Perhaps you know people who do not understand the purpose of speaking in tongues. Maybe you want to know why the Bible mentions speaking in tongues. Meanings of such things are lost when a person has never experienced what such Bible stories speak of.
When I put a puzzle together with my family, I hate it when there is a missing piece. We search the area thoroughly to see where it got dropped or covered up. In the church world today there are many faith traditions that have missing pieces. In fact, there are so many holes in some, you cannot even tell what the picture was supposed to be.
I believe you are here reading this because you want to be sure there are no pieces missing from your faith. Of course, the “big picture” is the Bible and the biblical view of God’s eternal Kingdom. The missing pieces are things biblical things that many have overlooked or have gone missing in religious tradition. It is frustrating when a piece is lost through carelessness. It makes me angry though if someone steals or hides a piece on purpose. That isn’t even right!
A big missing piece in many churches today is the Bible concept of speaking in tongues. Some do not see where it fits in the current church. Others think that experience was for a different picture and should be left out of today’s church portraits. So, let’s look at the Scripture to not only find this missing piece but to see where it fits in the mural of God’s Kingdom.
What does it mean to speak in tongues?
Everything Jesus had done in His life, death, and resurrection came to a point of maturity when people began speaking in tongues in Jerusalem on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost (celebrating the wheat harvest). Jesus came to baptize us with His Spirit (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:4-5). The Spirit of God came down on the expectant believers while they prayed. With a dramatic effect, the Lord showed up and those who had united together to receive the Promise broke forth with new languages as the Spirit filled them.
Those who spoke these languages did not know what they were saying. They were speaking in words unknown to themselves as God’s Spirit gave them the ability to do so (Acts 2:4). As a side effect, there were people in town from all over the world. Many of them heard the believers speaking in their own languages from childhood.
One of the wrong assumptions made in many faith traditions is that the believers preached to the hearers in Jerusalem in their own languages. However, even though the visitors heard these disciples praising and exalting God in their own native tongues, they were still confused by it all (Acts 2:12). This curiosity led them to ask questions which prompted one of the disciples to get up and declare the message of Jesus to the whole group in a language they all shared. So, the speaking-with-tongues meaning cannot be to preach to others. So, what is the purpose of speaking with tongues?
Who should speak with tongues?
Some say only the 12 apostles spoke with tongues on that Day in Pentecost. They claim that Acts chapter 1 focuses on the 12 apostles, so Acts 2 must be about them being filled with the Spirit and speaking in foreign tongues. However, this cannot be true.
First, there were 16 different languages spoken that day! So, that would indicate that more than 12 experienced this outpouring of the Spirit.
Second, Acts 1:14 indicates that the whole group of people were continuing in united prayer. This group was as large as 500 (I Corinthians 15:6). If the 120 “names” mentioned in Acts 1:15 refers to family names or heads of household, there could have been as many 500 filled with the Spirit on that Pentecost morning.
Third, some assume it could only be a small number who were so filled because the upper room could not hold so many people. However, the upper room mentioned in Acts 1:13 simply refers to where the 12 were sleeping at night. Luke 24:53 lets us know that these disciples were continually praying and worshiping in the Temple. The “house” mentioned in Acts 2:1 refers to the Temple just as the prophets would call the Temple the “House” and even Jesus referenced it as “My Father’s House.”
Are the puzzle pieces falling into place for you here? The crowds at the Temple could swell as large as 75,000. Here is a group of a few hundred gathered together praying and worshiping the Lord. The noise of a great wind comes rushing in (Acts 2:2) and a crowd gathers because they hear the noise (Acts 2:5). Peter then preaches to this crowd. On the narrow streets of Jerusalem, there would not have been room enough for him to preach to thousands. In the Temple area, however, Peter had over 3,000 coverts from whatever size crowd had gathered.
Does the Holy Ghost always come with tongues?
Yes. The author of Acts, the same author who wrote the Gospel of Luke, builds a clear case for the outpouring of the Spirit evidenced by speaking in tongues.
