Infallibility (4): The Foundation of Our Faith5 min read
As we look at the summation of this topic, it will be helpful for us to leave with practical wisdom from Scripture. How does infallibility affect my life? How does it change my Christianity? A look at a few Scriptures will bring unmistakable clarity to those questions.
Firstly, infallibility means Scripture cannot be broken, but rather it breaks. The Lord said this in John 10:35, “The Scripture cannot be broken.” It is fixed in its declarations, and no one will successfully discredit it. In what it affirms, it is real. It what it commands, it is authoritative. In fact, Scripture is so unmovable that it crushes all who stand against it.
In Jeremiah 23, the Lord opposes the false prophets who prophesied though God had not spoken through them. In verse 28, He speaks of the faithful prophets who communicate the Word of God in purity. “He that has my word, let him speak my word faithfully.” Then He asks the question, “What is the chaff to the wheat?” In other words, He did not fear the words of the false prophets because when tested against the true prophecies, the lies would be exposed as being empty. It is at this point that the Lord says, “Is not my word like a fire? And like a hammer that breaks the rock into pieces?” Infallibility means man cannot successfully imitate what God alone gives. The Scriptures are marked with the stability and changelessness of God’s authority. We must not subject it to the changing whims of man. Even Christians will succumb to trends, but we must–we must!–reject that notion. To embrace something that improves divine prerogatives is to embrace a system that God opposes. His truth reigns in all ages. It will reign for eternity.
Secondly, infallibility means that Scripture is complete and reliable for God’s purposes with man. Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect [wanting nothing], converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Scripture is God’s prescription for both heart issues and mind issues. God is working with man for a specified outcome, and He has given Scripture as the chief resource for that end. He was deliberate in what He included. He was deliberate in what He omitted. He precisely designed it that man might be what God designed him to be. It will not fail in its prescriptions, and it will not be supplemented in its purpose. When it offers a proposition, that proposition is not only the right way but the only way for God’s purpose in that case to be completely carried out. As soon as psychology, philosophy, politics, religion, entertainment, or imitations begin to supplement divine patterns, it is then that Scripture’s reliability as to faith is questioned. If it is reliable, why would we obscure God’s pure truth with man’s counterfeits?
Thirdly, infallibility means Scripture is unwavering in the scope of its purpose. If it cannot be broken and cannot fail, its mission must inevitably be accomplished. The Lord emphasized this in Isaiah 55. “So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” He also says in Isaiah 44 that He “confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers.” Do we view the teaching and obeying of God’s Word with this kind of burden?
Fourth, infallibility means that Scripture defines what reality is, and it cannot be annulled. Notice how the Lord approached unbelief in John 12. He says, “Therefore, they could not believe because Isaiah said. . .” In other words, that fulfillment of prophecy was not incidental; it was a direct result of God’s authority over all realities. In the case of the unbelievers, Isaiah’s prophecy was binding. It was real. It was true.
Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD brings the counsel of the heathen to nothing: he makes the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:8-11).
This idea is further proven in Luke 16, where the Lord says, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of the law to fail.” The smallest detail of God’s speech is surer than the entirety of heaven and earth. Of its own accord, creation cannot vanish. Only by divine power could the heavens and earth pass away (and they will), but even God has bound Himself by His Word.
May we learn to bow to God’s authority in the grand Book with which He has entrusted to us. It is not simply a profitable guide for our faith. It is what we look to as a definition of our very existence. God’s Word will not be altered. It will not be successfully challenged. It will not be disproven. It will not fail. It is God’s infallible, error-free revelation of Himself. This is the foundation of our faith. This is what divides the true Christianity and the false Christianity. True Christianity lets God be Who He is and lets His Word be what He designed it to be. May we learn to stand for it.
