Speaking In Tongues

The standard Christian never experiences the phenomena known as “speaking in tongues.” Speaking in tongues is an experience that the denominational and non-denominational Charismatic, or “Pentecostal,” alike endeavors to have. In fact, many Pentecostals believe that the validity of their salvation is based upon their experience speaking in tongues.

However, the practice of tongues-speaking is one that is easily demonstrated from Scripture as a temporary, even limited, gift of the Holy Spirit. And, by demonstrating that it is not a gift that God is giving today, it will free many who are worried that they have not participated in the experience.

How Do We Define Speaking In Tongues?

Broadly speaking, the practice of speaking in tongues comes from a handful of verses in the Bible which allude to, or directly teach, that the ability to speak in languages one has never learned is given to some. Some modern denominations have taken those handful of verses and claimed them as standard experience.

One Pentecostal theology textbook states regarding prayer in tongues,

“Prayer in tongues is normal for a Spirit-filled Christian. Believers are commanded thus to pray: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit …” (Eph. 6:18). (See also Eph 5:18, 19.)Prayer in the Spirit promotes a deepening of the prayer life and the spiritual development of the personality.”

The writer asserts that tongues, as used in prayer, is normal. It is normal, that is, if you are “spirit-filled.” This behavior, he says, “promotes a deepening of the prayer life and the spiritual development of the personality.” The description here is something we all want. Every true believer wishes for a more profound prayer life and to grow in the Spirit of God. However, what this writer is equating that with is not the means to accomplish spiritual maturity.

Speaking in tongues is introduced to the reader of the Bible in Acts 2:3ff. The small group of apostles and disciples were gathered together in the room in which Jesus and the Twelve had their final meal (Acts 1:13; cf. Luke 22:12-13). It was the 50th day after the Passover, a day known as Pentecost. “Pentecost” means “fifty” and it was the Old Testament celebration of the early harvest. The celebration was to occur seven weeks and one day after the Passover, and, therefore, was also called “The Feast of Weeks.”

This cycle of celebrations (Passover, Pentecost, etc.), of course, would bring thousands of Jewish pilgrims to the city of Jerusalem. The occasion would certainly be even more acute due to the events of the illegal trial and execution of the popular Prophet, Jesus of Nazareth. The pilgrims attending that particular Passover/Pentecost festival cycle would have received the unique experience of witnessing the death of the Son of God.

The situation was perfect for the proclamation of the gospel in the languages of the pilgrims from many nations. The list of 15 known grammatical languages is given in Acts 2:9-11. The record of Scripture is that people were astounded that these men and women gathered together in the Upper Room were all testifying to Jesus of Nazareth among the attendees in those particular languages. This scene gives us the backdrop for understanding “speaking in tongues” properly.

What Is the Purpose of Speaking In Tongues?

To speak in tongues is to speak fluently in a known, grammatical language that a person has never learned. It is a phenomena that only has occurred once in recorded history and that was after the ascension of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. There is no record of Jesus speaking in a different language He did not know. There is no record of any Old Testament person, or prophet, miraculously communicating in a language He did not know.

The only record of anyone speaking in a known, grammatical language he has never spoken or learned is found in the pages of the book of Acts. First Corinthians 12-14 indicates that Paul spoke in a different language often, but the actual experience is not recorded, only that he did it. Where and when he spoke in tongues/languages is not recorded outside of 1 Corinthians. He did not write of this feat in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, or any other letter. Further, other writers of the New Testament did not experience, or record speaking in tongues either. Luke, the companion of Paul, wrote the largest volume of words of the New Testament. He is the author of Acts and the gospel by his name. And yet, except for Acts 2, 10, and 19, he has no record of speaking in foreign languages. Peter doesn’t record the practice. Neither does Jude or even the Apostle John. Therefore, it is clear that speaking in an alien language is a very infrequent in the New Testament.

This helps us to realize what Paul meant when he gave a clear explanation for speaking in foreign languages previously never learned. It is this:

1 Corinthians 14:21–22 (LSB)

21 In the Law it is written, “BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,” says the Lord.

22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign not to unbelievers but to those who believe.

All experiences in the New Testament of speaking in a foreign language come from this purpose statement. Paul is quoting Isaiah 28:11 and in that context, the prophet is excoriating the tribe of Ephraim in the region of Judea for their drunkenness and failed justice. Assyria has invaded and conquered Israel in the north , and their threat to Judah (and Ephraim) in the south is coming. Since the incompetent leadership of Ephraim is refusing to listen to the Word of God through the prophets and the Law of Moses, and consequently speaking spiritual gibberish by making up their own doctrine, God will send a people whose language is gibberish and unintelligible to them for judgment against them.

But, the confounded speech promised to Israel is not limited to the historical event of Assyria’s sack of Israel. It is an open-ended judgment that Yahweh promises to Israel because of their continued refusal to hear the prophets and the Word.

Therefore, Paul’s explanation is that this phenomenon is a sign to unbelieving Jews. It is a continued judgment upon the mocking Jews of Isaiah’s day, and the mocking Jews of Paul’s day, especially in light of the death of the Messiah at their hands. Paul’s instruction for speaking in foreign languages is clear: God is speaking to the Jews in a language which is unintelligible to them, but normal to the Gentiles. That is to say, just as Jesus spoke in parables in order to hide the truth of the Kingdom from the hardened Jews, God is speaking in foreign languages to further keep the Word from them. That is not to say that they spoke in tongues exclusively to the Jews since many Jews came to Christ during the Apostolic Age. And, it is clear that not everyone in the Corinthian church spoke in foreign languages. However, it is to say that the Jews, well versed in Isaiah, should have recognized what was happening and thus call upon YHWH, their God, and repent.

Are Tongues for Today?

The natural question, then, runs this way:

If speaking in unlearned foreign languages is a sign against the Jews, then can we continue this practice today?

The direct answer is “no.”

The disciples speaking in unlearned languages before the Jews at the time of the apostles is a sign. All the events of the Bible identified as “signs” are temporary, and purpose-specific. The signs of the prophets Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and various other prophets of the Old Testament were immediate and temporary. The signs of Jesus were also immediate to their local purpose, and temporary. The signs of the apostles followed suit.

The temporal nature of the sign of tongues is explained by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:10.

1 Corinthians 13:8–10 (LSB)

8 Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

In the context of love, which is the superior means of edification for the church, Paul refers to the practice of speaking in foreign languages. He also refers to the gifts of prophecy and the gift of knowledge. These three sign gifts are singled out by the apostle simply due to their abuse among the Corinthians. The language Paul uses here indicates that the signs of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge, as gifts given by the Holy Spirit, represent the temporal nature of all the sign gifts. Included in that list is the sign of speaking in tongues.

The same Paul who wrote that he wishes all the Corinthians spoke in foreign languages, but even more that they would prophesy, is the same Paul who wrote that once the completed revelation of God came, which he refers to as the “perfect,” there would no longer be a need for these signs. Partial, and immediate signs of the work of God will give way to the permanent record of the work of God in the Word of God.

Conclusion 

What should we make of all those who affirm that they speak in tongues, then? Well, it should be obvious that whatever they are doing, it is not from the Spirit of God since the sign gift of tongues has ceased. They may be acting purely suggestively from outside pressures, it may be an act for money, or, worse, it may be a counterfeit sign which Satan, the great deceiver, is doing through them.