First, all in one sentence, we see this: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:4) Speaking was the immediate effect of the Spirit on a person throughout the Old Testament and into the New. When the gift of the Spirit comes after that Pentecost, it comes with tongues.
Second, many scholars agree that tongues is THE evidence of the Spirit coming. Craig Keener says, “I would argue that Luke does in fact use tongues as evidence of baptism in the Spirit and in one sense would argue this more strongly than most traditional Pentecostals: tongues is not an arbitrary evidence but is highlighted because it is intrinsically related to the point of what Luke means by baptism in the Spirit.” (Keener, Acts, Vol. I, 830). James Dunn also says, “It is undoubtedly true that Luke regarded the glossolalia [speaking in tongues] of Pentecost as an external sign of the Spirit’s outpouring.” (Keener, Acts, Vol. I, 827). It sounds like some in academia are getting the pieces into the right place!
Third, the thesis statement and outline of Acts is built on the concept of the Spirit coming with tongues. The foundational sentence of this entire book is Jesus’s words: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Not only does this provide an outline for the events of the book, but also hints at how the Spirit will come. Take a look…
The purpose of speaking in tongues
Notice Jesus said the Spirit would give power to the disciples to speak for Him locally and to the ends of the earth. The opening scene of the Book of Acts is in Jerusalem, Judea, where the Spirit is first poured out. Later, we see the Spirit poured out in Samaria. Then it moves to the house of a Gentile (outsiders from Abraham’s covenant) and speaks of the Spirit outpouring there. Then it leaves that continent and tells of several places in the “ends of the earth” and where the Spirit is poured out.
So, the Spirit came to equip and empower believers to carry the Kingdom message to every person on earth (Mark 16:15, 17, Acts 1:8). All those other nations speak many different languages. The Spirit was coming so every language group could be reached with the message. Therefore, when Jesus said they would receive the Spirit to reach all languages, He provided the foundation for what happens next when they are filled with the Spirit evidenced by their speaking in many foreign languages.
The Spirit, therefore, is given to every believer (notice that Acts 2:4 says they “all” received and spoke in tongues). We receive this gift and its accompanying power to declare Jesus in truth to everyone in the world!
If someone asks, “Is tongues for today?” They can answer their own question if we ask them, “Is reaching the whole world for today?” Just as the Lord still wants to reach people of every tongue and nation, so also He still fills us with His Spirit speaking in tongues.
One such place that spoke in another tongue than Hebrew was Cornelius’s home. When the Spirit fell on them, the Jewish Christians were shocked. However, they knew these people have received the same Gift they had received because “they heard them speak with tongues”! Tongues is evidence that the Spirit has come.
Speaking in tongues–meaning or mystery?
The Hebrews thought that their language was holy since it was the language that Moses’s Law came in. However, after sending prophet after prophet to them, the Lord saw that they were rejecting His voice in their own language. Therefore, Isaiah said, “With another tongue will He speak to this people” (Isaiah 28:11). The Spirit anointing came to bless believers but also to show unbelieving Jews that they were now outside the work of God (I Corinthians 14:22).
Some have claimed that Acts only records speaking in tongues in a limited number of instances and not on every occasion of new believers coming into the Kingdom. One of these places is Corinth. There is no mention here of believers being filled with the Spirit and/or speaking with tongues. There was no need to say this, because Acts 2 established the norm. However, because of Paul’s writing in I Corinthians 14, we know that this group did speak in tongues even to excess. They had to learn that church assemblies were not all about speaking in tongues but about building each other up. Acts glossed over the tongues in Corinth, but they were there none the less. Every new-believer story in Acts did not need to mention speaking in tongues any more than you need to mention to your family that you are going to start the car before you drive away. If you are going to use the car, everyone assumes you will be starting the engine.
Speaking of that passage in I Corinthians 14, some have said speaking in tongues is just one gift among many. While there is an empowerment of diverse tongues (I Corinthians 12:10), this is not the same as the tongues one speaks when receiving the Spirit. One point among many to prove this is that in I Corinthians 14, these “message” tongues must be paired with the interpretation of tongues, a divine work where the Spirit enables someone to give the meaning of that message in a language known to the hearers.
