Hard Questions: Speaking in Tongues

The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1–4

Acts 2:1-4 “1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

The apostles shared the gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages. The crowds were amazed: “we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” ” (Acts 2:11).

The Greek word translated “tongues” literally means “languages.”

Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language the speaker has never learned in order to minister to someone who does speak that language.

In 1 Corinthians 12—14 Paul discusses miraculous gifts, saying, “1 Corinthians 14:6 “6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?”

According to the apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his or her own language, but it is useless to everyone else unless it is interpreted/translated.

1 Corinthians 12:30 “30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?”

A person with the gift of interpreting tongues could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language being spoken.

The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand.

1 Corinthians 14:13 “13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.”

Paul’s conclusion regarding tongues that were not interpreted is powerful:

1 Corinthians 14:19 “19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” Is the gift of tongues for today?

1 Corinthians 13:8 “8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”

First Corinthians 13:8 mentions the gift of tongues ceasing, although it connects the ceasing with the arrival of the “perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10.

1 Corinthians 13:10 “10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”

Some also point to passages such as Isaiah 28:11

Isaiah 28:11 “11 For with stammering lips and another tongue Will he speak to this people.”

Joel 2:28-29 “28 And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids In those days will I pour out my spirit.”

as evidence that speaking in tongues was a sign of God’s oncoming judgment.

1 Corinthians 14:22 “22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.”

First Corinthians 14:22 describes tongues as a “sign to unbelievers.”

Using this verse, cessationists argue that the gift of tongues was a warning to the Jews that God was going to judge Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah.

Therefore, when God did in fact judge Israel (with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70), the gift of tongues no longer served its intended purpose.

This view is also possible, but the primary purpose of tongues being fulfilled does not necessarily demand the gift’s cessation. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased.

If the Gift of Tongues Were Active Today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture

1. It would be a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10).

I Corinthians 14:10 “10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.”

2. It would be for the purpose of communicating God’s Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6–12).

Acts 2:6-12 “6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?”

3. It would be exercised in the church in agreement with the command God gave through Paul,

“If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. 28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.” ” (1 Corinthians 14:27–28).

4. It would also be in accordance with 1 Corinthians 14:33,

1 Corinthians 14:33 “33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

God can definitely give a person the gift of speaking in tongues to enable him or her to communicate with a person who speaks another language.

The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the dispersion of the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11).

1 Corinthians 12:11 “11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”

Just imagine how much more productive missionaries could be if they did not have to go to language school and were instantly able to speak to people in their own language.

However, God does not seem to be doing this.

Tongues does not seem to occur today in the manner it did in the New Testament, despite the fact that it would be immensely useful.

Those who claim to practice the gift of speaking in tongues do not do so in agreement with the Scriptures mentioned above.

These facts lead to the conclusion that the gift of tongues has ceased.