topic. He explained that all we needed to do was to ask God to sanctify us and he would do it. This idea of being free from the sinful nature was quite appealing. All I had to do was go up front and say a prayer and I’d never sin again. After going to the altar that night I truly felt that things had changed in my life. However, the next day I found myself faced with the same temptations I had faced before, and I fell into the same sin that I had gotten caught up in before. I was frustrated that entire sanctification hadn’t done what the evangelist had said it would do, but the truth is, I was missing something.

The other part of sanctification, the part that I was missing, can be found in Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” Notice that we are to be holy and pleasing to God. This is the same holiness and purity that we’ve been talking about with sanctification. Also notice how it is that we come to this point, by offering our bodies as a living sacrifice.

This is what I failed to realize as a teen. While I give myself credit for wanting to rid my life of sin, I fell into the same trap that many of us do in our modern, microwave society. I wanted an instant fix that would take care of my problem. I wanted a magic bullet that would cure me of all life’s problems. What I didn’t realize is that while sanctification helps to take care of the sin problem, its true power lies in complete surrender.

As Paul points out in Romans, this complete surrender occurs when we offer our lives to God. After I went to the altar during that revival service, I wrestled with God. I had told him that my life was his, but the truth is that I still wanted to be in control.

In our lives there is a throne, and the person in charge of our lives, the person calling the shots, sits on the throne. Before we come to know Christ, we are sitting high and mighty on that throne and God is nowhere to be seen. When we accept Christ as our savior, we allow him into that throne room. We are still in control, but we’ll go to him for counsel and ask his opinion from time to time. We like it this way because we don’t have to do anything uncomfortable. We can still do the things we want and Jesus is there to forgive us. However, this is not the life that God has called us to. He has called us to be perfect and holy, and we can’t do that with an imperfect and unholy person on the throne.

The thing that I didn’t realize about sanctification was that I needed to step down from that throne and allow God to take his rightful place in my life. When the sinful, unholy man steps down and allow a holy and righteous God to take the throne, that’s when things can really begin to change. We are no longer bound by the sinful nature because it is God that is in control and not ourselves. When we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, we allow him to sit in that throne and call the shots. If he tells us to give our tithes to the church, we give our tithes. If he tells us to move across the country to the land he will show you, we move. If he tells us to talk to your neighbor or cashier about Jesus, you better believe that’s what we’re going to do.

However, the problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps getting off the altar. When that happens we push God off of the throne and begin calling the shots again. Once again the sinful, unholy person is in control. This is why, in the Church of the Nazarene, we refer to sanctification as both instantaneous and continuous. Each one of us come to a place in our lives where we realize that no matter how much we try we keep making a mess of things. This crisis moment, this moment of decision, brings us to the place where we allow God to finally take control of our lives. We then must continually offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to him, taking care lest we reclaim that throne for ourselves.

For me it was on the back roads in Moline, IL. God had been wrestling with me for ten years. For ten years he had been asking me to allow him on the throne of my life. For ten years he had been telling me that he had a plan for my life. I was scared. I liked my life and I was afraid God would take away everything in my life that I enjoyed, but that day I told him yes. I allowed him to sit on that throne and call the shots. I won’t pretend that I haven’t faced temptations and difficult times, but every day I have to remember to offer my life as a living sacrifice to him.

In the Church of the Nazarene, we are Bible believing people, and that has led us to be holiness people. Regardless of the names used, we believe that God is more powerful than Satan and that he is able to do what he says. He is able to transform us into the people he has called us to be, and he has called us to be holy. He has called us to surrender ourselves daily.

In the summer of 2011 I finally surrendered it all to God. I came to understand that if I truly loved him, if I truly trusted him, I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t continue to live life as a half-hearted Christian. I couldn’t put on a fun face on Sunday mornings and pretend that I was pleasing God. I also couldn’t walk away and abandon everything. There was no doubt in my mind that the God of the Bible was real and that he was calling me to fully surrender my life to him. I made the only choice possible. I offered my body as a living sacrifice to him.

