For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
James Kraft
My grandfather was a Nazarene. I attended a Nazarene church with my grandparents many times until about the age of 10. My father became a Baptist I think because of the beliefs of the Nazarenes. Now in my later years at age 74 I am neither one. I think both churches put the emphasis on what man does instead of what Christ has done for us.
I do not believe we can become Holy in ourselves and that only God is Holy. The bible says if we say we have no sin we are a liar and do not the truth. I do not believe we can become sinless in this life.
If we had to be sinless in order to go to heaven then Jesus died in vain.
If we could obey God which is by the law, then we would not need Jesus.
And, the bible says that when we first believed the Holy Spirit is joined to our spirit and we are sealed unto the day of redemption.
We cannot save our selves by keeping from sin or doing good works. It has to be the Lords work in us and through us by His spirit in us. The flesh is still the flesh and the Spirit is still the Spirit.
We can only give the glory to God. The only righteousness we will ever have that counts is what He gave us when He saved us by His work on the cross.
Having said all of that I believe there will be many Nazarenes in heaven. I know my grandfather after suffering many heart attacks and dying on the last one said He could see the gates of heaven opening as he passed from death unto life. What an impression that made on me as a 10 year old.
Thank God he still uses imperfect people to get His work done. Someone said if we could find the perfect church and we went there it would not be perfect anymore. I have to agree with that. But, we should not go to a church that is preaching anything but what the bible teaches either. But on minor things we can dissagree. The problem is many churches have made the minor issues the major ones.
The older I get the more I see of a parallell between the Pharasees and the Church leaders of today. The church keeps trying to establish its own righteousness by putting the emphasis on what we do instead of what Christ has done for us. We put faith in ourselves and our works instead of His work. It is our holyness above His. When we do not see ourselves as sinners saved by grace we have a problem. Us is the problem and Jesus is the answer. Only a loving relationship to Jesus can change the wicked heart of man.
Gerritt Schuitema
Amen and Amen!
Mark Labriola
It's unfortunate that too many legacy orthodox denominations put the emphasis on what their congregations do to earn God's favor instead of what Jesus Christ did (Ephesians 2:8-9). I was raised in the Catholic church but as a teen left to search for spiritual reality in other "religions". What I found was that all "religions" preach man's attempt to earn God's favor though their behavior including the Baptist church, which is a combination of Grace and Law. Paul said it so clearly in his all his Epistles that the Good News was that God's Grace through Jesus and its effect on us is ALL God's doing from start to finish. I love Philippians 1:6 where Paul says "HE IS CERTAIN" our holiness and quickening are God's work that continues until Christ returns.