Have you ever read a Bible with red words? The first red letter edition was published in 1899 when the words of Jesus alone were printed in red ink to set them apart. The man who came up with it said he got the idea from the color of Jesus’ blood. He wanted people to know about Jesus more than anything. That’s a great motive…but it has resulted in some terrible theology.
It gives the impression to some that the quoted words of Jesus are more important than the other words in Scripture. Those who adopt this philosophy are sometimes called “Red Letter Christians.” They tend to assume that what Jesus personally spoke has greater authority than what others, such as the Apostle Paul, had to say. And since Jesus doesn’t directly address issues like abortion, gender roles, or homosexuality, those matters must not be that important. In fact, since the Apostle Paul does directly address those issues, Paul gets labeled as a bigot & misogynist, or at least a man trapped in his culture.
But this is a flawed way understanding both Scripture & Jesus’ purpose. Jesus didn’t deal with lots of issues, or address every immoral behavior. That wasn’t his purpose. The “Christological Fallacy” is assuming Jesus came to be the source & norm of all revelation; that His main purposes was to reveal new & final truth. But that’s NOT why he came. God could have sent any prophet to reveal truth. The reason Jesus came was to do only what He could do–& that’s to redeem us.
Jesus taught the authority of ALL Scripture because it’s ALL His word–it’s of divine origin. He said: “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35) & “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). He told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance all He had spoken (John 14:26), would guide them into all truth, & would take what is His & disclose it to them (John 16:13-14). So the letters of Peter, John & Paul were written to instruct us on how to work out Jesus’ teaching, & are just as inspired as Jesus’ own words. That means the entire New Testament could really be printed in red.
To be a “Red Letter Christian” is to undermine the authority of Scripture–it’s picking & choosing what you want to believe, which makes YOU the authority instead of God. The Jewish sect in Jesus’ day known as the “Sadducees” did the same thing when it came to Moses. They only accepted the first 5 books of their Hebrew Scriptures which Moses wrote, & rejected important doctrines in other parts of the Scriptures. Jesus rebuked them, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures…” (Matt. 22:29).
It may sound noble to say, “Jesus is my only model,” or “I’m committed to Christ, not doctrine,” or “I worship Christ, not the Bible.” But you can’t separate Jesus from the doctrines of Scripture. It may sound spiritual to say: WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). But it can be dangerous if we elevate it above the rest of what Jesus teaches through His apostles & prophets, which is what His Church is built upon (Eph. 2:20).
The Bible is our authority in matters of faith & practice. The New Testament is specifically the covenant God has made with us through Christ. It is a better covenant which fulfills & supersedes the Mosaic Law in the Old Testament. But Jesus’ general ethical teachings were not different than what was already in the Old. For example: love the Lord your God, turn the other cheek, don’t take personal vengeance–these were all in the Old before the New.
“Red Letter Christians” will often assume that when Jesus speaks, it applies to everyone in every situation. But they’re mistaken when they think, for example, that Jesus is including civil rulers when He’s actually speaking to individuals. He didn’t come to change the role of government. “An eye for an eye” wasn’t done away with in regard to justice; just the misapplication to personal vengeance. So those who make “social justice” claims today often confuse what Jesus is saying about the roles of Church & State.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). That means we need to be careful students who understand how to interpret & apply ALL of Scripture properly (2 Tim. 2:15). We still want to point people to how important what Jesus said is, but without undermining the rest of His revelation.