I made that commitment that day and I’ve had to renew it every day since then. God has called us to be holy and blameless. Are you living that way today? Have you offered yourself as a living sacrifice to him and allowed him to take the throne in your life?

The Sin Problem

There are sixteen articles of faith within the manual for the Church of the Nazarene. These articles spell out our core doctrines and foundational understandings of God, Scripture, the human condition, and how God relates to us. Ideally, I’d like to take sixteen weeks and go through each individually, but in some cases, the doctrine of a given topic is spanned across multiple articles. For instance, you cannot talk about the trinity without also talking about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Today we take a look at the problem of sin. I’m not going to pretend that I’m perfect. Scripture clearly states that everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23). I remember one time in particular. I was in elementary school. I was always one of the good kids. I was polite to the teacher; I turned my work in on time; and I when everyone else was being loud and crazy, I sat quietly at my desk. I was the goody two shoes in class. I never lied, never cheated, and never stole. For this reason, the teachers trusted me.

It happened one day that the whole class was feeling extra rowdy. I got caught up talking and chatting with my friends during class, but when the teacher called for us all to be quiet, I did. Some of my friends near me, however, continued to talk. She had a group of girls on the other side of her that were particularly chatty, and she got caught up in what they were talking about. The teacher called all three of them out and was getting ready to keep them in from recess. My friend sitting next to me objected saying that she hadn’t been talking, even though she most definitely had, and the teacher, second guessing what she had seen, looked to me. She asked me if my friend had been talking, and in that moment I decided the best thing for me to do was to lie.

Being the honest kid that I was, the teacher believed me without question. I don’t know why I did it, but to this day that moment still follows me. My friend was grateful that I’d lied for her, but I knew that what I had done was wrong. I also knew that I couldn’t confess this to the teacher without destroying my reputation as a kid that didn’t lie.

It may seem like a small thing, but this act of lying, no matter how big or how small, is sin. Each of us has our own story. Each of us has had an experience like this. Each of us has sinned at one point or another. Maybe you took something that didn’t belong to you. Maybe you’ve had impure thoughts about another person. No matter what it is, each of us, at one time or another, have sinned.

This idea of sin is talked about and reflected upon throughout the entirety of scripture. As we flip through the pages we can find two distinct types of sin. The first we are all familiar with. That is personal sin. When I lied to my teacher, that was personal sin. John Wesley described it as, “a willful transgression against a known law of God.” When we know what we should do and choose against it anyway, that is what Wesley would classify as sin.

The argument then inevitably comes around and people begin to ask, “If someone has never read the Bible or has never been told that lying or stealing is wrong, can they sin?” The short answer is yes. Even before I began attending church, I knew without a doubt that lying was wrong. I knew that it was wrong to take things that didn’t belong to me. When primitive, cannibalistic tribes are found in the remote parts of the Amazon Forest, they know that it is wrong to kill people. The thing is, they just don’t believe the people they’re eating are real people. Each of us inherently knows right and wrong. We may choose to justify it or make excuses, but deep down we know right from wrong.

God explains this to us in Hebrews 10:16, “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Each of us knows right from wrong because God has made it known to us. When we take something that doesn’t belong to us, that’s a sin, a willful transgression against a known law of God. If you accidentally take someone’s purse or wallet, maybe it looks just like yours, that’s not a sin. However, if upon realizing your mistake you still choose to keep it, that now becomes a sin. Accidents happen, but when I lied to my teacher, I knew that what I was doing was wrong. Even if it happened in the spur of the moment, I willingly chose to not go back to my teacher and confess.

