The Bible Is Inspired and Inerrant

All Scripture is inspired by God.
—2 Timothy 3:16

There are two key words we need to understand when it comes to the truthfulness of the Bible: inerrancy and inspiration.

The word “inerrancy” refers to the quality of the final product found in the Bible. Simply put, the inerrancy of the Bible means there is no untruth in the Bible. The apostle Paul declared, “All Scripture is inspired [literally, “God-breathed”] by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). If God is true (Romans 3:4), and Scripture is God-breathed, then it logically follows that Scripture is true as well.

The term “inspiration” explains the process by which God communicated His message through human beings into the written words found in the Bible without any error. “How could imperfect men be expected to produce a perfect Bible?” skeptics often ask. Peter answers that question: “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:21).

The biblical writers never claimed that Scripture fell magically from the clouds. Nor do they deny the human element involved in recording God’s message. Dr. Charles Ryrie offers a simple yet effective explanation of the process of inspiration that led to the product of an inerrant Bible: “Inspiration is God’s superintending of human authors so that, using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error in the words of the original autographs His revelation to man.”

Some would argue that belief in a Bible without error is a recent development in Christianity that reflects a larger and temporary societal shift toward conservatism. However, the concept of an inspired and inerrant Bible has always been part of the Christian movement, stated boldly from some of Christianity’s most respected leaders, from Augustine to Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley.

There is no way to prove that the Bible is God’s inspired and inerrant Word, any more than we can prove that God exists. However, we can remove a few potholes in the road to belief. In the remainder of this week we will look at some of the greatest evidences that the Bible is God’s inspired and exclusive message to us.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “How Can I Know the Bible Is True?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2012.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.