By Pastor Dave Farmer
Summary
The Modern Tongues movement points to 1 Corinthians 12 - 14 as justification for their beliefs and practices. Is there a true spiritual revival wrought by the Holy Spirit going on today, as they maintain? Is this the long lost, not practiced since the First Century, paradigm for worship?
We are studying the Gift of Tongues from different perspectives in order to understand what the Word of God says about the nature, purpose, and practice of this spiritual gift. In previous articles, we looked at the historical and prophetical nature of tongues-speaking. In the article on the Prophetic Perspective of Tongues, 1 the focus was on Isaiah's prophecy, mainly on Isaiah 28:11. Isaiah predicted that the Jews would hear the Word of God proclaimed to them in Gentile languages. How do we know that Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost? We know because Paul quotes this passage in 1 Corinthians 14:21, interpreting the Isaiah passage. Tongues was a spiritual gift given as a sign to unbelieving Jews of an approaching disaster, which was fulfilled in 70 A.D with the Fall of Jerusalem. In the article on the Historical Perspective of Tongues 2 , we learned from Acts chapter two that this spiritual gift was the God-given ability to speak a foreign language not previously known or learned. 3
In the following articles, topics #5-9, our concentration will be on the "Doctrinal Perspective of Tongues." We will explore those passages in 1 Corinthians 12 -14, which shed light on our topic and deal with the major misconceptions of the modern tongues movement.
Before we begin, there is an important matter concerning the greater context of these three chapters in the Book of 1 Corinthians. This entire section, chapters 11-14, deals with problems in public worship. This is very important for interpretation. In fact, this is so critical that when the passage's context is ignored, the interpretation will become distorted. The principle of interpretation that must be followed is "SCRIPTURE MUST INTERPRET SCRIPTURE" 2 Peter 1:20.
Sadly, the modern-day Charismatic movement claims that speaking in tongues is a legitimate spiritual gift to be practiced today. In order to justify their position, they give a positive interpretation of these chapters. However, in Corinth, speaking in tongues was causing trouble and fermenting discord in the church. The Bible warns that there will be severe discipline for those who sow discord among the brethren, Job 4:8; Proverbs 6:16,19.
Interestingly, in 55 A.D., when Paul wrote these chapters, the spiritual gift was operating in Corinth, but it was being misused. He did not forbid them to speak in tongues because it was a genuine and bona fide spiritual gift then, but he determined to regulate its use.5 I believe that if the modern-day Tongues Movement would abide by the divine commands and regulations of Scripture in their practice and use of their gift, tongues-speaking would cease! Furthermore, as will be demonstrated, the misconceptions of the Corinthian Charismatics about this gift are the same as in today's Charismatic movement. As we progress, each new article will present a significant error in Charismatic thought and practice. Here is the first.
1 Corinthians 12:1 Expanded Translation
Now [new subject introduced] concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, [addressing believers] I keep on wishing you not to be ignorant [lack of doctrine].
The Apostle Paul begins with a new subject, one that was causing disorder and confusion in public worship. The Greek conjunction "DE" translated "now" introduces a new topic and, at the same time, connects the previous context with Chapter 12. ln Chapter 11, we see problems that occurred during the serving of the Lord's Supper. In other words, we are still discussing problems in public worship, but we now have a new subject, "Spiritual Gifts."
Point of doctrine! If they are ignorant, how could they be spiritually mature?
The context will show that the Corinthians did not understand the nature, the purpose, the source, or the proper employment of the gifts of the Spirit. Paul desires that this deficiency be removed. Lack of doctrine, what the Bible teaches, is one of the greatest dangers to any believer's walk with the Lord. Paul will provide Biblical precepts and principles necessary to purge them from their ignorance.
The Corinthians did not have the New Testament Canon of Scripture, which contributed to their errors in spiritual worship. In this instance, we are thankful to the Corinthians for their failures, for it allowed Paul to provide this letter filled with practical guidance in matters about our walk and worship of our Heavenly Father. However, we have the New Testament in writing, so there is no excuse for the modern tongues movement. It gives me no pleasure to say this.