There is also a second type of sin, which we call original sin, inherited sin, or the sinful nature. I’m not going to go into too much detail. We’ll cover this more in-depth in a couple of weeks, but original sin, as we read in scripture, is the sin that we’ve inherited from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. In the garden, Adam and Eve freely conversed with God and had a relationship with him. However, when they chose to disobey him, that relationship was broken. No longer did they seek to please God and live in harmony with each other. Instead, they sought after their own personal gain. This broken relationship and selfish attitude is a key factor in personal sin. I know in my heart that it’s wrong to lie to my teacher, but I do it anyway because it benefits me. Again, we’ll talk more about this in a couple of weeks.

So, what seems to be the problem? Each of us has selfish motivations to seek out our own best interest at the expense of God’s laws and our fellow humans. Each of us has willfully done things in our lives that go against the known law of God. Each of us has sinned. You may not think this is a problem until you realize, as Paul wrote to the church in Rome, that “the wages of sin is death.” Because of our rebelliousness, because of our disdain for the laws of God, we have chosen to separate ourselves from him.

This may seem like a pretty harsh punishment. All I did was lie to my teacher. You’re telling me that the price for lying to my teacher is death? The problem with sin is that it goes deeper than the physical or mental act. God clearly spelled out to Adam that if he ate of the tree that he would surely die (Genesis 2:17). He wasn’t passing sentence on them. He didn’t set an extreme punishment in hopes that we would do the right thing.

God is righteous and just. It’s a part of his nature. It’s who he is. He is the source of all good and all life. Nothing good comes except by God. Without God’s hand, there would be nothing. When we choose to sin, we are deviating from that. We are choosing to separate ourselves from God, the righteous source of all good things and the source of life.

Each of us has sinned of our own free will. Just like Adam and Eve, we’ve decided that our way is better, and because God is just, he cannot simply turn a blind eye when we break the law. This is the sin problem. We have separated ourselves from the only source of good and the only source of life. The price for our disobedience, our sin, is death. This is what it means to serve a just God. Justice will be done.

However, God is not only just. He is also love. God is fully aware of our condition, and while justice must be served, his desire is that none shall perish. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” When Adam and Eve first disobeyed in the garden, God knew that the price to be paid was death, and even back then he didn’t like it. At that moment God set a plan in motion to bring mankind back to himself. Mankind was not righteous and was not holy, but God loved us anyway. He wants to be reunited with us and to have a relationship with us.

Justice demanded that the price is paid, so God took it upon himself to pay the price. God came to earth as flesh and blood. He lived among us and offered his own life to pay the price for our sins. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18). By this act Christ has paid the price. He has made full atonement for the sins of mankind and has enabled us to have a relationship with him once again.

Since that time God the Holy Spirit has been moving in the hearts of men and women to show them his love. He has been putting things in place, trying to get your attention so that you might understand what he’s done for you and choose to have a relationship with him. We call this prevenient grace. God is at work in the hearts and lives of men and women drawing them to him. He won’t force anyone into a relationship with him, but he will bring people into our lives; he will weigh upon us the gravity of our sin problem; and he will give us every opportunity to accept the life that he is offering.
Many of us have come to that point in our lives. Through God’s prevenient grace we came to realize that, while we thought we were good people, we’ve sinned, and that sin separates us from God. We didn’t want to continue in our sin and believed God when he said we could be made new. It was at that moment that we repented of our sins. This doesn’t mean that we just felt sorry for what we’d done. We made a conscious decision that we didn’t want to be like that anymore. We made a choice that we wanted to follow God and turn away from the sinful life we’d been living.
At that moment, when we made that decision, when we asked Christ to forgive our sins, he did it. In that moment Jesus’ sacrifice wiped away all the sin and bad things we’d done in our lives. We were justified. Jesus took all of those personal sins away, and it was just as if you’d never sinned.

Through this, we become a new person. Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). A regenerative process has begun in which we are no longer our old selves. Old habits may not disappear instantly, but we no longer look at them the same. Our heart begins to desire the things of God, goodness, justice, and righteousness.

