A very popular new book (# 2 at this writing) found in the LDS bookstore chain Deseret Book is The Testimony Glove. According to the Testimony Gloves blog, “Testimony Gloves are a tool to help children understand the basic principles of a [Mormon] testimony.” This testimony is comprised of five points of knowledge:

• God is their Heavenly Father
• Jesus Christ is their Savior and Redeemer
• Joseph Smith is a prophet of God
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s church on earth today
• The church is led by a living prophet

The Testimony Glove uses a picture on each fingertip to remind children of what these points are. According to Deseret News, “Primary children put on the glove, which represents the Holy Ghost. Then, they put the pictures on the appropriate finger as they discuss each of the five points.”

The Testimony Glove is said to be very meaningful. Deseret News said:

• It changes [people’s] lives
• It helps prepare children for LDS baptism
• It reactivates families
• It teaches the gospel
• It anchors adult’s testimonies

Kristen Oaks, wife of LDS apostle Dallin Oaks, said the five points of testimony “are core doctrines. There’s nothing fluffy about it. Those are eternal principles, and they [the children] will remember them.”

Reading about the Mormon Testimony Glove made me think of a Christian teaching aid that uses colors (instead of pictures) to teach five points of what Christians recognize as the Gospel. It’s called The Wordless Book.

In 1866 Christian pastor Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon on Psalm 51:7 – “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” His sermon began,

“I daresay you have most of you heard of a little book which an old divine used constantly to study, and when his friends wondered what there was in the book, he told them that he hoped they would all know and understand it, but that there was not single word in it. When they looked at it, they found that it consisted of only three leaves; the first was black, the second was red, and the third was pure white. The old minister used to gaze upon the black leaf to remind him of his sinful state by nature, upon the red leaf to call to his remembrance the precious blood of Christ, and upon the white leaf to picture to him the perfect righteousness which God has given to believers through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ his Son.”

Over the years The Wordless Book has been expanded to include two more colors. Today, the book is usually found in this form:

• Black: representing the sinful state of humanity by nature (Romans 3:23)
• Red: representing the sacrificial blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7)
• White: representing the perfect righteousness which God has given to believers through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ his Son (Psalm 51:7)
• Green: representing one’s need to grow in Christ after salvation (2 Peter 3:18)
• Gold: representing Heaven (Romans 6:23)

Unlike The Testimony Glove, which is a set of Mormon teachings children (and others) must affirm, The Wordless Book is a set of biblical truths God asks us to embrace; biblical truths that lead directly to forgiveness of sin and new life in Christ. The Wordless Book presents the Gospel – the Good News – that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). That though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). That the incredibly great free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23).

Charles Spurgeon anticipated an objection to the amazing message of The Wordless Book and therefore finished his 1866 sermon with this:

“There may be one in this place who is afraid to think that Christ will save him. My dear friend, do my Master the honour to believe that there are no depths of sin into which you may have gone which are beyond his reach. Believe that there is no sin that is too black to be washed away by the precious blood of Christ, for he has said, ‘All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men,’ and ‘all manner of sin’ must include yours. It is the very greatness of God’s mercy that sometimes staggers a sinner…poor sinner, you know that you do not deserve such grace as God delights to give. But the fact that it is of grace shuts out the question of merit altogether. ‘By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.’ God’s gifts are like himself, immeasurably great…God gives as God…So, sinner, go to the great God, with your great sin, and ask for great grace that you may be washed in the great fountain filled with the blood of the great sacrifice, and you shall have the great salvation which Christ has procured, and for it you shall ascribe great praise for ever and ever to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God grant that it may be so, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.”