A Discussion on Tongues

A Biblical Study of the Gift of Tongues

*It is my sincere hope in publishing this study that I have undertaken does not cause further division and divisiveness, but rather that it would build bridges. Building bridges, especially in the area of tongues, between the camps that believe the gifts are for today (continuationalists) and those that believe the gifts have ceased (cecessionists). I am attempting to do so by not requiring that either side compromise their belief systems in order to come to this common ground necessarily, but rather for them to have the ability to look at the evidence through the eyes of Scripture and concede that this third option is more than plausible.

For the nearly 2,000 years Christianity has been in existence, there may have been just as many heresies over that same period of time. From the few heretical groups mentioned in the New Testament; The Judaizers (Galatians, I Timothy), Gnosticism (I Timothy) False Asceticism (I Timothy) and the practice of the Nicolaitans (Revelation) all the way to the Latter Rain and Word of Faith movements of the past century, true Christianity, unadulterated by man, has constantly been under attack by the schemes of the devil. One has to look no further than the Church in Rome to see a majority of these heresies that are still followed today.

How we go about determining true Christianity, true Christian doctrine, from it's false variants is to follow some simple guidelines for dividing the Word rightly as each of us are called to do. One guideline is that we are never to base our teachings or theology on a single verse or a single section of verses without examining it in the light of the rest of Scripture. One of the false tenants of Mormonism does this with the 'Baptism of the Dead' from a single verse of Scripture; I Corinthians 15:29 (Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?). What is Paul talking about here, really? I cannot say for certain, but when you start looking at other verses like Hebrews 9:27 (Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment ), or Paul's longing in II Corinthians 5: 6-8 (Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ), which only happens after you have made a profession of faith while still alive on this earth as it says in Romans 10: 9-10 (That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.), or if that doesn't do it for you, Jesus' story of 'Lazarus and the Rich Man' (Luke 16: 19-31), it doesn't seem possible that he means you can help the dead in the afterlife.

This then leads us into another guideline, that being that it should always be paramount that we are to let Scripture interpret Scripture, being sure to see it in its proper context, both in the structure and application of the words. Finally, the guideline of the 'Primacy of First Mention', which is when something is mentioned in the Bible for the first time based on its position on a timeline (not where it appears in the order of the books), it then becomes the measure, the plumbline that all other related Scripture is judged.

As I mentioned earlier, of the plethora of heresies that have been around since the foundation of the Church, the majority of them come from Roman Catholicism, however a good portion of them have been spawned out of the Pentecostal/ Charismatic movement during the past century. Some so extreme that they believe that you must speak in tongues/pray in tongues in order to be SAVED as the United Pentecostals do. Do I believe that the issue that divides the cecessionists from the continuationalists is this extreme? No, I do not. However, cecessionists who believe that the gifts are not for today are going AGAINST the plain teachings of Scripture in I Corinthians 13 and can be put into the camp that Paul warns us against in II Timothy 3:5 (having a form of godliness but denying its power.) Likewise continuationalists who do not look at the history of paganism in Corinth (the context of Paul's writings) that do not see the 'other tongue' he is speaking of as that of ecstatic speech pagans were known to be using for over 200 years before the birth of Christ (call them immature in I Corinthians 14:20), as going against countless references in the Old Testament of God's fury being cast upon His people for mixing paganism into the worship in Israel, could be provoking God's wrath upon themselves in much the same way as one who denies His power.

Whereas the cecessionist must be a gold medalist in mental gymnastics to fit there theology into the text pertaining to the 'Gifts of the Holy Spirit', the tendency for the Pentecostal/Charismatic is just to pre-suppose their beliefs into the text that, in reality, just are not there.

A quote from a Classic Pentecostal on a discussion board I am a part of bears this out:

"I would have to say that for any congregation where the people already knew how to pray in their native tongue and to pray in the Spirit it would simply be restating the obvious.

The Corinthians and every other congregation that ever encountered Apostolic authority which includes those who were sent to them under the authority of an Apostle, would undoubtedly understand the things of the Spirit and praying in the Spirit would (should) be a normal every day experience; obviously this understanding would vary in its consistency as we have seen with Corinth and with many of the Galatian churches it seems that Paul had to correct their apparent slide into what we would now call cessationism."