At the same time that we were justified, God also adopts us. The gospel of John states, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) Not only does God forgive us, not only does he justify us, he adopts us into his own family. He makes us sons and daughters of the Kingdom of Heaven. This means that we are no longer lowly peasants, but we are heirs to King of Kings, the God of all creation. We aren’t strangers but a part of his family.

While many of us have come to that point, we’ve been justified and adopted into the family of God, the truth is that not everyone has done that. God’s prevenient grace is still working on some people, convicting them of their sin and letting them know that he has taken care of their sin problem. If that is you, if God has been speaking to you but you haven’t accepted his sacrifice and atonement for your sins, I want to give you the opportunity.

God is love, and he desires for us to love him in return. He desires for us to be reunited with him, the righteous source of life. However, love is a personal choice. By definition, love must be freely given. He won’t force you to be with him. He won’t force you to love him, but like that persistent person in high school, he will continue to send you love letters and continue to confess his love for you.

It doesn’t take any fancy words. It doesn’t take a special prayer from the pastor. All it takes is a repentant heart and a desire for God. I remember when I first came to the realization of who I was and what God was offering. The pastor gave an altar call, and I walked down to the front of the church and knelt at the altar. The pastor came down, prayed with me, and I became a child of God. I want to give you the same opportunity. If God has been speaking to your heart, I encourage you, respond to him. If you have any questions or would like to have a discussion, I’m available to talk.

The Holy Scriptures

The Bible is a controversial book. While many in society still hold it in high regard, its accuracy, purpose, and even interpretation are often the topic of much debate. John Wesley said that his followers were “Bible Christians,” and he said they were interested in plain old Bible Christianity. That describes the Church of the Nazarene quite well. We have spelled out in Article of Faith #4 our understanding of the Bible.

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.

Legalese such as this can often be difficult to understand, so let’s begin to unpack it and expand upon what is being said. Let’s first look at this term “plenary inspiration.” It may seem that this term is trying to explain how we understand God’s inspiration, but plenary simply means complete or entire. We believe that God’s inspiration is present in all scripture. From the genealogies in Genesis, the steamy poetry of Song of Songs, to the prophetic revelation of Jesus’ return, God’s spirit was guiding each and every author. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that all Scripture is “God-breathed.”

We do not understand this to mean that God overtook the over forty biblical writers and dictated to them verbatim what to write. We see throughout scripture that each author’s voice is clearly heard and distinguished. The book of Matthew reads completely different from the book of Mark. This is the reason that the authorship of the book of Hebrews is often in question. While some church traditions attribute the writing to Paul, the literary style doesn’t match that of his other writings.

These authors used their full minds in their writings. They didn’t sit by while God took control of their mind. Instead, the Holy Spirit carefully inspired each person so that each book dovetails together with the theme of God’s love. This guidance by the Holy Spirit is demonstrated in John 2:17, “His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” It is unlikely that the twelve or more disciples with Jesus each remembered this same scripture at the same time without influence from the Holy Spirit. This is how we understand God’s inspiration within the scriptures. The Holy Spirit put a burden upon someone’s heart to write about a particular topic or event and guided them with thoughts or memories in order to bring about God’s message.

This idea of plenary inspiration is why I so adamantly stress the importance of reading scripture within context. Not only is it important to read a verse within the complete context in which it was written. It’s important that we take into account the context of the entire bible. We see God demanding what seems to be genocide in the book of Joshua, but if we look back into Genesis 15 we see that God had given the Amorites more than four hundred years to turn to him. They were ultimately destroyed because of their own sin. Likewise, we cannot ignore a verse of scripture because we don’t like what it says. Each verse was inspired by God and carries the authority of God.

Next we come to the topic of biblical inerrancy. As the Article of Faith states, we believe that the bible inerrantly reveals the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation. This means that the bible is reliable and trustworthy in revealing to us what we need to know about God. We can trust it when it states that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. We can trust it when it tells us that we are saved through the birth, life, death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus. It inerrantly reveals the will of God in all things concerning our salvation.