Doctrine, the Word of God, provides the blueprint for the Christian way of Life. When you buy an automobile, it comes with instructions. Each car has an operating manual, which gives us information on how to operate the vehicle at peak performance. So, the Bible is the operating manual of the believer's walk. You must conform to the specifications and designs of the manufacturer. This principle is true in every sphere of life. Lack of knowledge hinders effective performance, whether in an automobile, a sewing machine, or the Christian Way of Life. This danger of lack of knowledge is illustrated in Verse 2.
1 Corinthians: 12:2 Expanded Translation
You know that when you were Gentiles [unbelievers], you were being led face to face with dumb idols; However, you were being led astray.
At one time, they lacked gospel information, so they were carried away by idolatry. They worshiped a piece of stone, a lump of clay, a metal statuette; they were really stupid! The conclusion is uncomfortable but accurate. If you were stupid for following after idols, you are now stupid regarding the gift of tongues. It is my opinion that when you are being stupid, you are not spiritual. If the Corinthians were not spiritual, then what?
Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
1) And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men [filled with the Spirit], but as to men of flesh [carnal], as to babes in Christ.
2) I gave you milk [basic doctrine] to drink, not solid food [advanced doctrine]; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,
3) for you are still fleshly [carnal]. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men [imitating unbelievers]?
Their quarrelsome spirit was a sign of carnality, but much more than that, it indicated an absence of spiritual growth. Paul says that they were still babies. The interesting thing is that this epistle was written five years after many of these believers had been won to Christ. Five years! They were baby Christians when Paul left Corinth, and after five years of walking with the Lord, they were still babies. It was their immaturity that got them into many areas of sinful living. The only way they would recover from carnality was through Bible Doctrine, the contents of this epistle. As they read and reread these words and begin to live accordingly, they would recover. There is an elementary principle: you can't live the Christian Way of Life until you know what the Christian Way of Life is all about. You have to know before you can do it.
Point of Doctrine! The Corinthians were spiritually immature, and this led to carnal living. They were carnal, not spiritual!
Now, what bearing does all of this have on the issue of tongues-speaking? The present-day Charismatics claim that the sign of spiritual maturity is speaking in tongues. This is what the Corinthian Charismatics were claiming. Yet, Paul opposes this. This is one of the great misconceptions of the tongues movement. Many had the gift of tongues in Corinth, but Paul indicates that they were both immature and carnal.
A spiritual gift like tongues does not guarantee a person is spiritual or mature. The opposite could be true. A believer could be immature and carnal and still speak in tongues or employ the many other gifts of the Spirit, such as helps, administration, mercy, etc. Remember, this section was written to the tongues-speaking crowd at Corinth, and Paul states the fact of their ignorance.
It might help us to remember that the function of a spiritual gift is under our control. I may desire to use the gift, or I may desire not to (1 Corinthians 14:32). The proper function of a spiritual gift is when I will use it when controlled by the Holy Spirit. He empowers the gift as I employ it. However, if l am carnal (not controlled by the Holy Spirit) and I decide to use my gift, it will function, but without the power of God, without bringing glory to God. Instead, it is reduced to only bringing glory to myself.
Dr. Leslie Flynn offers a very interesting argument:
If tongues are a sign of mature spirituality and God's best for one‘s life, isn't it strange that the following spiritual giants never spoke in tongues: Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Knox, Wesley, Whitfield, Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, Finney, Wycliffe, Carey, George Muller, Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, Spurgeon, Moody, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, to name a few? 4
1 Corinthians 12:11 Expanded Translation
But all these [spiritual gifts] He [Holy Spirit] works, that One and Same Spirit, distributing to everyone [believers] individually as He [Holy Spirit] wills.
Paul emphatically states that the Holy Spirit bestows all bonafide spiritual gifts. The type of spiritual gift one receives is strictly a matter of the sovereign decision of the Holy Spirit. This impartation of a gift is based upon grace. YOU ARE NOT THE SOURCE!