You see, it's not in the text because it was common in all of the churches, because it just happened, even though it is not mentioned positively in Scripture anywhere!

Now in order to examine this subject I had to ask two main questions that would sufficiently address the issue at hand. First, Is there such a thing as a self-edifying 'gift' from the Holy Spirit?

Answer: NO.

How I came to this conclusion is completely based on the Word.

I Corinthians 12:7 (New International Version)

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Ephesians 4:12 (New International Version)

to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

1 Corinthians 14:26c (Amplified Bible)

[But] let everything be constructive and edifying and for the good of all.

I have yet to find a verse of Scripture to support the position that goes contrary to the above verses, there just is no support for any of the 'Gifts of the Holy Spirit', when being used properly, that are self-edifying.

Secondly, is having a 'private prayer language' or 'praying in tongues'/'praying in the spirit' Biblical? To this I would say it is both yes and no. The first mistake we make is that we lump these phrases together as if they are one in the same, but based on Scripture, they are not. The second mistake we make is that we put the emphasis wrongly on whose 'private prayer language' it is, and who is really 'praying in tongues'. In short, the last two mentioned is actually what I like to call, 'Trinitarian Communication'!

To arrive at this conclusion I broke down the discussion into two categories, one on tongues and the other on the spirits, in which setting a 'Primacy of First Mention' verse or verses came to aid in establishing a proper plumbline to separate truth from error in both instances.

First we will examine the use of tongues. The most obvious verse to use at the 'first mention' is Acts 2:4; the speaking in other tongues at Pentecost. Jesus, like the prophet Joel before him, not only prophesied about the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14: 16-17; 15:26; 16: 7-8; Luke 24:49; Acts 1: 4,5,8), but also what would happen when He did come to Jesus' disciples (Mark 16:17). In most English translations, this prophetic verse is cross-referenced with Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6, and I Corinthians 12:10, 28, and 30.

So let us look at the primacy verse; "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." We get three points from this plumbline verse:

1) The person speaking had to be Baptized in the Holy Spirit.

2) The 'other' tongues were real languages of the known world.

3) It was the Holy Spirit who gave the gift as He determined. (I Corinthians 12:11)

All other references to 'tongues' must be able to match this standard.

Automatically we can include the aforementioned cross-referenced verses from Jesus' prophecy in Mark 16:17. We then look to those verses for any further references and in the NIV with Acts 2:4, we come up with verse 11 as well. In the NKJV we also find I Corinthians 13:1 as a direct cross-reference, and from there it cross-references with I Corinthians 14:1, 39.

While the NIV did not cross-reference Acts 2:4 with I Corinthians 13:1, the NKJV did, and in doing so actually raised the bar by comparing it directly to the plumbline. With this we must interpret this verse as men and angels having the same language, and Scripture bears this out. Time and time again, from Abraham and Lot's conversations with angels (Genesis 18, 19) to the conversations the Apostle John had with angelic beings recorded in Revelation (more than 20 times!), ALL were conducted in the person's native tongue. So based on the plethora of verses that time and time again showing angels speaking with humans in the tongue of humans, there is no support for angels having a distinctly different language. Paul, being a learned man of the Scriptures knew this and if there was a distinction to be made he would have used 'or' instead of 'and' ("If I speak in the tongues of men OR angels..."), but alas, he did not.

There are, however, a couple of caveats to consider. First, if angels did have a different language, but yet could converse with humans in each every one's native tongue, their language would logically have to be a root language (like Latin is to Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, etc.) that ALL languages were based on. In I Corinthians 13:8, it speaks of tongues, prophecy, and knowledge all coming to an end, as verse 10 explains; "But when the perfect comes, the imperfect disappears". This does not mean we will not communicate, but rather in a more 'perfect' way; say, the same way it was in the 'perfect' Garden of Eden, it will be again when all is restored. What some call the 'Adamic' language that was spoken on earth up to the 'Tower of Babel' (Genesis 11) will be once more. There is no reason to think that if angels were speaking that language then, that they would have had any reason to cease from using it themselves. This also puts to rest the belief (if our private prayer language is an angelic language) that the devil and his minnons could not understand it, they ALL understood the 'Adamic' language, after all, his minnons were angels themselves once, and it was Satan who decieved Eve.