There are some, more so in the Calvinist tradition, that seek to extend that and say that the bible is inerrant in every little factual detail. While we don’t necessarily disagree with this, we don’t find it helpful or necessary to take that extra step. God’s purpose behind the scriptures was not to provide us with a user manual and scientific explanation for how the world works. It gives some insight into historical scientific aspects of this world, that was never the main point. We can get so caught up in nitpicking minor details and trying to determine what constitutes an error that we can miss the message that is clearly presented to us through scripture.

We hold firmly to the teaching of Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16 that states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” A such, we believe that all doctrine should be based upon scripture. This is highlighted by the last phrase in the Article of Faith which stated, “so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.” Nothing shall make it into the doctrine of the Church of the Nazarene unless it is biblically sound. We are in the same boat as John Wesley and his followers who were interested in plain old Bible Christianity.

With that being said, scripture must be interpreted. We do such by relying upon the traditions and understanding of those who came before us as well as our own experience and the reasoning minds given to us by our creator. We cannot rely upon just one of these areas else we fall victim to heresy.

John Wesley used these four principles, scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, when contemplating and arriving at many of his theological conclusions. Each principle is a valid way to come to an understanding of God, but each by itself is not sufficient. The Medieval church  taught that Mary as sinless. That was their tradition but it’s not based upon scripture, so we don’t follow that today.

Each of us has had our own experiences that help shape our understanding of God. You may have one experience and I may have another. However, as this article states, my experiences and your experiences alone cannot be doctrine. It must come from the bible.

We have been commanded to love God with not only our hearts and souls but also with our minds. As we interpret the bible we must use our God-given ability to reason, but no amount of reasoning or philosophy can be the basis for any of our doctrines. Everything must come back to scripture for its basis. If you look at the articles of faith within the Nazarene Manual you will find that each article of faith is followed by the scriptural references that we believe support that article of faith.

In summary, we believe in the plenary inspiration of scripture, that God has inspired the whole thing. We believe that the scriptures inerrantly reveal the will of God in all things concerning our salvation. And we believe so strongly in the validity of scripture that all doctrine must be based upon scripture.

We hold the bible and the scriptures in high regard, but why is this book so important? People have risked their lives for just a few pages of this book. Why did they, and why should we, put such great value on what is contained within this book? For the simple reason that we’ve stated before. All Scripture is God-breathed. We may disagree on what exactly that means, but there is no denying it. The only way for this book, written over the course of thousands of years, to come together and be cohesive is for there to be one mind behind it. You can’t get ten people in a room to agree on what type of pizza to get. However, over forty authors spanning countless generations were able to comprehensively write a cohesive narrative of God’s love for us without knowing what each other or what else was written. All of this while not contradicting but rather reaffirming what others had written.

God has given us his word for a purpose. God spoke through these men and revealed himself to us for the purpose of making himself known to us. He wants us to know him, and he has given us the scriptures so that we can be one with him. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

This is the reason God has give us the scriptures. That we might be changed to be like him and that good works may result from the time we spend in his word. With that in mind, the obvious question must be asked. In what ways are good works being produced in your life because of your study of God’s word?

God in Three Persons

We in the Church of the Nazarene have a great history and tradition. Our history stems from numerous denominations that came together and united under the banner of holiness. Unfortunately, as time goes on, unless we are diligent, we tend to forget where we came from and who we are. That’s why, for the next few weeks, I want us to take a look at who we are and the foundational doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene.

Within the manual of the Church of the Nazarene we find sixteen articles of faith. These lay the groundwork upon which we understand who God is, who we are, and how he relates to us. This morning we will be looking at the first three articles of faith, each pertaining to the Trinity, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit respectively.

