The God Of Truth Speaks

In the Short Statement of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, We read; “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.”[1]  The God of Truth speaks.

( Note: It seems that in my last post the short statement didn’t copy correctly.  This has been corrected.)

We have the God of Truth (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 31:4; Isaiah 65:16), who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) speaking to man through His own ordained method, the Scriptures.  Within the scriptures, we have its own claims that this is God speaking. Over 2500 times in the Old Testament alone the Bible asserts that God spoke what is written within its pages (Isaiah 1:2).  The phrase “the Word of God occurs over forty times in the New Testament.

The Lord Jesus Christ condemned the Pharisees for adding their own traditions to the Word of God thus making it void (Mark 7:13). Jesus never moved from the Word when He preached ((Luke 5:1; John 8:38). It was also the message the apostles taught (Acts 4:31; 6:2). Paul made sure that the Corinthians understood that he spoke the Word of God as it was given from God, that it had not been tampered with, and that it was a manifestation of truth (2 Corinthians 2:17; 4:2).  Paul also acknowledged that the Word of God was the source of his preaching (Colossians 1:25; 1 Thessalonians 2;13). They looked nowhere else.

It is the exclusivity in the Scriptures that we see the emphasis and defense of its claims of truth (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19).  Truth is the providence of God and His Word, not ours. The whole of the redemptive plan is not only revealed from Genesis through Revelation but that God’s Word would stand unalterably in truth until the completion of God’s redemptive plan.

Matthew 5:18 (ESV) ¹⁸  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

It is also in the Scriptures exclusivity that “God reveals Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge.”  Only here in the Word of God do we see, with full authority, clarity, and power, the redemptive plan of God in Christ and nowhere else.  This is something that could not be trusted to man and his wisdom and insight.  That becomes perfectly clear when we see that all other forms religion and Christianity that reject the sole authority of the Bible, all rely on a system of works salvation in one form or another.

What we are speaking about here is the infallibility[2] and inerrancy[3] of the scriptures. The Scriptures can be fully trusted as to its origin and any matters it addresses, whether historical, scientific, and spiritual. As such it is “profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

As serious a matter as is “truth”, the source of truth has been left completely to the providence of the Bible itself through the doctrines of inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy.  It would also seem odd and inconsistent that the scriptures would be infallible and inerrant and then leave open the option to other extra-biblical sources.  The Canon is closed and the scriptures are fully sufficient in themselves (John 17:17). The “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” also affirms that position.

Article I. WE AFFIRM that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God. WE DENY that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source.

Article II. WE AFFIRM that the Scriptures are the supreme written norm by which God binds the conscience, and that the authority of the Church is subordinate to that of Scripture. WE DENY that Church creeds, councils, or declarations have authority greater than or equal to the authority of the Bible.

Article XI. WE AFFIRM that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses. WE DENY that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated.

Article XII. WE AFFIRM that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit. WE DENY that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood.

Article XIII. WE AFFIRM the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture. WE DENY that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage or purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations.[4]

-Michael Holzinger

[1] http://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/

[2] Infallibility – “Means unable to mislead or fail in accomplishing the divinely intended purpose. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue,  “Biblical Doctrine,” Crossway, 2017, pg.109

[3] Inerrancy –  “Means literally ‘without error.’  When applied to Scripture, it means that the Bible is without error in the original copies.” Ibid

[4] http://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/

Some Helpful resources:

The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism  By. G.K. Beale

The Inerrant Word  By: John MacArthur