As we will see, the Bible asserts or assumes its inerrancy throughout its pages. But it is important to realize that inerrancy is inseparable bound to both the doctrine of revelation as well as to the nature of God Himself. Why?
    First, because God's revelation of Himself occurred through a very specific manner - "verbal, plenary inspiration." This means that the divine inspiration of the Bible involves its very words (Matthew 4:4; Romans 3:2) and extends to every part of Scripture. This is why the Bible claims "ALL Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,..." (2 Timothy 3:16). Second, the Bible reveals that God's nature is holy; therefore, He is incapable of lying. If divine inspiration extends to every word of the Bible, the entire Bible must be considered free of error. In other words, if God is incapable of inspiring error, whatever is inspired is inerrant (free from error). Finally, the Bible also reveals that God is omnipotent or all powerful. This means He was able to safeguard the process of inspiration from error even though it was given through fallible men. In light of all this, it must be concluded that whatever God speaks is inerrant (free from error), and since every word of the Bible is God's word, therefore the Bible is without error.
    Thus, in order to establish the Bible alone as the only source of divine authority, we need to prove that (a) the Bible claims to be the inerrant Word of God, (b) these claims are justified, and (c) anything which contradicts what the Bible teaches cannot, logically, have divine authority.
 

1. The Old Testament
    The Old Testament is either God's Word or a fraud because it repeatedly asserts its divine authority (e.g., Isaiah 40:8). The term "thus says the Lord" or similar expressions are use some 2,800 times is explicitly asserted for almost 70 percent of the Old Testament, or 26 of 39 books (see Jeremiah 1:2; cross-reference Exodus 34:27; Deuteronomy 18:18; 1 Kings 22:14; Isaiah 8:19-20; Jeremiah 36:29; Amos 3). Further, New Testament assertions to the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Old Testament provide additional corroboration. Here we find that more than 90 percent of the Old Testament books "have their authority and/or authenticity directly affirmed by the New Testament." For example, in the book of Hebrews the phrase "God said" or its equivalent occurs many times just prior to quoting specific books of the Old Testament such as Psalms (Hebrews 1:6-12; Hebrews 4:7), Jeremiah (Hebrews 8:8-12; Hebrews 10:15-17), Haggai (Hebrews 12:26), Deuteronomy (Hebrews 13:5), and others. Particularly relevant are the pronouncements of Jesus, who, as God incarnate, speaks infallibly (Matthew 24:35; John 5:46; John 7:16; John 8:14-16, 26, 28; John 12:48-50; John 14:6; cross-reference Philippians 2:1-8; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20-21; John 1:14). In John 17:17, Jesus said, "Your word is truth,@ and in Matthew 4:4, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." In both instances He could only have referred to the Jewish Scripture - our Protestant Old Testament (cross-reference Luke 24:27). Jesus affirms 100 percent of the Old Testament as inspired and inerrant (free from error).

2. The New Testament
    Jesus indicated more than once that new revelation from God was forthcoming. For example, He promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring to remembrance the things they were taught (John 14:26), referring to the Gospels (cross-reference Matthew 24:35). He also promised that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all the truth (John 16:12-15), referring to the remainder of the New Testament. Thus, it is not surprising that:
 

Virtually every New Testament writer claimed that his writing was divinely authoritative...The cumulative effect of this self-testimony is an overwhelming confirmation that the New Testament writers claimed inspiration.
 

    Indeed, the fact that the New Testament writers assumed their writings was as binding as the Old Testament asserts a great deal. Such writers were orthodox Jews who believed God's Word was heretofore confined to the known Old Testament canon. To add to this body of holy writings was a terrible presumption unless inspiration were clearly present. But their recognition of inspiration is not so surprising. The very fact of the arrival of the long-prophesied messiah and the new covenant (as mentioned in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.) coupled with the incarnation and atonement of God Himself (John 1:14; Philippians 2:1-9) demanded a corresponding body of divine literature to explain and expound these events. [This was also true for the activity of God in the old covenant (e.g., Galatians 3:8; cross-reference John 16:12-15).] God had no more likely candidates for this revelation than the apostles of His own Son, or those they approved. And for perhaps even more credibility, the former skeptic and persecutor of the church, the great apostle Paul, was commissioned by God to write a full fourth of the entire new revelation. Is it credible to believe Jesus thought the Holy Spirit, the "Spirit of Truth," who inspired the New Testament (cross-reference John 16:13-15) would corrupt His own words or inspire error? How could the incarnate God teach the infallibility of the divinely inspired Old Testament and not know the same condition would apply to the divinely inspired New Testament? Perhaps one reason Jesus never wrote anything was because He knew it was unnecessary: The Holy Spirit would inspire an inerrant Word. How else could He teach (or could we reasonably believe), "My words will never pass away" (Matthew 24:35)? Regardless, is it proper to call errant writings "holy"? How is inspiration divine if it allows for the presence of truth and error? Is it not simply human and, like every other book, to be treated like every other book? If we answer "no" by appealing to its unique theological content, how do we really know such content is true? If God's Word is eternal, how can it be flawed? What did God mean when He called His Word "holy," "perfect," "true," "good," "trustworthy," and "pure"? On this issue of inerrancy, the great expositor Charles Spurgeon once stated, "This is the book untainted by any error, but is pure, unalloyed, perfect truth. Why? Because God wrote it. Ah! charge God with error if you please; tell Him that His book is not what it ought to be..."
 

John Ankerberg & John Weldon