Reformed Baptists affirm the doctrine of biblical inerrancy as taught in the 1689 London Baptist Confession, Chapter 1. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for salvation is either expressly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture. Scripture is the Word of God written, fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is therefore utterly reliable and free from error in all its affirmations.

Inerrancy means that the original manuscripts (the autographa) contain no errors of fact, whether in matters of history, science, or doctrine. The biblical writers were carried along by the Holy Spirit in such a way that their words are the very words of God. This extends to the complete text: not merely the theological content but the entire narrative, genealogy, and historical detail are inerrant. Verbal inspiration (inspiration of the words, not merely ideas) is essential to the doctrine.

Reformed Baptists generally affirm the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), which clarifies that inerrancy pertains to the autographa, not all translations and copies. The Bible's inerrancy is compatible with various literary genres, the use of round numbers, phenomenological language, and the reporting of falsehoods spoken by human characters. Textual criticism seeks to recover the original text as closely as possible, but the doctrine of inerrancy provides the foundation for this work and for the church's confidence in Scripture.