Point of Doctrine! Claiming that your spiritual gift makes you spiritually superior and closer to God is not valid. Instead, it is blind arrogance.5
In Corinth, those who spoke in tongues believed they were better than everyone else because they had this gift. But how can this be? The reason why we are different from anyone else on a commendable basis is due to the Grace of God. If it is based on grace, it is no longer based on human merit, ability, genius, talent, or works of any kind.
The Corinthians were charged with Operation Ego. They were filled with pride over their superior spirituality. Proof of the high spiritual plateau that they had reached was in the manifestation of the gift of tongues-speaking. Paul hauled them to court with three moot questions in 1 Corinthians 4:7.
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
First, "for who makes you differ from one another?” The answer is straightforward, "Who but God!" Now Mr. Corinthian (or modern charismatic), who makes you different? You have a spiritual gift (like tongues-speaking); where did you get it? From God the Holy Spirit. How does it operate for the glory of God? By the Holy Spirit controlling and empowering me. You see, from start to finish, everything in the Christian Way of Life depends on grace, on what God provides. Take salvation. What did you do to earn it? NOTHING! (Ephesians 2:8, 9). You are in the Christian Way of Life; you worship, you witness, you pray, you give. Who gives you the enablement to do these things? "For it is God (Holy Spirit) who keeps on working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure, Philippians 2:13." Without the ministry of the Spirit of God in your life, you could not live the Christian Life in any way that would please God. Is it then based upon your greatness or the greatness of grace?
One day, you will receive a resurrection body. Where did you get that body? Did you make it? What about that inheritance? Did you earn or deserve or merit that? That is a beautiful home you have in Heaven. Did you build it? "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? All that we have comes from God. “How can we boast?” How can you puff yourself up and make yourself look so good as if somehow you have achieved something apart from the grace of God? The Corinthians were guilty of operation ego. They thought, "How lucky God is to have us as believers." Whenever pride blinds us, we always call attention to what we have accomplished.
The third question puts the icing on the cake. It emphasizes God's precious grace: "And if you did receive it (a first-class condition in the Greek--and you did receive it), why do you boast as if you had not received it? All that they had spiritually came to them by grace. Grace made the difference. Their boasting took what God had accomplished through the new birth, and they took the credit for themselves.
Regarding spiritual gifts, the people who spoke in tongues felt they were better than other believers. However, spiritual gifts are sovereignly and graciously bestowed by the Holy Spirit. And because this is a work of grace, I heartily concur with Dr. Unger's appraisal:
The giving of the gifts is the sovereign act of the Holy Spirit, not human choice. There is no place for self-choosing or the notion of a special class of believers who have received a special experience that puts them in a different category from other believers, manifested by some evidence such as tongues.6
The subject of the gift of tongues, like other gifts, demands accurate knowledge, 1 Corinthians 12:1, 2.
It is not a sign of maturity or spirituality. In fact, one may be carnal and immature and still use the gift, 1 Corinthians 12:1, 2.
God the Holy Spirit sovereignly and graciously provides for each one of us our very own spiritual gift, at least one 1 Corinthians 12:7,11.
When we truly understand the Grace of God, it humbles us, not causes us to boast in ourselves. Grace is the sum total of all that God has provided for us by the substitutionary sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. It is Him that we magnify, not ourselves.
In the light of all that God provides for us daily to live and serve Him, the estimation of ourselves decreases while He increases in our minds and hearts, John 1:27.
Pride comes before a fall, Proverbs 11:2; James 4:6.
1 See Topic #2 The Prophetical Prospective of Tongues.
2 See Topic #3 Historical Perspective of Tongues.
3 See Topic #4 The Purpose Of The Gift Of Tongues.
4 Leslie B. Flynn, 19 Gifts Of The Spirit (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1994) p.184; also Rick Yohn, Discover Your Spiritual Gift And Use it (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1974) pp.117,118.
5 When a believer is self-righteous and self-centered, he is arrogant. When he doesn't know that he is full of pride, that is blind arrogance.
6 Merrill F. Unger, New Testament Teaching On Tongues (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1971) pp.86,87.