OPINION: JAPAN BASED SHEEMA RESIDENT CHALLENGES BISHOP JOHNSON OVER DENIAL OF CONFIRMATION

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By Benon Muzira

In Japan—

Now, this is the reason why I took upon myself to read the Word of God in depth and asked for the Holy Spirit to help me understand it in addition to other theological training I attained. This Bishop has no Biblical grounds to deny them confirmation.

But what exactly is confirmation? It is defined as a sacrament, a ritual or a service performed by man. In some traditions, generally Catholic and Anglican, the sacrament of confirmation is the ritual by which a young person becomes an official member of the Church. It should be noted that the Bible is silenton this confirmation ritual.

The Church (Catholics & Protestants) derived it from where Jesus blessed little children Mark 10:13-16

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, Let the children come to me. Dont stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesnt receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. 16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. There nowhere in Scripture where it states that a person can confirm to another that he/she is in the faith. Each individual must determine the state of his/her soul based on several criteria. First, we are confirmed by the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16).When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts and gives us assurance that He is present and that we belong to Him, and He also teaches and explains spiritual things to us (1 Corinthians 2:13-14), thereby confirming that we are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Remember, I said before that I have in-depth studied the Word of God now close to 4 decades. I also gone through training and nobody can derail me since they also teach from the same Bible. The final confirmation of our salvation is, of course, in the future. Those who are true Christians, the Bible tells us, will persevere to the end, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end (1 Corinthians 1:7-8 NKJV). We are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possessionto the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14). This, then, is the true meaning of confirmationsalvation was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ in whom we have faith, it is evidenced by our walk with Him, and it is confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit within. Let me make another shift into the subject matter and ask everyone reading, Why is it that we have two types of baptisms. Some churches sprinkle little babies while other immerse into water. Again, this is another area where man introduced another type of baptism ritual that is different from the Biblical one. There s no where in Scripture where Apostles in their Acts baptized babies Why? Because The Greatest Commission given to them by our Lord Jesus demanded and commanded them that those they preach the Gospel/Good News MUST FIRST BE CONVERTED TO ACCEPT HIM then and only then should they be baptized. In a butshell Baptism is exclusively for Believers. Support for this is Mark16:15-16

And then he told them, Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. Now,do infants of 2 year or even below understand the Gospel for them to qualify for Baptism? That is why, after studying for myself the Scriptures, I chose to be re-baptized. I know Bishop Nathan Ahimbisibwe whom we left as C/man Scripture Union Kyaapa 1983/84 will read this but I would love for any clergy to come up with a piece of writing reacting.

If anyone knows that Bishop who denied confirmation to the Ngoma youths, let him be shown this posting. Just like Jesus did, the Bishop should have laid hands on the children and blessed them.

The writer is a resident of Kigarama Sheema living in Japan

Benon Muzira

E-mail:benmug@yahoo.com

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