When does the baptism of the Holy Spirit take place in the life of the believer?
1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
All believers have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit: "we were all baptized." The baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at salvation and it is something all believers have in common.
Romans 8:9 (NKJV) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Even the carnal Corinthian believers had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is non-experiential, it is a positional work of God. It takes place at salvation. To not have it is to not be saved.
What is the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit? How do you know if someone has been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Faith, believing the gospel, is the evidence. The evidence can't be tongues because tongues are only given to some believers.
1 Corinthians 12:30 (NKJV) Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
The gift of tongues is not universal while baptism is:
1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Unsaved people speak in tongues and they're not baptized with the Holy Spirit. There are manifestations of tongues in Hinduism, Islam, and Mormonism. The fact that tongues is known in so many false religions ought to make us a bit wary of the manifestation. If you want to know if someone has been baptized with the Holy Spirit ask him if he believes the gospel.
I am not questioning the experience of those who say that they speak in tongues, because every experience is genuine. But the test of what is biblical is never experience: Scripture is the authority. It is no good for someone to say, "This happened to me, therefore I know it must be of the Lord," or, "A friend of mine went through such a wonderful experience and he tells me the result in his life has been great blessing, therefore it must be of the Lord." It may be valid; it may be true. Facts are always facts, and you do not need to deny what happens to someone. However, what happens is one thing; the explanation of it is quite another thing. I wouldn't question the experience, but I would question if the experience was the Biblical gift of tongues. If believers judge things on the basis of experience they are certain to fall into the trap of Satan, because that is exactly the basis he uses to deceive. He is always trying to get us to transfer the basis of our action from faith to experience.
As we study this subject of tongues we find that, first of all, there is relatively little said in scripture about tongues. The tremendous emphasis put on tongues today is obviously very disproportionate to the emphasis placed on tongues in the Bible. The word occurs only once in all four of the Gospels. Only three incidents connected with tongues are referred to in the Book of Acts. Paul only referred to tongues in one letter, 1 Corinthians. In many of the other letters to churches dealing with many other problems and attitudes, Paul never mentions tongues. There is no reference to tongues by any of the other New Testament writers or in the Book of Revelation. So you see, there is relatively little emphasis on tongues in the New Testament.
What is the gift of tongues? Let's see if we can answer that question from the Scripture. The subject of tongues is found in three books of the Bible. It is found in Mark 16:17; Acts 2, 10, 19 and in 1 Corinthians 12-14.
Mark 16:17 (NKJV) "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
Here tongues is preceded by the word new, meaning something not previously present. This is a prediction of what will happen at Pentecost.
When we read Mark 16:17 or Acts 10 or 19, or 1 Corinthians 12-14 and read the word, tongues, we have no description in these passages of what the gift is. We can either go somewhere else in the Bible to find a description, definition, or synonym or we can develop a meaning of tongues by what others tell us. This seems to be the norm today, most people have developed their definition of tongues from what others have said about it. There are three predominate views of what tongues are: 1. They are a known human language. 2. They are ecstatic speech, an unknown angelic language, a private prayer language. 3. They can be either of the first two.
What do the Scriptures say? That is what is really important. We have a description of tongues at their first occurrence in Acts 2.
Acts 2:1-8 (NKJV) When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs; we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."
Verse four says, "they began to speak with other tongues." The Greek word that is translated tongues is glossa, which refers to the organ in your mouth or the use of that organ, a language. The Greek word for other is heteros and it means another of a different kind. We could translate this, "they spoke with different languages."
In verses 4 & 11 we have the term glossa and in verses 9 -11 we have a clear explanation of what glossa is, a known human language. Verse 6 & 8 use the Greek word dialektos, translated here as languages. Dialektos is the language or dialect of a country or district. It can be more specific than the general language and refers to inflection and tone. On the day of Pentecost the people heard not only in their own language, but more technically in their own dialect. Both glossa and dialektos refer to known human language. From Acts 2 we have a clear explanation of what this new thing, tongues, was.
Verse 11 says that they began to speak in languages which they had never learned and were preaching the wonderful works of God. This was the ability to communicate in a language not previously learned. Biblically, the gift of tongues is the ability to speak a language that you have never learned. It is not uttering some ecstatic utterance which makes no sense, it is not gibberish, it is not a jargon: it is a known language that is spoken somewhere on earth and can be reduced to writing. It is a known language, that is the point.
