authority

When guys talk for long hours, it is usually about 2 main things (well in reality it's 3), it's either something very serious and academic (like theological arguments about free-will vs predestination, how to live life, etc) or things that we treasure from our childhood. For example, after a CCF night there were 2 guys and me who stayed in the room until 11pm talking about Dragon Ball Z. We were talking about the correct order of the succession of events in the Majin Boo arc (like in what order were the good guys eaten by Boo). It was fun times!

I remember once I also had a debate with a friend regarding Pokemon game. We were debating about what psychic attack was the most powerful, between "Psybeam" and "Psychic". I thought it was "Psybeam", but I was wrong. Just recently, 2 housemates and I were in living room area and started to talk for more than an hour about Pokemon game, and debating which Pokemons and which types of Pokemon were the strongest, and which moves were the coolest. And we realized that we are missing something important. Basically we have another housemate (who was already asleep by then), and he knows about Pokemon. Like he is like a walking encyclopedia about the subject. We know that this housemate is the "authoritative" voice to resolve any disagreement. The next day we talked to him, and the sheer of information he knows about the subject is actually quite scary...

So it is really important to have an authoritative voice in the way we live, and we find it in the Bible. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to understand that the Scripture is a treasure for a believer because God reveals Himself to us through the Word, and we can learn more about Him, about the great mercies of God despite our sinful nature, we can learn about what a holy life looks like, we can learn wisdom in how to handle situations. It is so good!

Many times, when we go to a church and listen to the preacher, it is easy just to absorb everything and take it for granted that what he is speaking is absolutely truth. Also, the ways the church do things we think it is always correct. I think we have to always validate these things with the Bible. (I am not discrediting the preachers or the church, but it is a safeguard for each of us because we humans can easily made mistakes).

I was watching a clip with my housemate about "Francis Schaeffer" titled "How should we then live" and it gave a historical overview of how the church evolved from the early church up to the middle ages. During the early church times, the service was focused on speaking about he truth of the Scripture, mainly Christ. But as times went by, other things gain authority in the church other than the Bible like the things that the priest will say (like the Pope) and traditions. These became sources of truth (regarding how to live and even about salvation) and corrupted the church until the Reformation. And one of the main points of the Reformation is "Sola Scriptura" which states that the Bible is the supreme authority for a believer regarding the aspects of salvation and holiness.

So whenever we discuss about various topics or make decisions about life, let's always refer to the Scripture.