An inerrantist is someone who believes that the holy Scriptures are divinely inspired and that the original manuscripts of Scripture are free from error.[1]
“Inerrancy is the claim that when all facts are known, the Scriptures in their original autographs and properly interpreted will be shown to be without error in all that they affirm to the degree of precision intended, whether that affirmation relates to doctrine, history, science, geography, geology, etc.”[2]
Because the ultimate author of Scripture is the Spirit of truth (see John 16:12-15) we can have complete confidence that God’s Word is pure and perfect (see Psalms 19; 119). The apostle Peter put it like this, “And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:19-21). A perfect God could only produce a perfect revelation.
J. I. Packer highlights the essence of biblical exposition when he writes, “Preaching appears in the Bible as a relaying of what God has said about Himself and His doings, and about men in relation to Him, plus a pressing of His commands, promises, warnings, and assurances, with a view to winning the hearer or hearers . . . to a positive response." [5]
Before Paul gives his apostolic charge to “preach the Word” he first reminds Timothy of his orthodox bibliology. “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Timothy 3:15-4-2).
All sound doctrine is practical (including the doctrine of Scripture). In other words, what we believe about the Word of God ought to impact how we live our lives. If a pastor truly believes that the Word of God is inerrant, inspired, authoritative, and sufficient then the natural outflow of these convictions is Text-driven expository preaching.
John MacArthur is spot on when he writes, “Yet it seems our practical commitment to inerrancy is somewhat lacking. The modern evangelical’s commitment to the authority and inerrancy of the Bible doesn’t always flesh out in ministry…Too often, it doesn’t. In fact, there is a discernible trend in contemporary evangelicalism away from biblical preaching, and a corresponding drift toward experience-centered, pragmatic, topical messages in the pulpit.”[3]
Because the Word of God is inerrant it will motivate the “man of God” to work hard in his expository study in effort to discern the authorial intent of the passage.[4] The preacher is after all, exhorted by God, “to speak, as it were, the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). In other words, because the book were expounding is the very Word of God preachers must labor long and hard so as to not contaminate the meaning of the text with our own erroneous thoughts, feelings, and faulty presuppositions (Ezra 7:10).
The preacher’s task is not to be creative or innovative with the inerrant text. Or job is to simply exposit the text so that our hearers can understand the plain meaning of Scripture and to help them understand some of the applicational implications [6]
Text-driven preaching that applies the historical-grammatical method of interpretation is the preacher’s clear mandate. “Expository preaching is the declarative genre in which inerrancy finds its logical expression and the church its life and power. Stated simply, inerrancy demands exposition as the only method of preaching that preserves the purity of Scripture and accomplishes the purpose for which God gave us His Word.”[7]
[1] For a helpful article that is related to this essay see, Swanson, Dennis M.. "Inerrancy and the Local Church: What Does the Debate Mean to the People in the Pews?." The Master's Seminary Journal 26, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 47-58.
[2] Paul D. Feinberg, “Infallibility and Inerrancy,” Trinity Journal, VI:2 (Fall, 1977), 120.
[3] John MacArthur, “Preaching the Book God Wrote,” Grace to You, http://www.gty.org/Resources/Print/articles/4825 (accessed November 23, 2015).
[4] Paul makes this very point in 2 Timothy 2:15.
[5] James I. Packer, "Preaching As Biblical Interpretation," Inerrancy And Common Sense, ed. Roger R. Nicole and J. Ramsey Michaels (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), p. 189.
[6] Paul commands Timothy “to rebuke, reprove, and exhort with great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:2).
[7] John MacArthur, “Preaching the Book God Wrote,” 3.
