Red letters

John 14:6 New International Version (NIV)

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

These are the words of Jesus telling us directly his is the truth, the life and the way to The Father. Take these words and believe them.

If you own a red letter edition Bible the verse above is written in red. The red letter edition points out all the words Jesus spoke by printing them in red.

The inspiration for rubricating the Dominical words comes from Luke, 22:20: "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which I shed for you." On 19 June 1899, Louis Klopsch, then editor of The Christian Herald magazine, conceived the idea while working on an editorial. Klopsch asked his mentor Rev. Thomas De Witt Talmage what he thought of a testament with the Dominical words rubricated and Dr. Talmage replied, "It could do no harm and it most certainly could do much good."

Klopsch published the first modern red letter edition New Testament later in 1899. The first modern, fully rubricated bible was published in 1901. The rubricated bible instantly became popular, and is sometimes favored by Protestant Christians in the United States. Especially in King James Version editions, this format is useful because quotation marks are absent.

Romans 5:9 says, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” Jesus died to save us from our sin. He shed his blood on the cross. Red ran down from his body for our sakes. And for our sake His words are printed in red.