What the Bible teaches about Speaking in Tongues
This is one spiritual gift about which there has been so much controversies and confusion in Christendom, especially in Pentecostal churches. Today we see a lot of people who claim to be speaking in tongues but all we hear from them is babble. In some of the churches, they teach their converts how to speak in tongues. In some others, no one speaks in tongues. This article seeks to bring out the biblical perspectives of this spiritual gift also known as gift of tongues or glossolalia.
Meaning of Tongues
The word “tongue” (Greek: “glossa”) is defined in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon as (1) the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech; (2a) the language or dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations.
In the original Greek texts, glossa is used 50 tines, including Acts 2:3,4,11. In verses 4 and 11, the second meaning applies. So “other tongues” (v. 4) and “our tongues” (v. 11) mean existing and known language or dialect of other peoples or nations not previously learnt by the first Christians who spoke in the languages in Acts 2. These Christians were Galileans who, prior to that day of the feast of Pentecost, never learnt the foreign languages. They were divinely enabled by God to speak in them. In verse 6, it is said that everyone heard them speak in his own language.
The Jews who were born in foreign lands and their foreign converts to Judaism (proselytes) – from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Egypt, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Crete, Libya, Rome, etc, (vv. 8-12) had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. They were amazed to hear the about 120 Christians speak to them in the languages of these nations.
The “other tongues” are not the meaningless or unintelligible sounds which my fellow Pentecostals make in churches and fellowships today to show that they’ve been anointed with the holy spirit. In todays Christianity, most of those who speak in tongues are doing nothing more than uttering babbles or gibberish. They are incapable of doing what God did through the first tongue-talker in Num. 22:28,30 – the donkey that spoke in human tongue. God again did it in Jerusalem as He had promised in Mark 16:17. My fellow Pentecostals have been unable to speak in existing, known languages like it happened in Acts 2, neither have they been able to interpret any of the so-called tongues which they often incantate as a sign of their spirituality. This makes it hard for us to accept their claim of speaking in languages of heaven or of angels. If you don’t have the gift of speaking in other earthly languages, who gave you the gift of speaking in heavenly language while you are here on planet Earth? God is not a God of confusion but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). God will not make you speak in heavenly language when you are here on earth.
Speaking in Tongues is a Spiritual Gift
One of the spiritual gifts people get from God is the gift of speaking in tongues. In 1 Cor. 12:7-11 Apostle Paul listed nine spiritual gifts one of which is “speaking in different kinds of tongues” (v. 10). In verses 28-30 Paul said:
“And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?”
(1 Cor. 12:28-30 NIV).
It is evident from this passage that every Christian can be filled with the holy spirit but everyone cannot have the gift of speaking in tongues; only those gifted with the ability to speak in tongues can do so. This has exposed the error in the Pentecostal and Charismatic groups where everyone is taught to speak in tongues. God’s spiritual gifts are given by God according to His own will (1 Cor. 12:11; Heb. 2:4). They are not acquired by being taught by men. Whenever you see everyone in a church uttering babbles in what they call praying or speaking in tongues, know that they are are in error and confusion. Apostle Paul said further:
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be by two or at the most three, and each one in turn, and one is to interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he is to keep silent in church; and have him speak to himself and to God.”
(1 Cor. 14:27-28 NASB2020).
It is interesting to note that in the tongue-talking churches, no one is ever seen interpreting the tongues. This makes us know that the “tongues” are likely to be counterfeits.
Meaning of Unknown Tongue
The words “unknown tongue” is used six times in 1 Cor. 14. What did Paul mean by the term? Simply put, it is any language not previously learnt by the speaker. It is not the babbles or gibberish that is called “tongue” in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches today.
Did Paul Speak The Tongues of Angels?
In 1 Cor. 13:1 Paul said, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” (KJV).
Did Paul say here that he spoke in the tongues of angels? The answer is emphatic NO! The apostle was making illustrations to emphasize the fact that having and exercising the nine gifts without having genuine love for God and fellow humans profits nothing.
It should be noted that Paul didn’t say he has become a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal (v. 1). He didn’t say he knew all mysteries and have all knowledge (v. 2). He didn’t say he gave away all his possessions to charity (v. 3). Neither did he say he gave his body to be burnt (v. 3). The same way, he didn’t say in verse 1 that he could speak all the languages of the earth and of angels. All he was saying was that even if he had the enablement to speak all human languages and of angels, that would still amount to nothing without agape love in his heart. The apostle did not say he could speak angelic language(s). When therefore people say they are speaking in heavenly or angelic languages when they speak in tongues, they simply show they don’t understand what Paul has taught in this place. See 2 Pet. 3:16.