Even back in the book of Genesis we see evidence of God’s trinity (Genesis 1:26). Yet when God speaking to the people of Israel he clearly states, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This dichotomy is only exacerbated as we move into the New Testament. In Matthew 3:16-17 we see Jesus being baptized, and as he comes out of the water the heavens open up, the Spirit of God descends upon him like a dove, and a voice from heaven declares, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Throughout the New Testament we repeatedly see references to Jesus being God (John 1:1; 8:58; 10:30; Acts 20:28; 2 Peter 1:1). We also see such references to the Holy Spirit being God (Matt. 28:19; Acts 13:2; Romans 8:9; 2 Cor. 3:17). While the word trinity isn’t used in the bible, it is the doctrine of the trinity that helps us to understand these teachings about God. The doctrine of the trinity takes all the references to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit throughout the Old and New Testaments and seeks to put into words a comprehensive understanding of God.

So, who is the trinity? Article of Faith #1 from the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene reads, “We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe; that He only is God, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose. The God who is holy love and light is Triune in essential being, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

When most people think of God they envision an old man sitting on a throne in the clouds. We think of him as a benevolent being that oversees all life. This is the primary portrayal of God within the Old Testament. In the doctrine of the trinity, this person of the godhead is often understood to be God the Father. While I would agree that God depicted in the Old Testament is the entire godhead and not just the Father, in a general sense, whenever someone thinks of God, it’s safe to say they’re envisioning God the Father.

Moving on in the trinity we come to God the Son. We clearly see in Jesus’ baptism (Matt. 3:16-17) and as well as on the mountain during the transfiguration (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7) that God the Father referred to Jesus directly as his son. Jesus even referred to God as his father (John 5:18) as well as claiming to be God (John 8:58). It can be difficult to get our heads around this idea that Jesus is God while at the same time being the Son of God, but this is clearly what the bible teaches. Jesus Christ, God made flesh, is both the creator of all things (John 1:1-3) and the savior of all mankind (Acts 4:12).

We then come to the final person of the trinity, God the Holy Spirit. Scriptures refer to both God and the Holy Spirit interchangeably, yet while they are one, Jesus states that they Advocate, the Holy Spirit, was sent by God (John 14:26). The job of the Holy Spirit is to dwell among mankind (1 Cor. 3:16), intercede with God on our behalf (Romans 8:26), and convict the hearts of the people (John 16:8). When we speak of God moving in our midst, speaking to us, or empowering us, we are speaking of God the Holy Spirit.

While it is clear throughout scripture that each part of the godhead is separate and unique, it is also abundantly clear that they are all one in the same. John 10:30 states, “I and the Father are one.” King David, in his last words, refers to God and the Holy Spirit as one and the same (2 Samuel 23:2-3). All three share one character. All three are all-knowing (Isaiah 40:13–14; John 2:24–25; 1 Corinthians 2:10–11). All three are eternal (Romans 16:26; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 9:14). The three are one, yet the three are distinct. Each one is not a part of God, but each one is fully God. It can be difficult to understand, but this is what God has revealed to us.

Why does all of this matter? What difference does it make if we worship God without the concept of the trinity? Why is it important that we go through all of these mental gymnastics in order to understand the doctrine of the trinity?

Within our own lives, many of us have run into a common relationship problem. We find ourselves in trouble with a friend or loved one because, as they put it, “You don’t know me.” You forget a special event or give a heartfelt present that was completely wrong. In the end the person is hurt because you haven’t taken the time to truly get to know them. Likewise with the trinity, this is who God is. This is who God has revealed himself to be. We may not be able to fully comprehend it, but God has made it clear that he is one. He is Father, Son, and Spirit yet only one God.

This triune God has been reaching out to us and seeking relationship with us since time began. If our desire is to have relationship with him, our desire must also be to know him to the best of our abilities. We cannot dismiss the concept of the trinity because it’s a difficult doctrine to explain. Instead, if we are going to embrace God, we must take him as he has revealed himself to us, as Father, Son, and Spirit.

In closing, many people have attempted to explain the trinity in order to make it better understood. Unfortunately, we may never fully understand who God is this side of heaven. Nevertheless, the folks over at Lutheran Satire have made a video to help clarify this doctrine.