The account in Acts 2 leaves no room for questions about this because sixteen languages were mentioned and people who spoke those languages were present. They heard these men speaking in tongues, that is, speaking in languages as the Spirit gave them utterance; and they said to each other, "How is this? Why, these men are Galileans; we can tell by their dress that they are just ignorant fishermen. How is it that all of us have heard them speak in our own tongue---in our own language?" Then the Spirit of God lists sixteen languages from all parts of the earth. This was during the time when the feasts were being celebrated, so there were thousands of strangers in Jerusalem at that time. The amazing thing to me is that the people today who claim to have this gift of languages use a translator when preaching to a foreign audience. Does that make any sense to you?
If the Bible explains something, then we should be very careful not to put a different explanation on what is obviously the same thing. All the uses of tongues in the New Testament (50 of them) refer either to the physical organ in our mouth or to the use of that organ in speaking known human languages.
1 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
In the phrase "different kinds of tongues" the word "kinds" is the Greek word genos, which means a family, or group or a race, or nation. Linguistics uses the term, language families. The reference is to different kinds of languages. Are there families of gibberish?
The word "interpretation" is the Greek word hermeneia which means translation. To translate means to take something in one known language and put it into its equivalent in another known language. The word tongues, glossa, is the same word used in Acts our conclusion should be that it also refers to known human language. The gibberish and ecstatic utterance that we are seeing today is not the Biblical gift of tongues.
Another explanation for ecstatic utterances is classifying them as angelic speech, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1.
1 Corinthians 13:1 (NKJV) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
Some say that this is a reference to angelic tongues. Search the Scriptures: every time an angle talks it uses a known human language. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah understood the angels' speech. In Luke 1:11, 28 and 24:4 angels spoke in a known human language. In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul is using hyperbole. He is exaggerating his point and saying even if I could do these things it wouldn't matter without love. The Biblical gift of tongues was the supernatural ability to speak in a known language that the speaker had never learned.
What was the purpose of the gift of tongues? Was it so we could preach the gospel to foreigners? Not primarily, no. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul provided the only direct statement regarding the specific purpose of the gift of tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:21-22 (NKJV) In the law it is written: "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me," says the Lord. 22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.
Tongues are a sign for unbelievers. If anyone today thinks he has the gift of tongues, he needs to deal with the reality of that statement, and reconsider just what his gift is for. 1 Corinthians 14:21 quotes Isaiah 28:11-12. In 1 Corinthians 14:22 Paul applied the tongues spoken of by Isaiah to the time of the Corinthians: if tongues were a sign in the time of Isaiah, they were still a sign. Tongues were not for believing people, they were for unbelieving people.
1 Corinthians 14:21 speaks of "this people" referring to Israel. Tongues were specifically a sign for unbelieving Israel. Isaiah 28 was a warning of judgement: Israel would hear the tongues of the Assyrians if they rejected Isaiah's message. The Assyrian tongue was a sign of judgment to a generation of Israelites who rejected the word of God. Therefore, Paul explained, tongues are a sign of coming judgment for rejecting Jesus the Messiah and the gospel of grace (cf. Matt. 23:37-38).
Moses gave the following warning in Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 28:49 (NKJV) "The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,
Jeremiah 5:15 (NKJV) Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel," says the LORD. "It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.
In the Old Testament God had clearly pointed out to the people of Israel that when they were going to be judged the sign would be that they would hear a language they couldn't understand. When they began to speak those languages on the day of Pentecost, every Jew should have known that the judgement of God was imminent.
Acts 2:12-16 (NKJV) So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
Peter says, "we are not drunk, what you are seeing is the fulfilment of Joel's prophecy." Then he quotes from Joel.
Acts 2:17-18 (NKJV) 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
The term "last days" describes the period of time between the birth of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem. It refers to the last days of the house of Israel, the last days of the Old Covenant era. Peter didn't say that the miracles of Pentecost were "like" what Joel prophesied, he said that "this was the fulfillment." The last days were here. It was a sign of judgement upon Israel. The term "all flesh" refers to Jews and Gentiles. Israel was being judged and the Gospel taken to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11).