Should We Still Speak In Tongues Today?
The apostle Paul said:
“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”
(I Cor. 13:8-10, 12 NKJV, emphasis added by me).
Here, Paul said tongues will cease (v. 8). When will tongues cease? Have tongues ceased? From the immediate context, the apostle said it will happen “when the perfect comes,” “when we see [who?] face to face.”
Some Bible scholars say that what Paul wrote in verse 8 was fulfilled when the last book of the New Testament was written in the middle of the first century. They say that was when a perfect knowledge of God was revealed making prophecies and tongues to cease. These scholars who have been named cessationists say prophecies and tongues are no longer needed in the church after then. Hence they ceased on their own. But the problem with their conclusion is that there is nothing in Paul’s writing to suggest the conclusion of the New Testament canon as the time of the fulfillment of verse 8. But the context talks of the coming of the perfect [one or age], when our knowledge of God and His Christ will become perfect. Paul said we will see [someone] face to face and we shall know him perfectly just as he has already known us perfectly.
The only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from verses 8-13 is that Paul had in mind the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect one. When he comes, we will see him face to face and our knowledge of him and of God will become complete. Compare what Paul wrote here in verses 8-13 with what John wrote in 1 John 3:2 and Rev. 22:4.
When Christ returns to establish God’s kingdom here on earth, our knowledge of him and of God will be complete. In his kingdom, tongues will cease because there is the likelihood of a reversion to a one world language which was the experience prior to Nimrod’s tower of Babel project (Gen. 11:7-9).
Until the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, all the nine spiritual gifts, including prophecies and tongues, will continue to be used for the common good of the church.
The Church’s Double Dilemma
The church of today has two problems with regards to the subject under discussion. First, in more than 80 percent of the world’s churches no one speaks in tongues. Is this an affirmation that the gift of tongues has indeed ceased in the church? The answer is an emphatic no! The truth is that today’s churches are full of clergymen and the laity who don’t have the holy spirit in them. And people who don’t have the holy spirit cannot have any of the nine gifts of the spirit.
On the other hand, in the churches where they speak in tongues, you see everyone speaking in tongues at the same time. Their “converts” are taught how to speak in tongues. But Balaam’s donkey (Num. 22:28,30) was not taught to speak human language. Neither were the apostles taught before they spoke in foreign tongues in Acts 2. We know therefore that the tongues they speak in these tongue-speaking churches are spurious. Or to put it mildly, most of the tongues are counterfeit, if indeed there is any that is genuine. The Bible has made it known that no one, besides our Lord Jesus in the flesh, can have all of the gifts (1 Cor. 12:28-30; John 3:34). We see therefore that in any true church of God, everyone can be filled with the holy spirit. But all of them cannot have the gift of tongues. The scriptures cannot be broken.
This problem is worsened by the fact that we have not seen a single interpreter of tongues in the churches where everyone is a tongue speaker. We need not emphasize the fact that God will give the gift of interpretation of tongues to at least someone among those whom He has gifted with tongues. The fact that we have not seen any interpreter of tongues in the tongue-speaking churches puts a huge question mark on their claim to having the gift of tongues.
What Our Churches Must Do
If we say that today’s churches are not inundated with denominational dogmas we lie to ourselves. The church has, in many ways, strayed away from the true teachings of the Bible. I think we need to acknowledge the fact that we have departed from the true faith (Luke 18:8; 1 Tim. 4:1-2), repent of our denominational pride and prejudices, humble ourselves and begin to study the scriptures with a heart devoid of preconceived ideas and traditions, dogmas and bigotry. The church is moving about with a false knowledge of the truth. That is one reason the church is now barren of the Pentecostal power seen in the pristine church and, consequently, seeking for power from sources outside God. It is to our own loss and shame.
The present situation where one man, usually the founder or senior pastor, is the prophet, pastor, evangelist, teacher, preacher, author of all materials used in the church, et al, is not doing the church any good. In all those churches, many gifts are ignored and unused. These leaders become the god of their churches. What they say take the place of the Bible. Many people in those churches remain as perpetual infants, even dummies. This is the sad reality in many American and African churches.
