The Inerrant Word of God

After preaching last Sunday about how Blainsport embraces the Bible as God’s inspired and authoritative source for believers to read, receive, and obey, I realized how much more I could have said about the subject. All my Christian life, I’ve had a high view of Scripture. The term for how I view the Bible is “the inerrant Word of God.” That seems like an outdated and misunderstood description in this day and age. Yet I stand with the centuries of saints who believed that very thing.
 
Certainly, the Reformers of the Sixteenth Century believed in the inerrancy of Scripture. Martin Luther’s understanding of the inspiration of the Bible is inseparable from inerrancy. Huldrych Zwingli said, “And now finally, to make an end of answering objections, our view of the matter is this: that we should hold the Word of God in the highest possible esteem—meaning by the Word of God only that which comes from the Spirit of God—and we should give to it a trust which we cannot give to any other word. For the Word of God is certain and can never fail. It is clear, and will never leave us in darkness. It teaches its own truth. It arises and irradiates the soul of man with full salvation and grace. It gives the soul sure comfort in God.” Menno Simons took the Bible literally, believing the Bible to be authoritative.
 
Inerrancy is not merely a product of the Reformers, though. The Church Fathers clearly believed in inerrancy as expressed throughout patristic literature. Clement of Rome made clear to the Corinthians about 100 A.D. that the Scriptures were true, given by the Holy Spirit, not containing anything unrighteous or counterfeit. Irenaeus, also of the Second Century, came to the same conclusion in writing Against Heresies. Irenaeus wrote, “All Scripture, which has been given to us by God, shall be found by us perfectly consistent.” The list of Church Fathers holding such a high view of Scripture goes on throughout the centuries: Tertullian (160-220), Athanasius (296-373), Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Augustine (354-430), and Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) to list a few.  
 
The 1963 Mennonite Confession of Faith sums it up nicely, “We believe that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, that men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. We accept the Scriptures as the authoritative Word of God, and through the Holy Spirit as the infallible Guide to lead men to faith in Christ and to guide them in the life of Christian discipleship.” This high value of Scripture comforts me in life. I know I don’t need to stumble around in this life wondering what God is like. He made Himself and His ways known through His inerrant Word. Wow!