If you don't speak in tongues - you don't have the Holy Spirit.

gone_fishing

New Member
I had an interesting chat with a friend today.

Dirk Ellick: do you speak in toungs
gratiae: nope
gratiae: not one of my gifts
gratiae: some folks believe that if you don't speak in tongues then you are not saved but i believe and the bible says that speaking in tongues is a gift and that there are many spiritual gifts and the holy spirit gives these spiriutal gifts as it desires - my gift is discernment.
Dirk Ellick: so do you think that a church that tells you that its the evidence of the holy spirit is wrong
gratiae: one person may not have a gift that someone else has
gratiae: there are more gifts of the holy spirit than tongues.
Dirk Ellick: i know that but i have a hard time with people who thinks that it is something that you must do

Have ya'll ever heard someone say this before?
 

PaperClip

New Member
Acts 2: Holy Spirit upon ALL (including Mary, the mother of Jesus). These tongues are for all. Available to ALL BELIEVERS.

1 Corinthians 12: specific manifestation of the Holy Spirit for a distinct purpose.
 

PaperClip

New Member
Can you elaborate please. :perplexed

It's Acts 2:38:
"37 When the Jews heard this, their hearts were troubled. They said to Peter and to the other missionaries, "Brothers, what should we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Be sorry for your sins and turn from them and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you and your children. It is to all people everywhere. It is to as many as the Lord our God will call." (NLV)


1 Corinthians 12:
4-11God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

The "spiritual gifts" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 speak to the distinct manifestations that either come upon a person at a particular moment for a particular situation, or some of these manifestations reside, regularly in a believer as it is part of his/her ministry or function. See these as specific FUNCTIONS, as they are noted in the same chapter that speak to PARTS OF THE BODY... each BODY PART has a specific FUNCTION.

Where as Acts 1:38 speak to a kind of "sealing" or preservation, if you will, of a believer who receives and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The EVIDENCE that the Holy Spirit swells within a BELIEVER.

Acts 1:1 The followers of Jesus were all together in one place fifty days after the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. 2 All at once there was a sound from heaven like a powerful wind. It filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then they saw tongues which were divided that looked like fire. These came down on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they began to speak in other languages which the Holy Spirit made them able to speak.

How would we know that we are HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED believers without this EVIDENCE? Anybody can SAY they are filled. But what better "proof" is the actual heavenly language, tongues?
 
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kblc06

Well-Known Member
My apologies. It's Acts 1:38:
"37 When the Jews heard this, their hearts were troubled. They said to Peter and to the other missionaries, "Brothers, what should we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Be sorry for your sins and turn from them and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you and your children. It is to all people everywhere. It is to as many as the Lord our God will call." (NLV)


1 Corinthians 12:
4-11God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

The "spiritual gifts" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 speak to the distinct manifestations that either come upon a person at a particular moment for a particular situation, or some of these manifestations reside, regularly in a believer as it is part of his/her ministry or function. See these as specific FUNCTIONS, as they are noted in the same chapter that speak to PARTS OF THE BODY... each BODY PART has a specific FUNCTION.

Where as Acts 1:38 speak to a kind of "sealing" or preservation, if you will, of a believer who receives and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The EVIDENCE that the Holy Spirit swells within a BELIEVER.

Acts 1:1 The followers of Jesus were all together in one place fifty days after the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. 2 All at once there was a sound from heaven like a powerful wind. It filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then they saw tongues which were divided that looked like fire. These came down on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they began to speak in other languages which the Holy Spirit made them able to speak.

How would we know that we are HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED believers without this EVIDENCE? Anybody can SAY they are filled. But what better "proof" is the actual heavenly language, tongues?

To add this, I would encourage you to read a book called "And They Spoke In Other Tongues". A man speaks about his personal experience & research with people speaking in tongues from languages of all cultures. One interesting thing is that when speaking in tongues, the languages sounded to others as their NATIVE language. In other words, if a person native lang. was Swahili, and someone of Polish descent spoke in tongues during spiritual upheaval, it sounded like Swahili to the interpreter. This occurred once when I spoke in tongues during a service once, there was a Somali lady at the service who spoke Somali & arabic and she could understand every word I was saying when I could not :drunk: I just thought that was interesting....carry one :grin:
 

MindTwister

New Member
How would we know that we are HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED believers without this EVIDENCE? Anybody can SAY they are filled. But what better "proof" is the actual heavenly language, tongues?

How about the fruits of Spirit as described Galatians 5:22-23?
Didn't Jesus say in Matthew 7:20 that by their fruits they will be recognized?
 

MindTwister

New Member
To add this, I would encourage you to read a book called "And They Spoke In Other Tongues". A man speaks about his personal experience & research with people speaking in tongues from languages of all cultures. One interesting thing is that when speaking in tongues, the languages sounded to others as their NATIVE language. In other words, if a person native lang. was Swahili, and someone of Polish descent spoke in tongues during spiritual upheaval, it sounded like Swahili to the interpreter. This occurred once when I spoke in tongues during a service once, there was a Somali lady at the service who spoke Somali & arabic and she could understand every word I was saying when I could not :drunk: I just thought that was interesting....carry one :grin:
This is why I'm not so sure that what people call speaking in tongues today is what it was in the Bible. In Acts when the people were speaking in tongues they were speaking ACTUAL EXISTING languages....
 

