Are The Red Letters In The New Testament All That Matter?
There are some people who take the position that the words of Jesus in the New Testament (which are marked as red in most Bibles) are more important than the rest of the words in the New Testament. Some people would go as far as stating that the authority of Paul as an apostle and the rest of the inspired writers are not relevant today. One of the underlying reasons of this position is wanting to strip away the strict teachings on the roles of men and women in the spiritual life of the church and the home (1 Timothy 2:8-15; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:34,35; Ephesians 6:1-4), the sinfulness of homosexuality (Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11), marriage, divorce, and remarriage (1 Corinthians 7 :10-24), and other subjects.
The fact of the matter is that the authority of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18) was given and delegated to these men who served as witnesses of His resurrection (Acts 1:26,27) and were guided by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18,25-26; John 16:7-15; Galatians 1:11,12). We are to adhere to their doctrine (Acts 2:42) because it originated from God.
Paul stated it best in 1 Corinthians 14:37: "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord." Technically speaking, not just the red letters, but even most of the black letters in the English New Testaments are the words of Jesus (the exceptions would be when Satan is being quoted, etc.).
www.thegospelofchrist.com
This material is copyrighted by The Gospel of Christ and its authors. This information is free to use in its entirety without further consent, however, modifications should not be made without contacting mail@thegospelofchrist.com for permission. Any and all images contained herein are believed to be free for all distribution and content.