"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness;" - 2 Timothy 3:16
Image from Christianity Today/Joshua Wood
In recent times, the phrase “speaking in tongues” has taken an “elite” stigma. Many argue that tongues have ceased, while others hold firmly to the opposite. This article intends to answer the following questions: what does it mean to speak in tongues? Am I saved if I don’t speak in tongues? Are tongues a heavenly language? These questions are as relevant today as they were in the times of the early churches.
What does it mean to speak in tongues?
The word “tongue” originates from the old English tunge, and it refers to an organ of speech, a people’s language. In the Old Testament, we read that God confuses the language of men as they set out to build a tower that reached heaven, “… let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth.” (Gen. 11:4). They intended to enhance their fame and in doing so, disobey God and take glory for themselves. As a consequence, God confused their language, and the name “babel,” which is the Hebrew verb for “to confuse,” illustrates that end.
There is a genuine gift of speaking in tongues, given by God to the early church. This gift served as a sign to confirm or authenticate the truth of the gospel. From the passages we will look at, it's clear that this gift involved speaking in real, known languages.
Speaking in tongues is a special ability given by the Holy Spirit. It serves as a message for believers and a sign for unbelievers, aiming to build up the Church and support ministry under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, ultimately bringing glory to God. In Matthew 28:19, when Christ commands His disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations," He acknowledges that different nations have different languages. Christ enabled His disciples to fulfill this command by empowering them to preach the gospel to people of various languages and cultures.
Am I saved if I don’t speak in tongues?
In 1 Corinthians 12, Apostle Paul addresses spiritual gifts as he writes to the church in Corinth. “Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.” The false religion in Corinth had resulted in counterfeit spiritual manifestations, causing some Christians to doubt their faith. Paul’s aim in that letter was to distinguish spiritual gifts from the mystical experiences the Corinthians were used to while they were still pagans, such as their desire for sensuality and feeling (v. 2). Paul wanted to correct some of the same doctrinal misunderstandings facing today’s church.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gift of healing by the one Spirit…to another various kinds of tongues. (1 Cor. 12:7-10)
Not every Christian will have the gift of tongues. Apostle Paul presupposes that there are spiritual gifts, and as part of the body of Christ, our gifts, which can be different, are given to us by the Holy Spirit for the glory of YAHWEH. Making the gift of tongue-speaking a criterion for being saved would be a contradiction to the teachings of the Bible, “for by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). Gifts come after salvation; they are the manifestation of our faith in Christ; they are the consequences of our faith, not the cause—a cause and effect reaction. God saves us and gives us gifts to demonstrate his saving grace. Spiritual gifts have a specific purpose: to edify.
Are tongues heavenly languages?
The first two verses of 1 Corinthians 13: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” have become the key verses “tongue-speaking” advocates point to as evidence of there being a heavenly language, perhaps, deliberately neglecting the presence of the if clause. Two observations: first, in the phrase “heavenly language”—with language referring to a tongue, we can conclude that there is nothing mystic about tongue, it is a known language. Second, to the question of it being heavenly, Acts 2 gives a remarkable explanation that dismantles any misconception. The if clause presupposes a hyperbole which creates emphasis or exaggeration, in other words, he says: even if I had all of this and still have no love, it would all be meaningless, going back to the point that spiritual gifts are for the edification of the church—there is nothing personal about it.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly, there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
Just as the sound, like wind, was symbolic, these were not literal flames of fire but supernatural indicators, like fire, that God had sent the Holy Spirit upon each believer. The use of fire is a common scriptural denotation to represent divine presence – Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-6). The last line in verse 4, “speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance,” refers to other known languages that they wouldn’t have been able to speak if it hadn’t been for the Spirit of God. These are known languages, not ecstatic utterances.
Now, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound, the multitude came together, and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his language. And they were amazed, saying, “Are not all these who were speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his native language? (Acts 2:5-8)
Now, let’s observe the setting in Acts 2:5-13. The apostles are in Jerusalem for the Passover (v.5), “devout men from every nation under heaven,” referring to the Hebrew males who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the Pentecost as part of observing the Jewish religious calendar. The apostles hadn’t spoken in those languages before being filled by the Holy Spirit, emphasizing how supernatural it was. Not only are we told that the apostles spoke in other tongues, but we are also told that each person present could understand what the apostles were saying, although they spoke different languages. In verses 7-13, we are given a list (specifically in verses 9 and 10) of the countries and ethnic groups present. The message is a missionary one, the undiluted truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ - "We hear them telling in our tongues the mighty works of God” – then verse 13 underlines that those who didn’t understand the language thought the apostles were drunk but they just lacked the understanding and therefore, it sounded incomprehensible. Something similar happens in Acts 10:45-46:
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles, for they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.
1 Corinthians 14 vs. 1 compares two spiritual gifts: Prophesy and tongues. Both are important, but only one edifies. There is no need for an interpreter when one prophesies because it is done in the language people understand—it edifies the church. In verse 2, “no one understands because there are no interpreters. Therefore, we benefit no one but ourselves.” The fact that no one is there to interpret meant that no one was being edified, and this, in principle, defiles the reason for tongues and any spiritual gift, for that matter. Gifts were/are given by God to us for the benefit of the church (others), not ourselves. When Paul says: “I wish you all spoke in tongues,” he simply meant that he would desire for all to speak in tongues so that the message of the Gospel would get to everyone, even those who speak a different language than us (1 Cor. 14 vs. 5)
To conclude, tongue-speaking isn’t a private, angelic, or heavenly language; it is a sign to unbelievers, not believers, and it is to be spoken only when interpreted. It is meant to edify others, not for our edification. The Gentiles spoke different languages, and God gave the apostles the ability to speak in each of those Gentiles’ dialects as a way of pushing forward the Gospel of Jesus – this further glorified the name of God as the Gentiles understood that God loves them, seeing that He granted His apostles (who did not know these languages before that moment) the ability to speak the language that they understood. Our inability to understand this does put our faith under pressure, we feel incomplete because we don’t have that gift. The gift of tongues was never a criterion for salvation; they were designed to give us further assurance by examining ourselves and our ways; we can tell we are Christians if we bear fruits, just as Jesus said in John 15:2, “Every branch that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” 2 Timothy 4:3 specifically speaks of a generation of people who will not put up with sound doctrine – specifically because it dismantles the falsehood and comfort they are accustomed to; instead, they will search for teachers who tell them what they want to hear. This is the time we are living in, and all indications are pointing to an ever-greater falling away from the truth.
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