http://bible.com/events/49247921
Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg
Holiness as Wholeness, Part 2/3
Holiness as Wholeness
The idea behind this new teaching series is that Holiness, rather than being a heavy burden of impossibility placed on believers, is a healing and freeing effect of Christ’s sacrifice. Holiness is good for us; it restores to us the design of God for our lives. The enemy wants us to believe it is a chain placed upon us, so we dread its requirements so that we’ll turn our back on it or roll our eyes at it. But, in essence, holiness brings all that we really want into our lives. It makes us whole with all of the attendant beauty of that idea. Holiness is not a requirement as much as it is a remedy. The Nazarene understanding of Christian Holiness or Entire Sanctification is freeing, not binding. Through this sermon series then, we want to see Holiness as Wholeness.
Holiness as wholeness means that the sanctifying work of God in the pursuit of holiness in our lives doesn’t just allow us to be in relationship with God, but cleanses, refreshes and heals our body and our mind…
The path of holiness is one that compels us to be in unity.
Genesis 1:26-28
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
To be fully human is to be in holy relationship with God, others, oneself, and all of creation.
Original Sin: We believe that original sin… is that corruption of the nature of all the offspring of Adam by reason of which everyone is very far gone from original righteousness or the pure state of our first parents at the time of their creation, is averse to God, is without spiritual life, and inclined to evil, and that continually…
Personal Sin: We believe that… personal sin is a voluntary violation of a known law of God by a morally responsible person… we believe that personal sin is primarily and essentially a violation of the law of love…
– Church of the Nazarene, Articles of Faith
Sin always results in death.
Romans 3:23-24
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Sin can be attractive, but it is always destructive. Sin will take your further than you were ever meant to go, and further than you may ever intend to go! It’s too great of a burden for us to hold.
Genesis 4:6-9
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Sin leads to death, but holiness leads to life.
Romans 6:19-23
Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sanctification is God’s response to sin.
Updates on the new Waynesboro campus
God is inviting us to step out in faith to plant a Spanish-speaking campus in the Waynesboro community. Join us on the journey! Check out the link below for more information and for frequent updates throughout the journey.
Giving at COTN
If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org Thank you for your partnership in building the Kingdom of Christ as you impact others!
Establish COTN as Your Church on the App
In this YouVersion Bible app, we encourage you to set up COTN as your church. It’s a simple process and will open up opportunities to stay connected to us!
https://help.youversion.com/l/en/article/y03uerubo8-mychurch