Introduction
Preparation
Read the bible verses that come with the key doctrines. Then study and meditate on the bible verses and the doctrines. Write down any questions that arise so that we can discuss them in our group.
To help you study, ask yourself these questions as you read:
Question
If God’s Word could fail, our salvation would depend on ourselves. If God’s Word cannot fail, our salvation depends on God’s sovereignty, and it will be as certain as God’s own character.When you think about your own assurance of salvation, are you resting on your performance or on God’s unbreakable promise?
What would change in your daily life if you truly believed that God’s Word cannot fail?
Introduction
The Bible is infallible because it is the very Word of God, and God cannot make a mistake.
Key Doctrines
The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. (Isaiah 8:19-20, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Luke 16:29, 31, Ephesians 2:20)
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men. (2 Timothy 3:15-17, Galatians 1:8, 9)
Background for Teachers
In Lesson 1 we established that the Bible is God’s Word. Lesson 2 answers the next question: if the Bible is God’s Word, can it fail? The doctrine of infallibility says no. Because Scripture comes from God, and God cannot lie, Scripture cannot mislead, deceive, or fail to accomplish what God intends.
The lesson is organized around four topics:
- What Infallibility Means — The word, the concept, and why it matters.
- Because God Cannot Lie — The character of God as the foundation of Scripture’s reliability.
- The Covenant of Genesis 15 — God’s oath to Abraham as the Old Testament demonstration of His unbreakable Word.
- Why This Matters for Us — A trustworthy foundation, the anchor of our souls, and the question of authority.
Topic 1: What Infallibility Means
The Bible is not merely a book that contains the words of God. It is the Word of God. Every word, every sentence, every promise, every command, every warning — it all comes from the mouth of God Himself. And because it comes from God, it cannot fail. It cannot mislead. It cannot make a mistake. This is what we mean when we say that Scripture is infallible.
The word “infallible” means “incapable of error” or “unable to fail.” When we say that Scripture is infallible, we are saying that everything the Bible teaches is true and trustworthy. It will never lead us astray. It will never deceive us. It will never fail to accomplish what God intends for it to accomplish.
The words of Yahweh are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the ground, refined seven times.
Psalm 12:6 (LSB)
Notice the emphasis on the purity of God’s words. They are not mixed with error. They are not tainted by human weakness. They are not corrupted by sin. They are pure, like silver that has been refined seven times, which is a poetic way of saying that they are perfectly pure. There is no impurity in them.
Infallibility and Inerrancy
In Lesson 1 we spoke of inerrancy: the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. Infallibility is closely related. Inerrancy focuses on the absence of error in the text. Infallibility focuses on the impossibility of failure in God’s purpose. Both flow from the same source: the character of God.
Discussion
When you say the Bible is infallible, what are you actually claiming? Are you claiming that every copy is perfect, or that the Word of God cannot fail to accomplish what God intends? The distinction matters, and it prepares us for the next topic.
Topic 2: Because God Cannot Lie
The foundation of Scripture’s infallibility is the character of God Himself. God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a creature, that He should make a mistake. He is perfect in knowledge. He is perfect in wisdom. He is perfect in truth.
God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it? Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.
Numbers 23:19-20 (LSB)
If the Bible came from a fallible source, it would be unreliable. But it comes from the infallible God. Therefore, it is infallible.
When God states that what He has blessed no one can revoke, or as Isaiah puts it, “I act who can reverse it?” then our whole salvation and eternal life depends on God’s Word.
If God’s Word were fallible, our salvation would depend on ourselves, meaning that we could easily lose it. Our salvation would be just as worthless as all the promises we have broken. God never broke one promise, and you will not find any broken promise in the Bible.
The Foundation of Assurance
This is not an abstract doctrine. If Scripture could fail, your assurance would rest on your own performance. But because Scripture cannot fail, your assurance rests on God’s character. The difference between those two foundations is the difference between doubt and peace.
Discussion
When you doubt your salvation, what are you doubting? Are you doubting your own performance, or are you doubting God’s promise? The doctrine of infallibility directs your doubt away from yourself and toward the God who cannot lie.
Topic 3: The Covenant of Genesis 15 — God Alone Walks the Path
The most powerful demonstration of the infallibility of God’s Word is found in the covenant ceremony of Genesis 15:7-21. This passage is the Old Testament foundation for the doctrine of God’s irrevocable promises.
The Ancient Ritual
In the Ancient Near East, when two parties made a covenant, they would cut animals in half and lay the pieces opposite each other. Both parties would then walk between the pieces, declaring in effect: “May what happened to these animals happen to me if I break this covenant.” This was a self-maledictory oath, a curse upon oneself for covenant unfaithfulness. The ceremony is also referenced in Jeremiah 34:18-19.
What Abram Expected
God instructed Abram to prepare the animals: a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon (Genesis 15:9).
Abram cut the larger animals in two but left the birds intact, following the customary ritual norms. Abram then waited, expecting that both he and God would walk between the pieces together. This would have been a bilateral covenant, with obligations on both sides.
