The Relationship Between Infallibility And Authority

When Christians talk about the Bible being “infallible”, we mean that the Bible is incapable of making mistakes or being wrong. As discussed previously, the Bible is “inspired” and, ultimately, authored by the Almighty Sovereign God Who is incapable of making mistakes or being wrong.

So here we have an infallible God delivering to man an infallible written revelation. Since the infallible God has ultimate authority over all things, then it follows that His infallible Word also speaks with ultimate authority on all things. There can be no doubt that Jesus Christ subscribed to this view as He said “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

Peter said that Scripture is “more sure” than hearing God speaking audibly to us from heaven (2 Peter 1:19) – which is something Peter experienced on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:5). The Psalmist states that God has exalted His word above all things (Psalm 138:2). When Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness under severe temptation from Satan, He responded to each accusation with the initial words “it is written” (Matthew 4:1-11). Here we see God incarnate making His appeal to the authority Holy Scripture. The fact of the matter is that the Bible is authoritative, and this is the obvious consequence of its infallibility.