The Use Of Spiritual Gifts, Focusing On Tongues

May 27, 2022

Hi Abby,

Here are my concerns about some forms of practice among those who call themselves Charismatic, or especially Pentecostal. I might be called Charismatic by some, because I believe that “sign gifts” such as prophecy, tongues, healings, knowledge, miracles, etc. are still in operation today. I Corinthians 14:1 and 39 calls on us to eagerly desire to prophecy and verse 39 also tells us not to forbid speaking in tongues. I Thessalonians 5:19-22 tells us not to despise prophetic utterances or quench the Spirit, but examine all things. These are direct commands of Scripture. In no place, in my view, are we told they are only good for the first century. If these commands were not intended for the entire New Testament or Church age, why didn’t God make this explicit in Scripture, if He intended us not to practice these things. Though I don’t have these spiritual gifts, I believe that God has entrusted them to some for the edification of the body even today. The only gift I doubt is for today is apostleship, because the Apostle Paul wrote that he was the last of the Apostles in I Corinthians 15, and a requirement for being an apostle is having seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 9:1).

However, with regard to the practice of these gifts, we need to be very careful.

First, the Bible instructs us to “test the Spirits” to see whether they are from God. The very first instruction the Apostle Paul gives with regard to his extensive discussion about spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12-14 deals with this issue. In I Corinthians 12:1-3 he talks to the Corinthians about the fact that they had experienced supernatural phenomena, or had somehow been led spiritually, as pagans, by spirits that were other than the Holy Spirit—an obvious reference to demonic spirits. He was implying they should therefore be discerning whether any supernatural spiritual gift is really from God or from the demonic realm:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

The problem that I often see in Pentecostal churches is that there is no testing of tongues to be sure that what is being said is honoring Jesus Christ. When no interpreter is required in public services, or when tongues are spoken aloud without testing, this eliminates any testing of the Spirit and can permit someone to continue to speak in a tongue that may be cursing Jesus Christ. The spirit behind any supernatural spiritual gift needs to be tested by discerning believers.

This idea is confirmed by I John 4:1-3:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Because Scripture is disobeyed on this matter, I have encountered a couple of individuals who thought they were speaking in tongues because they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. When we tested the spirit behind the tongue through prayer and commanding the spirit to reveal its source or name, we learned the person was deceived and the tongue was from a demonic spirit.

Although I do believe that Scripture teaches there is a prayer language and that tongues spoken in private is between the individual believer and God, so often people speak out loud in public services or prayer meetings in their “prayer language.” They do so all at once, so there’s no center of attention, and there are no interpreters, everyone praying in tongues at the same time so that, in my view, there is great confusion. Scripture also indicates that this should not happen—that if a tongue is spoken out loud, it must be interpreted, and that at most, two or three should be allowed to speak in a tongue, and that each must be interpreted, so that the body of believers who hears the tongue can be edified or built up by the message that’s given. Each person is to speak in order, one at a time, and there is also to be an interpretation for each spoken tongue, for the spirit of the tongue’s speaker is subject to the speaker. Therefore, the preferred gift to be exercised in a public setting is prophecy, since prophecies are given in the spoken language of all those present and all, therefore, understand and can be edified.