The Red Letters Are Not The Only Inspired Passages

Back during my working a Christian bookstore days, whenever people come in looking for a Bible whether for themselves or someone else, one of the biggest requirements for shoppers was if it is a red letter edition. For those who are not familiar with that term, it simply means the words of Christ are in red. Most Bibles have Jesus's words in red while the rest of the Bible is in black.

As people went through various Bibles, some were offended that the words of Christ were not in red (after they realized it was not a King James Version they were reading). Some Christians get very angry when certain Bibles don't have the words of Christ in red. Is this an area of concern? To be honest, not really.

The red letting in some of the Bibles that are published are meant as a tool to help the reader recognize in the New Testament that is was Jesus talking. When the New Testament was originally written, I can guarantee that Christ's words were not in red. I don't think they had red ink back in the day.

What was meant to be a tool has turned into the standard for anyone to have a Bible or give it as a gift, but the one area of concern that I do have is when Christians think the red letters are the only inspired words in the entire Bible. Yes, they are the words of the Savior and we should heed them, but they are not the only inspired words. The Apostle Paul wrote, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Notice Paul said, "All Scripture is breathed out by God." All of the Bible is inspired, not just the red letters, if your Bible does have them. If your Bible does not have Christ's words in red, its okay. You have the inspired word of God. It does not matter if it has red letters or not. One Bible is not more holier than the other because it has red letters.

Christians, rejoice that you have the written word of God in your hands. It is a treasure to behold.