That same chapter distinguishes between private tongues and tongues messages that minister to others. The “message” tongues should only be given 2 or 3 times in a meeting. This is clearly not the same as the gift of the Spirit evidenced by speaking tongues that we read of in Acts. There, we see a large groups receive the Spirit en masse. If any form of tongues was not to exceed 3 instances, these moments were in violation. Scripture distinguishes between the two types: personal tongues for worship/prayer and message tongues with an interpretation.
The Spirit comes with a purpose
The Spirit is substance. This might be tough for our Western minds to grasp. We tend to think of invisible things as not having substance. However, God is substantial. Just because we cannot see Him does not mean He is not there.
Think of it like this. The physical world we see and touch is 99.99% empty space. Everything we see is simply electrons swirling around proton/neutron clumps in such a way as to deflect light and feel solid. We know this, yet we trust our senses more than this knowledge.
On the other hand, however, what if the Spirit is more real than the physical? Everything physical is simply an impression—a mirage. One day it may all be destroyed and seen no more. But the eternal realm, the Kingdom of God, will last forever. What if the Spirit was 99.99% substantial but unseen? Could this Spirit fill our voids—inhabiting the empty places of our lives?
When the Spirit moves onto the scene on the Day of Pentecost, they heard the sound of something like a rushing wind. They also saw what looked like flames (or tongues) of fire separating and landing on their heads. To the Eastern mind, this was understandable because the Spirit is substantial. With Solomon, the presence of the Lord appeared thick like smoke so that no one could see to work in the Temple area.
Mind you, some who have been shoving puzzle pieces into the wrong spot think the Spirit should always come with wind and fire. However, Acts clearly shows the accompanying sign of people being filled with the Spirit—tongues (Acts 2:4). This pattern is repeated and reaffirmed a few more times, letting us know to expect this sound with baptism of the Spirit. Jesus said the Spirit would come and we would know it was present because we could hear the sound or “voice” of the Spirit (John 3:8).
How is the puzzle coming together for you? I do not claim to have every piece of this grand painting assembled on my life’s table yet. But I cannot imagine life without the power of His Spirit working in me. More than just a missing piece, many have a missing peace. There is more meaning here than just speaking in tongues. Kingdom life in the Spirit includes righteousness, peace, and joy! (Romans 14:17).
How about you? What have you learned that convinced you that tongues are authentic and for today? What do you say is the purpose of speaking with tongues? Please respond below!
When did you receive the Spirit? Could you share your story of what that was like?
19 thoughts on “Why the Spirit comes with speaking in tongues”
It seems receiving the Holy Ghost is so much a total submission to the Spirit of God.
Psalm 12:2:4 describes a rebellious attitude where the people say, …”With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is Lord over us?”
Compared to the submissive tone in
Psa 100:3, Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
If we are His people, are our lips His, or our own? Does it matter that we can’t understand it? That’s what faith is, right? Trusting when we don’t understand? Jesus wants to give His people good gifts. Who would not want something that He has promised to give to the believers?
Great points!
From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
To increase your faith today , I hope you understand this. The evidence you seek is forgiveness through Jesus raised to life. This is what is required for a person to enter the presence of God, it begins with repentance and forgiveness. Jesus says Spiritual fits is from God given to Jesus given to the persons chosen. On this note Jesus says God gives the sheep to me. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. This is about knowing Jesus more than it is about Spiritual gifts of the Spirit. Paul explains pray that you may interpet – to interpret what your are saying in the Spirit of God means that their is communication. In communication there are listening, speaking, asking. His trying to explain that there is more to speaking in tongues that just speaking, to consider hearing what you are saying and understanding what is being said to you, to interrupt this word. A person speaks unto God it is His tongues ( creator of this ). Its for your benefit to ask Him the meaning of this but if you cannot interpet someone with this gift must interpet for you.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I would point out that forgiveness brings relief and even joy. This happens before receiving the Spirit.
