In 1978, approximately 300 Christian leaders met to develop a statement on the inerrancy of Scripture, and it is just as relevant today in the understanding of the Bible as it was almost 50 years ago. Although many will deny scripture as the inerrant Word of God, to even ponder the possibility of the inerrancy of the Bible may begin the journey to understand the power of God as revealed in the Bible to transform those who believe. Here is the beginning five-point statement developed by these Christian leaders:
“1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God’s witness to Himself.
2. Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it affirms, obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises.
3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture’s divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.
4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.
5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church” (The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, 1978).
Unfortunately, for those who do not fully believe in the God of the Bible, scripture can seem like nonsense, or irrelevant to one’s life. (“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”, I Corinthians 1:18). But it is important to note that God Himself revealed that “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NASB). And ultimately, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who revealed Himself in Scripture as the Son of God, states in John 14:6 that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me”. God’s truth is revealed in the Bible and therefore, the Bible as God’s given Word, can only be fully true and without error. I hope and pray that today you begin your journey in seeing the truth and beauty of the Bible as God’s inerrant word, and that you come to know Jesus Christ personally as He truly is, as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. For Christ died to make atonement for our sins for all who believe in Him (“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life”, John 3:16).