The red-lettered viewpoint is based on the premise that “the very words” of Jesus (printed in red) in the Gospels are somehow more authoritative than the rest of the New Testament is. The assertion is that all of the words in the New Testament are important, but preeminence should be given to “the very words” of Jesus.
So let’s do that. In John’s Gospel, Jesus was gettin’ His disciples ready for His pending departure. He told em’ that He had many more things to say to them, but they couldn’t bear em’ now. Then He said He’d later send em’ the Holy Spirit that would guide em’ into all of the truth.
He was letting them know that the Holy Spirit was gonna come in a new and powerful way (at Pentecost), and that right now He couldn’t tell them all that He wanted to because of ‘their’ spiritual limitations, not His.
The profound spiritual change in Apostle Peter after Pentecost was demonstrative of the eloquent change due to the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He was noticeably different, as evidenced by his sermon and actions at Pentecost.
Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians…‘after’ Pentecost…that by retiring the Law, with its commandments and regulations, Jesus made peace between the Jews and the Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups.
So if we’re gonna take “the very words” of Jesus as authoritative, should we take the Epistles…which are textual fulfillment of Jesus’ promise in John’s Gospel (ch. 16)…as unrestricted revelation from Him, unlike the restricted revelation of the disciple’s pre-Pentecost spiritual limitations…?