The second caveat to consider is that Paul may have been simply speaking in hyperbole and nothing more. On two other occassions in this same letter he does just that. Some would look to Paul's statement in I Corinthians 14:5; "I would like every one of you to speak in tongues..." as an indication of the importance of tongues to Paul, but to that tact on this verse you would also have to equally thin it as important that everyone remain single!

1 Corinthians 7:7a (New International Version)

I wish that all men were as I am.

So as the verse about angels is more than likely hyperbole, so too are these passages.

Likewise the passages in I Corinthians 14 that are indirectly cross-referenced with Acts 2:4 are held to the standard of the tongues being real languages, it is not surprising that most verses are not cross-referenced, because Paul is speaking of something different here. He uses two forms of the word in this chapter and nowhere else in his writings. He seems to be distinguishing between real (plural) and unknown languages (singular), giving credence to the likes of John MacCarthur who believe he is speaking of gibberish, a hold-over from the pagan days of the Corinthian believers lives; estatic speech that pre-date Christ by nearly 200 years or more. This is further bolstered by the sometimes overly descriptive Amplified Version using the word [strange] at times were most other translations us the singular.

Even if Paul was not referring to the historicity of the Corithian culture, he is consistently hammering the point home to the reader that this type of tongue is not edifying (vv. 2, 4-6, 13, 17, 19) and therefore is wrong or wrongly applied in the assembly because earlier in this letter he explained what the 'gifts' are to be used for, "for the common good." (I Corinthians 12:7) The Amplified Version's reading of Chapter 14, verse 26 gives further credence that he is being corrective with this portion of the letter; "What then brethren is [the right course]? He answers his own question in the final sentence of the verse; "[but] let EVERTHING be constructive and edifying and for the good of all." His most stinging rebuke of this practice in the Corinthian Church comes in verses 9 and 10.

I Corinthians 14:9-10 (New International Version)

So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.

Some would say that Paul practiced this himself, so how couold he then be speaking against it. All the more since Paul KNEW the 'right way', and if there were those who were doing it the 'right way' along with those who were stuck in their paganism, both were wrong for doing it in the assembly without interpretation! However the verses most often quoted as proof Paul had this 'private prayer language' comes from verses 14 and 15. But Paul in verse 14 is no acknowledging this, rather he is making a hypothetical statement. How can I be sure? Well, he follows this immediately with a question on what to do about it. If verse 14 was not problematical for him, why would he need to ask a question that seeks a remedy? (v. 15a) It is the second half of the verse that gives us his answer on how he would pray, not in a tongue, but in his spirit and his mind (v.15b), which is exactly opposite to the ecstatic speech of pagan worship, full of mindless chatter.

Let us not forget that Paul drives the point home that he speaks in tongues more than anyone (v.18), but would rather instruct others with intelligible words than do that (v.19), and immediately calls on his Corithinan brothers to stop acting like children! (v.20) If a 'private prayer language' is what is being referred to here, Paul is certainly not looking at it in a positive light by referring to those who use it as immature! Looking back to Paul's example of how he would do it ("I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind"), he gives us a perfect jumping off point to now look at the second part of this, 'praying in the spirit'.

...more to come, and here it is...

In New Testament times, the first mention of this concept seems to be rendered by Jesus in His conversation with the woman at the well (John 4: 1-26). Jesus tells the Samaritan;

John 4:23-24 (New International Version)

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Is this referring to a 'private prayer language'? In order to answer this question we must also look at what has to be considered the plumbline for prayer in the New Testament; how Jesus taught His disciples to pray.

Matthew 6:5-15 (New International Version)

Prayer

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For 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."

Luke 11:1-13 (New International Version)

Jesus' Teaching on Prayer

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

He said to them, "When you pray, say: " 'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.' "

Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

"Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Nothing here about using a different language. Bibles printed in Greek, use Greek words in these passages. English Bibles, English words, Spanish Bibles, Spanish words (I checked, I own all three!). So then what is worshiping or praying in spirit and truth? I believe Jesus answered this question in the very next verse.

