Tag Archives: Pentecost

Speaking in Tongues – Part II

Posted on by under Article

026_la_times       In lesson one of this series we examined the purpose of speaking in tongues.  It was observed that the apostles spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost in order to confirm the word of God and to allow each man to hear the word in his native language so he could hear and understand.  Having covered the purpose for tongues let us now move on to the duration of spiritual gifts, most especially the gift of speaking in tongues.  In this lesson, we will answer the question of whether men still speak in tongues today.

      For the answer to this question, we turn back to Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth.  In dealing with the importance and longevity of love, Paul states that prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish away (1 Cor. 13:8).  This is all in reference to miraculous gifts of the spirit that were given to the first century Christians to guide them.  These gifts guided them in part, for each prophecy or tongue spoken or gift of miraculous knowledge imparted to them a part of God’s will, but not the full and complete will of God.  These gifts of partial knowledge were to continue until that which is perfect or complete would come, and then they would be done away with (1 Cor. 13:9-10).  Thus, we must consider what is meant by that which is perfect/complete.

       There are some who claim that Jesus is that which is perfect, and that these gifts, which include speaking in tongues, will continue until the second coming of Christ.  How does that idea stand up to the context of the passage?  Paul goes on to give several illustrations to clarify his message of the temporary nature of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 13:11-12).  The first is the comparison of a child and an adult.  A child knows some things, but does not have the more complete knowledge of an adult.  It is difficult to see how this illustration relates to the coming of Christ.  The second illustration refers to a mirror, which in Paul’s day was a polished piece of metal that did not reflect much detail, and being able to see one’s appearance as if seeing face to face.  The third illustration has to do with having partial knowledge now, but when that which is perfect has come that knowledge will be complete.  Again these illustrations do not make sense if this is the second coming of Christ, because why would we need a more complete knowledge of God’s will after the end of time and the second coming of Jesus?  We need that perfect or complete knowledge of God’s will while we are still alive and able to repent.

       However, the illustrations given by Paul make perfect sense if that which is complete refers to the complete revelation of God’s will in the written New Testament.  These first century Christians did not have the complete written revelation of God, but needed prophecy, tongues, and miraculous knowledge in order to know God’s will in the interim period before the completion of the scriptures.  Once the completed word of God was available in its written form, those things that were done in part were no longer needed.  In Paul’s later writing to Timothy, he tells him that all scripture is given by God so that man may complete, thoroughly furnished for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  For man to be complete and thoroughly furnished there can be nothing that he still lacks.  Therefore, that which is perfect or complete, which will bring about the end of the partial miraculous gifts including tongue speaking, was the completed revelation of scripture, which we have in the New Testament.

       Because that which is perfect or complete has come in the writing of the New Testament scriptures, that which was done in part was done away with.  Therefore we can know for sure that miraculous prophecy, speaking in tongues, and miraculous knowledge have been done away with since the early part of the second century when the scriptures were completed.  In the third and final part of this series, we will consider God’s rules for the use of speaking in tongues.

Speaking in Tongues – Part 1

Posted on by under Article

thUHU0FK12     There is much confusion in the religious world over the issue of tongue speaking, and there are many questions one could ask about this subject.  Just what is tongue speaking?  How is it a miracle?  What was the purpose for speaking in tongues?  Do people still speak in tongues today?  Did God specify any rules for the use of tongue speaking?  Since this topic is broad and large, let us examine the issue of speaking in tongues in three lessons.  The first lesson will deal with the purpose of tongue speaking.

     We are introduced to tongue speaking in Acts 2.  On the day of Pentecost, when Peter opened the door to the kingdom of the church, we see that the apostles spoke in tongues.  Here the purpose of tongue speaking is two fold.  First, the purpose of this miracle was to confirm that the words spoken by Peter and the other apostles were the words of God.  The purpose of all miracles was to confirm the word (Mark 16:20).  The miracle performed by the apostles was that they spoke in foreign languages, which they had never studied.  The apostles were not learned men; they were simple folk from Galilee.  Indeed their speaking in tongues amazed and astonished the crowd (Acts 2:7, 12).  We might also note here that there were approximately 17 different nationalities present in Jerusalem (Acts 2:9-11), who would have had 11 different native languages.  Therefore, there were just enough apostles to speak these 11 languages.  In this example we can see the wisdom and foresight of God.

     Secondly, the purpose of speaking in tongues was that each was able to hear the word in their own native tongue.  In this way each person present was able to understand what the apostles were saying.  They were all speaking languages that were known to man, and not just speaking gibberish that no one could understand.  We will dive into this issue a bit more in lesson three of this series regarding God’s rules for tongue speaking.  It was important for men to hear and understand the word of God during this time period, because the New Testament had yet to be written.  Paul describes 9 various spiritual gifts in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 12:8-10).  These gifts were given so that the early disciples would know the will of the Lord.  One of the problems in Corinth was that they had elevated the gift of tongue speaking above the other more important spiritual gifts, such as prophecy, and they were using their gift to show off in front of others.  This caused a lack of edification of the group, which is also part of the purpose of spiritual gifts so that all can hear and understand.

     We can see that the purpose of tongues was to confirm the words of the apostles and to aid men in their hearing and understanding of God’s will for man.  In the next lesson, we will examine the duration of tongue speaking and spiritual gifts to answer the question of whether men still speak in tongues today.