Acts 2:19-21 (NKJV) I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'
Isn't this speaking of a future judgement of the whole world? No! This is prophetic language, speaking of the end of the Old Covenant system and the Nation of Israel. The same type of language is used in:
Isaiah 13:9-10 (NKJV) Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
This is prophesying the fall of Babylon to the Medes.
Isaiah 34:4 (NKJV) All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.
This is prophesying the fall of Edom.
Amos 8:9 (NKJV) "And it shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord GOD, "That I will make the sun go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in broad daylight;
This is prophesying the doom of Samaria.
Ezekiel 32:7-8 (NKJV) When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,' Says the Lord GOD.
This is prophesying the destruction of Egypt. None of these events literally took place. Poetically however, all these things did happen: as far as these wicked nations were concerned "the lights went out." This is simply figurative language, predicting the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. The light of Israel was extinguished, the Old Covenant era was through.
Tongues was primarily a sign of judgement to unbelieving Jews. But secondarily, when tongues were interpreted they edified believers.
1 Corinthians 14:26-28 (NKJV) How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
Verses 27 & 28 tell us that tongues not interpreted don't edify. Therefore if there is no interpretation there is to be no tongues. Are these the same tongues as in Acts 2? Glossa is always used of the tongue or languages. To use the word glossa to signify ecstatic speech would be to confuse the issue.
What about tongues being a private prayer language?
1 Corinthians 14:2 (NKJV) For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.
Was Paul saying that there is a private prayer language? No! Paul is not praising the Corinthians, he's saying only God could understand them, but to men their speech was a mystery, because it was not interpreted. The Biblical gift of tongues never occurs in private. Like all the gifts of the Spirit, it is designed for the common good. It is a public gift, and every instance of its appearance in the Bible is a public occasion where others are present. It is not a private gift and it is not exercised anywhere in the New Testament in private. If you were to examine every prayer prayed in the Bible, and if you were to study every passage in the Bible which taught about prayer, you would not find anything, anywhere, anytime that even suggests that prayer should ever be unintelligible.
Matthew 6:5-8 (NKJV) "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
The word repetitions is the Greek word battologeo which comes from the verb, legeo, to speak and the prefix batta. Batta it is a figure of speech that in English we call an "onomatopoeia" which is a word that sounds like what it is, buzz, zip, zing, rip. Jesus was literally saying, when you pray don't say "batta, batta, batta", the gibberish that the pagans offer to their gods.
What is prayer? It is a declaration of our dependency. It's saying, "God I'm dependant upon you and I need your help." You don't pray in gibberish because if you do you have no idea what you are saying to God. It's just noise. 1 Corinthians 14:22 says, "tongues are for a sign," not for a private prayer language.
The Charismatics and Pentacostals say that tongues are for self-edification. Pat Robertson says, "No other gift builds up my spirit." Is that why God gave us Spiritual gifts, to build up our spirits? No! The purpose of a Spiritual gifts is given in 1 Corinthians 12:7: (NKJV) "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all." They are to profit the body, not self. Donald Gee says, "The revealed purpose of the gift of tongues is chiefly devotional, and we do well to emphasize that fact." Larry Christenson says, "One speaks in tongues for the most part in his private devotions. This is by far it's most important value." Spiritual gifts were not for personal edification but for the edification of the body.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NKJV) All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being.
If you could choose your gift wouldn't it be better to choose one that would build up others?
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NKJV) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
Love does not seek the things of itself. The person who loves is not interested primarily in self-edification but the edification of others. Love, not tongues, indicates the filling of the Spirit according to Galatians 5:22,
1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV) As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
The purpose of tongues was not self-edification but for a sign to unbelieving Israel. The only time tongues could have any meaning to a Christian is when they were translated. To say that the gift of tongues is ecstatic speech to be used in private prayer devotions is to force a meaning into the biblical text that is not there. If you really want to edify yourself, study your Bible. That is God's means of self-edification.
Acts 20:32 (NKJV) "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Are tongues for today? Tongues was a sign of judgement. Once judgement had fallen on Israel the gift had no significance at all. Judgement fell on Israel in 70AD when the temple was destroyed and the sacrifices came to an end.
History records that the gift of tongues ceased in the apostolic age. I was involved in the Charismatic movement early on in my Christian life and I spoke in tongues until I studied the history of the church in regards to prayer and tongues. I found that the first revival of tongues within the confines of the evangelical church of Jesus Christ since the apostolic age was in 1901. Where had it been for 1800 years? 1 Corinthians 13:8 says that "tongues will cease." There is no indication that they would ever start up again.