"God is Spirit", said Jesus. Unlike the gods of the pagans that are idols that are prayed to; the One True God is spirit, so mwe must pray to Him in the same way. Not to statues that suppose His likeness, but to Him who is spirit and unseen by man (John 1:18; 6:46). Just as well you do not have to go to a particular place in a particular city to pray to Him (The Samaritan woman said, "You Jews claim we must worship in Jerusalem"), but rather in spirit it can be done anywhere, at anytime, in anyway, and Jesus' preference eas for us to be alone and in secret (Matthew 6:6).

Taking another look at I Corinthians 14:2, certainly sounds like it could be speaking of a 'private prayer language', but this is a bit problematical when compared to the plumbline established by Jesus. However the NIV gives us a clue to this mystery as it shows an alternate way of translating the second sentence of verse 2:

I Corinthians 14:2 (New International Version)

For anyone who speaks in a tongue^{a]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries ...^b]"

^{b.Or by the Spirit}

This alternate is also included in the Amplified Version;

I Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified Bible)

For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding].

Now we are getting somewhere!

This alternate translation causes this verse to be a better fit with already cross-referenced verses in Romans 8:23, 26-27, as well as I Corinthians 2: 10-16. Even closer to the plumbline of John 4: 23-24 is another cross-referenced verse to these;

Ephesians 6:17-18 (New International Version)

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Praying in spirit and in truth could not be much clearer here.

So praying in the spirit is quite Biblical when understood in its proper context, yet that is still not quite what is going on in Chapter 14. As I mentioned earlier, I am sure there were believers in Corinth who were 'doing it the right way' compared with others that were still allowing themselves to be swept up in gibberish that was a hold over from their pre-Christian days, so yes a 'private prayer language' may be partially in view here, but it is not our own. It is when we try to make it ours that we (and the Corinth believers then) go wrong. How is that? The answer can best be explained by Scripture in Romans 8. From these verses it will become clear whose 'private prayer language' we are talking about.

First look to verse 11, it is God's Spirit that lives in us. Verse 16 tells us that God's Spirit communicates with our spirit. Verse 23 tells us that our spirit 'groans inwardly' as we wait for the fullness to come (and to whom does it groan inwardly?). Finally verse 26 shows us how the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us with 'groans (to the Father) that words cannot express'.

So our spirit communicates to the Holy Spirit (groaning inwardly) so when we don't know what to pray for in our spirit ot God, the Holy Spirit speaks to the Father and Son with groans in a language we do not understand! This is best examplified in the Amplified Versions rendition of the second half of I Corinthians 14:2;

For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding].

Now apply this to those difficult verses of Chapter 14. Verse 2 properly understood is that sometimes these 'groans' are verbalized in an unintelligible language (I have heard this many, many times with my own ears from others, and I prefer to believe that it is sincere and not gibberish), it is an audible version of the 'private prayer language' within the Godhead; Trinitarian Communication!

Verse 4; when this happens, is it self-edifying? You bet! I remember the first time it happened to me, I felt like I was still in control of my body but yet something was coming out of me that I was not producing, and I was thinking, 'WOW! This is so cool!'

Paul says in verse 13 that you should pray for an interpretation because only the Godhead would know what is being said, and no man with the gift of interpretation (of real languages) would be able to do so. That is why Paul makes a hypothetical statement in verse 14, because he knows it is either the Holy Spirit who is communicating or is some pagan gibberish, so when he is praying he prays as he explains in verse 15.

With this, a word of caution comes from what can be drawn out of verse 17; "You may be giving thanks well enough..." The implication is that you may not be as well. If you feel in control of your body when this is happening, it will be the Holy Spirit, remembering that God is a God of order, not confusion (I Corinthians 14:33), and you can be assurred that this is positive communication. However, if you feel as if your body has been 'taken over', beware, it may not be of God and therefore could be cursing instead of blessing.

Finally, seeing this in the proper light of Trinitarian Communication, if it begins to happen in the assembly and no interpretation follows, you must keep quiet and speak to God in silence (I Corinthians 14:28). I am sure there were cases in Corinth as there are today where people attempt to manifest these things outwardly in their own effort, and this verse is designed to keep those in check. If it is truly the Holy Spirit, He would not communicate with the Father and Son in a manner that goes against His Word, because again as verse 33 states;

I Corinthians 14:33a (New International Version)

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

May the peace of the Lord be with you on this day,

Bondservant