…The Hard Truth with Dr. Kennedy Musonda
IN the last three weeks I have discussed with you the three most important decisions a young person, and indeed any person must make. These are Career choice, Spouse choice and Jesus choice. Of the three, the Jesus choice is the most important because it has consequences in this life and in the life to come.
Most people today think that they have made the Jesus choice because they belong to a Christian denomination, especially that Christianity is very popular in Zambia. Almost everyone you ask will say that they are Christians. The problem is that many people are Christians according to their denominational standards and not according to Biblical standards. Others have mastered the Pentecostal/Charismatic jargon of “I have accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.”
But what does it really mean to be a Christian? Acts 2:14-38 gives us a good scenario of how a person can truly become a Christian according to the Bible. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came upon the disciples who were in the upper room praying and waiting for the promise of the Father (Acts 1:14-47). Then they started speaking in tongues and the people accused them of being drunk. Peter stood up to address them and told them that “these men are not drunk because it was only nine in the morning.”
There are four lessons we get from this passage of scriptures on how you can truly become a Christian. First, Peter tells his audience that they are sinners. Second, he tells them how Jesus was crucified for their sins, died, rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. Third, the people were cut to the heart and responded with a question, “What shall we do?” Fourth, Peter told them to repent of their sins and believe that Jesus is their Savior. Fifth, those who believed were baptized and added to the number of believers.
There are four things that you can observe in this passage of scriptures on the right way of becoming a true Christian.
1. You must realize that you are a sinner who is destined to spend your eternity in eternal fire in untold agony (Matthew 13:42), which the Bible calls the second death (Revelation 21:8).
2. But God because of his love for mankind already punished Jesus on your behalf by dying on the cross the most cruel, painful and shameful death (Isaiah 53:4-12) because you and I cannot save ourselves (Romans 5:7-8).
3. Since Jesus took the punishment for your sins, you must take his righteousness for your salvation (1 Peter 2:24 & 2 Cor. 5:21).
4. You do this by repenting of your sins (meaning hating sin and turning away from it), believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus died for your sins, and that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-13).
If you refuse or delay to do this, you are indirectly saying “I enjoy sin so much that I don’t care the punishment Jesus took on my behalf and that I am ready to receive God’s punishment in the lake of fire for eternity.” TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.
Author: Dr. Kennedy Musonda holds a Bachelor and Master of Social Work, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. Dr. Musonda, who is an international development consultant, is set to complete his Bachelor of Arts in Theology mid-year.
For feedback contact email: [email protected], WhatsApp/Telegram line +260977526404 or Skype: kmusonda45