What God Did Instead
But then something astounding happened. “Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.” (Genesis 15:17).
The smoking firepot and blazing torch are visible manifestations of the LORD Himself. Fire and smoke are recurring signs of God’s presence throughout Scripture (Exodus 3:2; 13:21; 19:18).
Abram never stepped between the pieces. Only God alone passed through.
This is the heart of the matter. By walking the blood-path alone, God was saying: “If this covenant is broken, I alone will bear the curse. I bind Myself unconditionally to fulfill these promises.” He converted a bilateral treaty into a unilateral, unconditional covenant.
Why This Matters for the Infallibility of Scripture
This ceremony is the ultimate demonstration that God’s Word cannot fail. God staked His own existence on the fulfillment of His promise. As the writer of Hebrews explains:
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply you.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
Hebrews 6:13-18 (LSB)
God swore by Himself. He put His own character, His own name, His own existence on the line. If He failed to fulfill His promise to Abraham, He would cease to be God. This is why the promise is absolutely certain.
The Foreshadowing of Christ
This covenant ceremony also foreshadows the gospel. The animals were slain, blood was shed, and God, not Abram, shouldered the covenant curse. This prefigures Christ, who bears the penalty for covenant-breakers. On the cross, Jesus became the curse for us (Galatians 3:13). The smoking firepot and blazing torch point forward to the greater covenant sealed in Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20).
The Unconditional Covenant
God did not ask Abram to walk through the pieces. He walked through them alone. This is the difference between a covenant of works and a covenant of grace. In the covenant of works, both parties must keep their obligations. In the covenant of grace, God bears the curse Himself.
Discussion
If God took the curse upon Himself, what does that tell you about the nature of His promises? And how does that shape the way you trust Him when you fail? The covenant of Genesis 15 is not just a historical curiosity. It is the foundation of your assurance.
Topic 4: Why This Matters for Us
Because We Need a Trustworthy Foundation
We build our lives on the Word of God. We trust it for our salvation. We trust it for our comfort. We trust it for our guidance. We trust it for our hope. If the Bible could fail, if it could contain errors, then our faith would be built on sand. But because it is infallible, our faith is built on rock.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
1 Corinthians 15:17 (LSB)
Everything else in this world will fail. Governments will fall. Economies will collapse. Health will fade. Relationships will end. But the Word of God will stand forever. It is the one thing in this universe that will never fail.
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
Isaiah 40:8 (LSB)
Because Our Souls Depend on It
Eternal life is promised in the Word of God. Forgiveness of sins is promised in the Word of God. The presence of the Holy Spirit is promised in the Word of God. If these promises could fail, we would be without hope. But because they come from the infallible Word of God, we can be certain that they will be fulfilled.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13 (LSB)
The Word of God is the anchor of our souls. It holds us steady when the storms of life rage. It keeps us grounded when everything around us is shifting. It is infallible, and therefore it is worthy of our complete trust.
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. And everyone hearing these words of Mine and not doing them, may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.
Matthew 7:24-27 (LSB)
A Foundation, Not a Feeling
The rock is not your feelings. The rock is not your experience. The rock is the Word of God. When the storms come, you will not be sustained by how strongly you feel about your faith. You will be sustained by the Word of God that stands forever.
Discussion
What are you building on? When the storm comes, will your house stand? The doctrine of infallibility is not an abstract theological point. It is the foundation of your hope. If the foundation cracks, everything built on it will fall.
The Infallibility of God’s Words, Creeds and Confessions
The two doctrines listed come from the Westminster and Baptist Confession of Faith. They are therefore fundamentally Protestant and Reformed.
Critics may argue that creeds and confessions are nothing more than man-made additions to Scripture. Even the Baptist and Westminster Confessions of Faith themselves claim to be subordinate and secondary to Scripture.
The Baptist Confession of Faith even opens with the claim:
“The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.”
Only — so it gives all authority to Scripture.
The Westminster makes a similar claim in chapter 1 paragraph 6:
“The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”
They lay down a doctrine and then list multiple Bible verses that confirm the biblical validity of this doctrine. The reader is clearly instructed to test all confessions by the Word of God, as the Bereans did, and to let Scripture have the final word.
And by Scripture having the final word, it is important that not only the Bible verse is read but its whole context is read, studied, meditated, and prayed upon. This is following the Berean’s example of being noble-minded, receiving the word with eagerness, and examining Scripture daily and so coming to the understanding of whether which things are true.
Engaging Roman Catholics
The Council of Trent (1546) explicitly rejected the Protestant doctrine that Scripture alone is the sufficient rule of faith, affirming instead that Scripture and tradition together constitute the rule of faith. The Roman Catholic tradition teaches that the Magisterium and Sacred Tradition are co-authoritative.
1. Common Ground
Roman Catholics share the belief in Scripture’s infallibility and authority.
