The Nazarene Articles of Faith teach that original sin — called 'inherited sin' or 'the carnal nature' — is the condition of corruption and inclination toward evil with which all humans are born as a result of Adam's fall. This inherited condition is real and morally serious: it represents a bias of the will away from God and toward self. All people are therefore born in a state of spiritual need.

In Nazarene theology, original sin is distinguished from actual sins (willful transgressions of known law) and from the guilt of Adam's specific act (which is not imputed to descendants in the strict Reformed sense). What is transmitted is the corrupted nature itself — the tendency toward sin — rather than legal guilt for Adam's personal act. This distinction is important for the Nazarene doctrine of children's salvation: the Church of the Nazarene affirms that children who die before the age of moral accountability are saved by Christ's atonement, which covers this inherited condition.

The doctrine of entire sanctification directly addresses original sin: through the second work of grace, the Holy Spirit cleanses the believer of this inherited sin nature, the carnal disposition, and fills the heart with perfect love. This is not abolition of human finitude but the transformation of the deepest motivational center from self-will to love for God and neighbor.