Meaning and Significance of Inerrancy
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Explain the meaning and significance of inerrancy
Yachts can be luxurious, but once they leave the dock, the passengers are stuck until the boat arrives at port. Though passengers may move about the boat with apparent freedom, their final destination is ultimately the will of the captain.
The topic I have drawn today is “Explain the Meaning and Significance of Inerrency” in the context of Scripture.
A. Webster’s Dictionary:
Innerancy – “Exemption from Error.”
B. American Heritage Dictionary:
Inerrant – “1. Incapable of erring; infallible. 2. Containing no errors.”
C. Explanation
Dave Miller (Executive Director of Apologetics Press), 1992
“Inerrant” means “wholly true” or “without mistake” and refers to the fact that the biblical writers were absolutely errorless, truthful, and trustworthy in all of their affirmations. The doctrine of inerrancy does not confine itself to moral and religious truth alone. Inerrancy extends to statements of fact, whether scientific, historical, or geographical. The biblical writers were preserved from the errors that appear in all other books.
2 Timothy 3:16- “All scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
2 Peter 1:21 – For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Psalm 119:89- Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
Psalm 119:160- All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.
2 Samuel 22:31- As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless.
Luke 21:33- Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Proverbs 30:5- Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”
Founder and first president of Dallas Theological Seminary, Lewis Sperry Chafer, explains it this way: “The Bible is the only book ever written that was inspired of God in the sense that God personally guided the writers. The inspiration of the Bible is defined as teaching that God so directed the human authors that, without destroying their own individuality, literary style, or personal interest, His complete and connected thought toward man was recorded. In forming Scriptures, it is true that God employed human writers; but these men, although they may have not understood all that they were writing, nevertheless under the guiding hand of God produced the sixty-six books that form the Bible in which there is amazing unity and constant evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in directing what was written.”
II. Significance:
A. If not Inerrant Scripture is unreliable, we have no assurance of salvation.
Dave Miller (As Executive Director of Apologetics Press), 1992
Inerrancy is fundamental to the doctrine of biblical authority. Packer wrote, “Only truth can be authoritative; only an inerrant Bible can be used… in the way that God means Scripture to be used.” If the Bible contains mistakes, then it is unreliable as a true guide to matters of salvation. If mistakes exist in one part, mistakes may just as easily exist in another part.
If the Bible is not inerrant, it is worthless.
Dave Miller (As Executive Director of Apologetics Press), 1992
If the doctrine of inerrancy is not true, then the Bible lacks the very criteria and credentials necessary for authenticating its divine origin. Human beings would be incapable of distinguishing between it and all other religious books which seek acceptance by men (e.g. the Koran, Book of Mormon, the Vedas). If the biblical writers demonstrate incompetency and fallibility in matters of ordinary knowledge where uninspired humans can check their credibility, then their infallibility in all other areas is discredited. As Archer noted, “If that revelation is to come in a usable and reliable form… it must come in an inerrant form.”
Application:
We must not think of Scripture as the word of men but as the very Word of God.
Charles Spurgeon said, “There is an essential difference between man’s word and God’s word, and it is fatal to mistake the one for the other. If you receive even the Gospel as the word of men you cannot get the blessing out of it, for the sweetness of the Gospel lies in the confidence of our heart that this is the Word of God.”
When we read Scripture, we must always remember it is the inerrant word of God. We can trust every promise and every theological lesson. This should affect the way we read the Bible. Because it is the inerrant Word of God, we shouldn’t read it flippantly, but studiously and in depth. It should be something we look forward to reading. J
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