The post-apostolic fathers don't discuss the gift of tongues. It is not found in any of their writings. Clement of Rome, wrote a letter to the Corinthians in AD95 discussing all of their spiritual problems and he didn't even mention tongues. Justin Martyr, who lived from AD 100-165, wrote much, but never mentioned tongues. He even made lists of the Spiritual gifts that do not include the gift of tongues. Origen, who lived from AD 185-253, explicitly argued that the signs of the apostolic age were temporary, and that no contemporary Christian exercised any of the ancient prophetical gifts in his apologetic against Celsus Chrysostom, who lived from AD 347-407 commented on chapter 12 in his homilies on 1 Corinthians: "This whole place is very obscure; but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place." Augustine, AD 354-430, commented on Acts 2:4: "In the earliest times, the Holy Spirit fell upon them that believed and they spoke with tongues. These were signs adapted to the time. For there behooved to be that betokening and it passed away". The greatest theologians of the ancient church considered the gift of tongues a remote practice.
To be fair, there are some supposed occurrences of tongues since the apostolic age. Montanus from Phrygia with two female priestesses Prisca and Maximilla spoke in ecstatic utterances. Montanus, who claimed to be the Holy Spirit, was thrown out of the church as a heretic. After Montanus the next eruptions of tongues wasn't until the late 17th century.
How do we explain what is happening today? People are having experiences of speaking in ecstatic speech. But it's not the Biblical gift of tongues. We need to ask whether any manifestation that is called the gift of tongues is the same thing as tongues in the Bible. The only way to answer that question is that today's gift of tongues must have the same characteristics that the Bible says it had. Most people assume that anything they hear today is the Biblical gift of tongues, but it is not. There is a lot of fraudulent tongue-speaking going around, and therefore it is important not to merely naively assume that it is the Biblical gift. We must ask the question, "Does it measure up to the Biblical standard?"
If what is happening today is not the Biblical gift of tongues, then what is it? Some say it's Satanic or demonic. This is because Mormons and other cults speak in tongues and they are of the devil.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
There is tongue speaking among those in the occult. Ecstatic speech is found among Muslims, Eskimos, and Tibetan monks. This doesn't mean that everyone who speaks in tongues is of the devil. I used to speak in tongues, but I wasn't of the devil, I was simply confused.
Personally I believe that the "speaking in tongues" that goes on in Christianity today can be explained as "learned behavior." It's not a miracle or a supernatural experience, and it's not a Spiritual gift. If it was a gift from God, why would a person have to learn how to do it? The apostles didn't learn how to speak in tongues, they just did it. The Rock Church has a class that teaches you how to speak in tongues. I had several men teach me how to speak in tongues at CBN. Tongues could also be psychological, sort of a self-hypnosis brought on by the frenzy of some of the Charismatic meetings.
Why are tongues so popular?
1. Spiritual hunger. People are told that speaking in tongues is a great spiritual experience, and if they haven't had the experience they are missing something.
2. It provides an instant spirituality. Tongues is considered a manifestation of spirituality and holiness. Those who speak in tongues have arrived.
3. The need of acceptance and security. Speaking in tongues makes you part of the in group. When you associate with those who speak in tongues it is only natural that you would want to be like them.
Do you want a deep meaningful spiritual experience? Jesus told us how to find it.
John 14:21 (NKJV) "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
Obedience will bring you into an intimate relationship with the Lord like you have never known. As we walk in obedience Jesus Christ will reveal himself to us.
I believe that the Charismatics are wrong doctrinally on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But they are still our brothers and sisters in Christ. And because of that we are to love them. They seem to be way ahead of the fundamentalist in the area of loving each other. They are for the most part a very loving, caring, kind people. Let's learn from their good points and dwell together in love. Don't use what you know to attack and put down others but by love serve one another. Because someone claims to speak in tongues doesn't mean they are of the devil. They are simply confused as to what the Biblical gift of tongues was.
Tongues were a known human language. Their primary purpose was as a sign of God's judgement on the nation Israel. If the gift of tongues was given today it would be used to communicate the gospel in a language you had not learned.
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