2. The Question of Authority: Scripture Alone or Scripture Plus Tradition?
Roman Catholics share with Protestants a belief in the infallibility and authority of Scripture. This is genuine common ground. But it raises the very question the Reformers faced: if Scripture is infallible, what does it say about the authority of human tradition?
Scripture answers that question directly. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for “teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” and said they “nullify the word of God by your tradition” (Mark 7:7-13). The Bereans were commended for testing even apostolic teaching against Scripture (Acts 17:11). Isaiah called God’s people to “the law and the testimony,” warning that those who do not speak according to this word “have no light of dawn” (Isaiah 8:20). In every case, Scripture presents itself as the final authority, and tradition as something to be tested by it.
Rome teaches otherwise. The Council of Trent decreed that tradition is to be received “with the same internal assent” as Scripture. This creates a structural problem. If two authorities can both claim final say, and they conflict, one must yield.
The Roman Catholic must therefore ask a personal question: when Scripture and the tradition of the Church appear to conflict, which authority do I actually believe?
The Historical Record
The Magisterium claims to be the authoritative interpreter of Scripture and tradition, ensuring they are read in harmony. But history has tested that claim, and the results are sobering.
The persecution of Protestants. The Council of Constance (1414-1418) tried and executed Jan Hus, a Bohemian reformer who preached against corruption in the Church. He was burned at the stake. This was not the act of rogue individuals. It was the institutional Magisterium using its authority to punish those who challenged its teaching. The broader pattern is not disputed: the Church “connived at or even demanded” capital punishment for heresy, and when the popes held temporal power, it was in operation in the papal states.
The silence during the Holocaust. In 2020, the Vatican unsealed the archives of Pope Pius XII, the pope during World War II. Historian Hubert Wolf stated plainly: “There is no doubt that the pope was aware of the murder of Jews.” Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Kertzer, drawing on those newly unsealed documents, concluded: “As a moral leader, Pius XII must be judged a failure.” When Roman Jews were deported to Auschwitz in 1943, 1,022 people, only 16 of whom survived, the pope refused to condemn the Nazi extermination. His Christmas radio message of 1942 mentioned “hundreds of thousands” doomed to death but never named the Jews or the Nazis.
This was not a matter of ambiguous private judgment. It was the supreme teaching office of the Church, and it failed.
What the Church Itself Admits. The German bishops acknowledged in 1967 that “the ecclesiastical magisterium can fall into error, and indeed has been known to do so.” They insisted this error does not apply to solemnly defined dogmas, but the admission is striking: the teaching office can and has erred.
A Catholic theologian might respond: “Pius XII’s silence was not an ex cathedra pronouncement, so it was not infallible.” That is true. But it misses the point. The Magisterium claimed the authority to interpret Scripture and tradition definitively, to tell the faithful what God’s Word means. When that same office failed to speak against the murder of millions, it demonstrated that its practical authority is not a reliable guide.
3. The Question Every Roman Catholic Must Face
This is not an attack on Roman Catholics. It is an acknowledgment that human institutions are run by sinful people who make mistakes. That is precisely why God gave us an infallible Word. The question is not whether the Church has value. The question is whether any human institution can stand alongside Scripture as an equal authority.
If Scripture and the tradition of the Church can both claim final say, and they conflict, one must yield. History has shown that the Magisterium has erred on matters of the gravest moral weight. It failed to condemn genocide. It prosecuted and killed those who sought reform. Why would anyone trust it with the meaning of God’s Word?
In this course, the Roman Catholic now faces three sources of doctrines:
- Scripture
- The 1689 Confession
- The tradition of the Roman Catholic church
As laid out in “The Infallibility of God’s Words, Creeds and Confessions,” they must reckon with the verses on which the two doctrines stand and decide what authority they believe. Read the passages. Study them. Ask whether the human tradition of the confession and/or the human tradition of the Roman Catholic Church aligns with what Scripture actually says. That is not a rejection of tradition. It is a call to test all things by the Word of God, as the Bereans did, and to let Scripture have the final word.
A Pastoral Note
When you are facing a difficult decision, you can trust the Word of God to guide you. It will not lead you astray. When you are struggling with doubt, you can trust the Word of God to reassure you. It will not fail you. When you are overwhelmed by fear, you can trust the Word of God to comfort you. It will not abandon you. When you are facing death itself, you can trust the Word of God to give you hope. It will not let you down.
The world will make promises it cannot keep. People will let you down. Circumstances will change. But the Word of God will never change. It will never fail. It will never mislead. You can build your life on it, and it will hold.
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
Psalm 19:7 (LSB)
The Word of God is perfect. It is sure. It is infallible. You can trust it with your life, your soul, and your eternity.
Further Study
For deeper study of this doctrine, the following commentaries are freely available online and are worth consulting:
- For devotional reading and practical application: Matthew Henry (Concise) — warm, pastoral, and suitable for all readers.
- For balanced scholarship and lay-friendly depth: Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (JFB) — scholarly but not overly technical.
- For advanced exegetical study: John Calvin — precise and foundational, but demanding.