Why We Are Not a Red-Letter Church

“What kind of church are you?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer the question. The lady who had rung my office was thinking of attending one of our Sunday services, but she wanted to know more about us. Were we evangelical, charismatic, Baptist, Lutheran or what?

It was a tricky question because we were all of the above. Our church in Hong Kong attracted people of every stripe from Catholics to Mennonites and full-on Pentecostals. We didn’t fit any particular box.

Then I had a brainwave. “We’re a red-letter church,” I said. “We emphasize the teachings of Jesus.”

I thought it was a brilliant answer to her question, but now I’m not so sure. I have since come to realize that telling people you’re a red-letter church means you’re preaching mixture.

Perhaps you have heard people say, “Don’t stray too far from the red letters.” It means, stay close to the teachings of Jesus and you can’t go wrong.

It sounds good, but it’s bad advice. Everything Jesus said was good, but not everything he said is good for you.

Read the red letters of your Bible and you will find stories of radical grace as well as merciless declarations of law.

Mix these messages and you will end up confused and lukewarm. The solution is not to balance law with grace but to filter all you read through the lens of the new covenant.

In other words, we need to interpret the words of Jesus through his mission and ministry.

Jesus lived under law

Jesus lived at the crossroads of two covenants. As humanity’s representative he came to fulfill the old law-keeping covenant in order that we might relate to God through a new and better covenant forged in his blood.

Since the new covenant could not begin before he died, Jesus lived all of his pre-cross life under the old covenant of the law:

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

Jesus was born under law, circumcised by law, and presented in the temple according to the law. Every Jewish person that Jesus met was also born under law. We need to keep this in mind when reading the red letters of Jesus.

What law did Jesus preach?

To those under the law, Jesus preached the pure and unadulterated Law of Moses. When the religious leaders came to trap him with questions, Jesus would respond with, “What did Moses command you?” (Mark 10:3). His law-keeping ministry honored the Law of Moses:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. (Matthew 23:2–3)

Why did Jesus preach the law?

Like every grace preacher, Jesus esteemed the law and the purpose for which it was given. The law was given to silence every mouth and hold the whole world accountable (Rom. 3:19).

The purpose of the law is to make us conscious of sin and reveal our need for a Savior. But the law-teachers and Pharisees had ring-fenced the law with their traditions and interpretations. By honoring their traditions ahead of the law, they diluted the law emptying it of its power.

If the law had been allowed to do its proper work, the Jews would have been ready for a Savior. If the law-teachers and prophets had done their job, the nation of Israel would have rejoiced at the arrival of the Messiah.

Sadly, it didn’t happen. Since the law-teachers had been negligent, Jesus had to do their job before he could do his own. Before he could save the world from sin, he had to preach the law that made sin utterly sinful.

So Jesus became the greatest law preacher of all time.

As the prophet Isaiah had foretold, Jesus made the law magnificent (Is. 42:21). He lifted up what others had knocked down and raised the standard to glorious levels of perfection (Matt. 5:48).

How did Jesus preach the law?

Preaching the red letters of Jesus is a bit like drinking whatever you find in the laundry. Fail to distinguish his life-giving words of grace from his death-dealing words of law and you could do some damage. Consider these red letters:

If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14–15)

This is vintage law and a killer scripture. It is not good news. This verse should make us shudder for it says that our forgiveness hinges on our ability to forgive others and we are poor forgivers indeed.

People sin against us all the time. Have we honestly forgiven them all? What if we miss one?

And what do we say to those who have been raped and abused? What do you say to a young child who has been molested?

“Sweetie, you need to forgive that evil man otherwise God will never forgive you.”

How do you forgive the unforgiveable? You can’t! Then you’re in trouble. The law condemns you as an unforgiver. Now you’re beginning to recognize your need for grace.

Any time you read a conditional statement from Jesus, you should interpret it as law.

“Do not judge and you will not be judged” (Luke 6:37). That’s good advice but it’s also law. To avoid something (judgment) you have to do something (don’t judge). It’s a blessing you have to pay for.

And anytime Jesus makes a threat, you should interpret that as law as well. “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Matt. 5:22). That’s bad news for anyone with a brother.

The law is not for you

Jesus came to reveal grace, but those who are confident of their own righteousness won’t receive it. They don’t see their need. What they need is the law and Jesus gave it to them in spades.

But Jesus’ ultimate purpose was to give us his life and his righteousness. So he also told stories about God justifying sinners and shepherds finding lost sheep. Then he went to the cross to fulfill the law on our behalf so that he might be the end of the law for all who believe (Rom. 10:4).

Why are we not a red-letter church? Because those who live by the red letters are living between two covenants. They’re mixing law with grace and ending up lukewarm.

So does this mean we can disregard the words of Jesus? Absolutely not.

Let us read the whole Bible through the lens of Christ. Let us honor the law Jesus taught while acknowledging that the law is good if used properly (1 Tim. 1:8). But let us also recognize there is only one medicine that saves – the grace of God that Jesus revealed.

If I was leading a church today and a visitor asked “What sort of church are you?” I would reply with something like this: “We’re a group of friends who are learning to walk in the unforced rhythms of God’s grace. We’re here to help others discover how much their heavenly Father loves them.”

Or something like that.

What would you tell a potential visitor? Let me know in the comments.

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