If every tongue is to be understood, why do you think none of the incidents in Acts were interpreted?
“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them, they utter mysteries by the Spirit” 1 Corinthians 14:2. Speaking in tongues is a way to communicate with God and only you and God know what you’re saying. Speaking in tongues is your way of communicating with God one on one. I have had the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues for 39 yrs in a few days. When I start praying and speaking in tongues, I feel like it is a way to tell God everything I feel and need without others hearing my conversation. One way to describe it would be if you are out some place and you speak English but you see a couple of people that speak Spanish. If you don’t know that language, you don’t know what they are saying. The person with them does, but you don’t. Same with communicating with God in tongues. That is a way that no one else knows what you and God are talking about.
Thank you! Praying in tongues is speaking mysteries that our minds cannot grasp but it is declaring truth and revelations that only the inner person can grasp in the Spirit.
Thank you for staying faithful all these years!
I speak in tongues every time I pray and I do not understand, but my spirit does and it’s vital to my spirit to communicate to God, and the more the better. I, like Paul, who said that he spoke in tongues more than ye all, gives me that same desire. It’s my time of rest and refreshing. My spirit is edified and my faith is built up, when I speak in tongues. God has never revealed to me, what he is doing, but I believe, it is He that is working in someone else’s life, and perhaps when I’m over on the other side, He will reveal what He accomplished, when I let go and let God perform his will, because he uses human instrumentality to fulfill His will. Many years ago in the late 1980’s, I felt an urgent need to go into my closet, (literally) and began to pray, cry, speak in tongues for a long while and I had not idea, what I was praying about. After the Spirit lifted, I came out of my closet, only to find out via a phone call, that my oldest prodigal son’s truck had been hit by a train as he was crossing the track in front of his job in Texas, I was in California, but though his truck was totaled, his life was spared, and he only received a few scratches on his forehead. This happened at the same time. I praise Jesus. So many, many testimonies of praying and speaking in tongues, as the Spirit gives the utterance, in my life, that I will not tell it all today. But, this is empowerment, that every human being needs to live for God and walk in His Spirit and He will do the leading and fulfill His purpose for all our lives.
What a great God! Thank you for sharing that story.
My primary question is where does the Bible say everyone who is baptized with the Spirit will speak in tongues? I only see a bit of assumed implications. Yes, it happened in Acts in certain situations fitting for that gift to manifest, and therefore it attested to the presence and power of the Spirit to the onlooker (as would any other of the gifts).
You said the Samaritans had joy from forgiveness of sins prior to Spirit baptism. Are you of the camp that believes Spirit baptism is subsequent to salvation?
No, sir. If entering the Kingdom is the same as salvation, then being born of the Spirit (John 3:5) is part of entrance into salvation.
There are several places this case can be made. One that stands out is Acts 2:22 where Peter quotes Joel talking about those who “shall be saved.” This is the same context of the prophecy by Joel (same passage even) describing the outpouring of the Spirit. Peter uses this Joel-passage to frame his message. When listeners respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ as presented by Peter, they ask, “What do we do?” Peter tells them what they must do: Repent, be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, and they will receive the Spirit (same Spirit outpouring they just witnessed). After presenting this revolutionary message, Peter concludes with a phrase from Joel he had left out earlier: “as many as the Lord our God shall call.” So, the immersion in water and outpouring of Spirit fulfill the biblical definition of “saved.” Additionally, that chapter closes with a summary statement referring to these newly initiated believers as those who are “saved” (Acts 2:47).
From the broader perspective, how could someone leave out the hope of being filled with the Spirit when this is the cause for which Jesus came? Luke 3:16. I cannot lie to people by giving them a gospel without power. We receive power after the Spirit comes upon us.
