Jesus Wrote the Black Letters Too

The Red-Letter Edition Bibles have served to help us know when Jesus was speaking during His earthly ministry.  This has been to some benefit.  But the Red-Letter Editions have also caused some bad theology. These editions have made it possible to introduce division or disagreement into the Trinitarian nature of God.

Jesus is the second person of the Trinity.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are always in perfect unity and community, and they have, and forever will, exist together as equal.  This means, throughout the Old Testament and the New, Jesus was inspiring the human author to write the text.  If that is true, and it is, then Jesus wrote and breathed the black letters too. The whole Bible is “God-breathed”.

Here is one example I have heard most frequently.

Some see a contradiction between what Jesus said in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, and Peters words in Acts 2:38. The issue centers on the phrase “…and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…” emphasis added, and Acts 2:38 “…be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ”; emphasis added.

How we typically handle this issue is by saying, I just rely on what Jesus said in Matthew.  This sounds good—but it is very dangerous.  It is dangerous because we have indirectly asserted that what Jesus inspired Peter to say in his sermon was wrong. 

What are some possible ways to explain the differences found in Matthew and Acts?

1. Baptism is not necessarily Christian.  Jews also practice baptism when someone converted to Judaism.  Peter was telling the crowd to look to Jesus for salvation and not the Law.

2. Some may have been baptized by John in the Jordan and now Peter is directing them to the One John was pointing to.

3. Most likely, the reason for the differences, can be found in the fact that Peter and Matthew address different scenarios. Peter was speaking to a group of Jews who already knew God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is explaining to them that Jesus is the son of God and should be included in the Trinity.  In Matthew we see a commission to reach a pagan world; people who have no idea who the God of Heaven and Earth is.  Matthew’s version is a doctrinal statement to the world at large as to Who God is and what He is like.  We cannot neglect the fact of His trinitarian nature—the fact that He is one God existing in three persons.

Hope this helps.