Question:
Dear Greg,
What
do you believe the Bible says about certain gifts of the Spirit, especially
tongues? Are tongues still a gift
that’s being given today? Are
tongues really evidence that we are baptized in the Holy Spirit?
Does God want everybody in the whole world to speak in tongues?
Can you quote Scripture references?
Thank
you, Greg. I hope you don’t think
I’m stupid.
Todd
Answer: Dear Todd,
No,
I do not think you are stupid. MANY
people ask similar questions. While
there are records of people speaking in tongues in the book of Acts, the primary
teaching we have about the gift of tongues is found in 1 Corinthians 14.
Are tongues still being
given as a gift today? Christians
differ on this question. Most
Christians are cessationists—they believe that two of the gifts mentioned
prominently in the New Testament—physical healing and tongues—ceased to be
given to the church not long after the first century.
They come to this conclusion on the basis of the history of Christianity
after the first century. In fact,
the gift of tongues was not in evidence at all for the vast majority of the
history of the church—and is a fairly modern reoccurrence.
While
I would generally agree with cessationists, for many reasons, I would not go so
far as to say that God does not, and has not, imparted the gift of tongues to
anyone today—or yesterday, for that matter.
I believe that God can do whatever he wants.
I believe that the gift of tongues has been and can be a gift from God.
I also believe that some who say that they have been given the gift of
tongues have not been—they are fabricating this gift.
Another
question: are tongues the evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit?
No, I do not agree—for this kind of interpretation leads to
triumphalism, the idea that some Christians are better than others are.
Some who believe that they have been given the gift of tongues teach that
the gift of tongues is the evidence of either conversion or a “second
infilling”. A “second
infilling” is a deeper conversion, a deeper spirituality that only those who
speak in tongues experience. I
believe such claims to be unbiblical, vain, proud and nonsense.
Does
God want everyone to speak in tongues? Apparently
not--not from the fact that most Christians alive today do not speak in tongues,
and for that matter, we have no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the vast
majority of Christians who ever lived spoke in tongues.
In
Christ,