Notice that the angel speaking to Cornelius told him that Peter would tell him what he “must do.” This man prayed, gave generously, lived a pure life, and fasted. Yet there was something he still must do. After Peter goes there and witnesses the Spirit poured out on these non-Jews, he comes home and tells how the angel had informed Cornelius that through Peter and the other believers he and his household would “be saved” (Acts 11:14).
I didn’t think you were. Just wanted to ask about that though, because if one is forgiven in Christ, they’re already saved. Perhaps you meant to not say that they already had joy for forgiveness of sins. Anyway, this could go on and on. Lots of different points to address that we don’t have time for. I recommend however for anyone looking into these things John Piper’s Desiring God site. Some good insights. Take care.
Thanks for the conversation.
The situation in Samaria is interesting. Evangelicals today would say they were saved. They had believed the message, experienced joy and miracles, and been baptized. Still, the apostles came down to help them receive the Spirit. They knew the urgency and necessity of this Gift.
My desire for the evangelical church world is that all would be filled with the Spirit, biblically.
Sorry, I feel I should give a little of my own story before I move on, as that is what you’ve requested of those commenting. I believe in salvation solely through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That at that point, one’s heart is renewed by the Holy Spirit/born again: trusting in Christ’s work on their behalf and the desire to obey God. My heart was humbled so. But, I believe however in being empowered further by the Holy Spirit as one continues to seek more of the will of God, that this is known as being filled with the Spirit, and the first time it occurs it is described as being baptized with the Spirit. However, one may receive this simultaneously with salvation. It is experiential, as the Bible describes it as power, bringing a boldness in faith and witness to Christ. This was my experience after being baptized in further commitment to Christ. Addictions I had struggled with vanished, and I had a peace beyond anything of this world that gave such an assurance of God’s grace I could not contain it. I am not saying others won’t, but I did not speak in tongues when it happened. Would speaking in tongues attest to the power of the Spirit? Yes, just as what I’ve described does too. That’s why the cases in Acts say they knew they witnessed people receiving the Spirit/been filled because they heard them speak in tongues. But that’s not the same as saying it will always happen that way. If you ask an individual how they know they’ve been baptized in the Spirit, the things I’ve described that attest to such a power in my life is my answer. It was undeniable, miraculous, a baptism of the power of God no doubt. So, it’s clear to me and should be to others that is the baptism of the Spirit. The evidence I believe is power, as Jesus said. Peace be with you all.
Excellent article and discussion as always Brother Koren!
I don’t wish to belabour the points above but one obvious point seems to be missing from the discussion thread, Jesus’ commandment.
“And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49
“And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Jesus commanded his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the outpouring, Jesus referred to the experience as being “baptised with the Holy Ghost” and every believer present in the upper room received it with the supernatural sign of speaking in tongues.
These points for me personally are more than enough proof. However, if we used the criteria for salvation as set by today’s evangelicals there would have been no reason for Jesus to have given the commandment to tarry in Jerusalem to wait for the power in the first place.
The disciples had just spent 3 years with Christ, had personally witnessed and participated in multiple healings, they had seen people being raised from the dead, experienced physical miracles and rejoiced when demons were subject to them, yet none of this was enough. Jesus still gave the commandment to tarry in Jerusalem until they were filled with the Holy Ghost.
I truly feel that if Jesus commanded believers to tarry until their infilling, that in and of itself should be enough of an incentive for any true believer today to do the same.
Also something to note is that of all the people Jesus touched only 120 were left still waiting (tarrying) and obeying the commandment 10 days later when the Holy Ghost was poured out. Every day, every moment was a testimony to their faith, belief and trust in Christ, and yet every day and every moment that went by was also a test of their faithfulness.
I wonder… how many people today would be willing to sacrifice their time and put their lives on hold in order to pray for 10 days to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?
Perhaps it is not so much about giving the evidence and Biblical proof of the gift of the Holy Ghost
( although, that is absolutely necessary to convince the believer the experience is still available to them today) but maybe… it is more about teaching the believer the benefits and power in humbling oneself and sacrificing all to obtain Christ’s ultimate gift, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Amen!
Amen, this is what separates us from all other religions, the power of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
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