PaperClip

New Member
How about the fruits of Spirit as described Galatians 5:22-23?
Didn't Jesus say in Matthew 7:20 that by their fruits they will be recognized?

Galatians 5:22-23:
--these scriptures speak to our CONDUCT, our behavior, lifestyle. Yes. This scripture does not negate or undo the scriptures about being filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. In fact, it further establishes that a BELIEVER has to have the infilling of the Holy Spirit in order to PRODUCE these fruit...especially with some degree of consistency. Even with the Holy Spirit, there are some tough days. But without the Holy Spirit? YIKES!!!! How much MORE FRUIT can I produce with the Holy Spirit helping me to STAY HOLY?!?? LOL!!!!

Matthew 7:20: same as above.
 

PaperClip

New Member
This is why I'm not so sure that what people call speaking in tongues today is what it was in the Bible. In Acts when the people were speaking in tongues they were speaking ACTUAL EXISTING languages....

There's nothing that indicates that this has changed. This still happens today. According to Acts 1:38-39, this promise was to them (and us) and our children... as many as the Lord shall call. 2000 years later, the Lord is still calling people to Him.
 

gone_fishing

New Member
So are you saying Christians that do not speak in tongues do not have the Holy Spirit or what is your understanding?

I know what I believe but just interested in learning from you all.
 

gone_fishing

New Member
Two interesting passgages I read in regards to speaking in tongues:

The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4. The apostles went out and shared the Gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages, “we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" (Acts 2:11). The Greek word translated "tongues" literally means "languages." Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language a person does not know in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. In 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14, where Paul discusses miraculous gifts, he comments that, “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?" (1 Corinthians 14:6). According to the Apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his/her own language, but it is useless to everyone else – unless it is interpreted / translated.

A person with the gift of interpreting tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30) could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he/she did not know the language that was being spoken. The tongues-interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues-speaker to everyone else, so all could understand. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says” (1 Corinthians 14:13). Paul’s conclusion regarding un-interpreted tongues is powerful, “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Corinthians 14:19).

Is the gift of tongues for today? 1 Corinthians 13:8 mentions the gift of tongues ceasing, although it connects the ceasing with the arrival of the "perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13:10. Some point to a difference in the language in prophecy and knowledge "ceasing" with tongues "being ceased" as evidence for tongues ceasing before the arrival of the "perfect." While possible, this is not explicitly clear from the text. Some also point to passages such as Isaiah 28:11 and Joel 2:28-29 as evidence that speaking in tongues was a sign of God's oncoming judgment. 1 Corinthians 14:22 describes tongues as a "sign to unbelievers." According to this argument, the gift of tongues was a warning to the Jews that God was going to judge Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah. Therefore, when God did in fact judge Israel (with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70), the gift of tongues would no longer serve its intended purpose. While this view is possible, the primary purpose of tongues being fulfilled does not necessarily demand its cessation. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased.

At the same time, if the gift of speaking in tongues were active in the church today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture. It would be a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10). It would be for the purpose of communicating God's Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6-12). It would be in agreement with the command that God gave through the Apostle Paul, "If anyone speaks in a tongue, two — or at the most three — should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God" (1 Corinthians 14:27-28). It would also be in submission to 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

God most definitely can give a person the gift of speaking in tongues to enable him/her to communicate with a person who speaks another language. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the dispersion of the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). Just imagine how much more productive missionaries could be if they didn’t have to go to language school, and were instantly able to speak to people in their own language. However, God does not seem to be doing this. Tongues does not seem to occur today in the form it did in the New Testament despite the fact that it would be immensely useful. The vast majority of believers who claim to practice the gift of speaking in tongues do not do so in agreement with the Scriptures mentioned above. These facts lead to the conclusion that the gift of tongues has ceased, or is at least a rarity in God's plan for the church today

_________________

There are three occasions in the book of Acts where speaking in tongues accompanied the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:6). However, these three occasions are the only places in the Bible where speaking in tongues is an evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. Throughout the book of Acts thousands of people believe in Jesus and nothing is said about them speaking in tongues (Acts 2:41; 8:5-25; 16:31-34; 21:20). Nowhere in the New Testament is it taught that speaking in tongues is the only evidence a person has received the Holy Spirit. In fact, the New Testament teaches the opposite. We are told that every believer in Christ has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14), but not every believer speaks in tongues (1 Corinthians 12:29-31).

So, why was speaking in tongues the evidence of the Holy Spirit in those three passages in Acts? Acts chapter 2 records the apostles being baptized in the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him to proclaim the Gospel. The Apostles were enabled to speak in other languages (tongues) so they could share the truth with people in their own languages. Acts chapter 10 records the Apostle Peter being sent to share the Gospel with non-Jewish people. Peter and the other early Christians, being Jews, would have a hard time accepting Gentiles (non-Jewish people) into the church. God enabled the Gentiles to speak in tongues to demonstrate that they had received the same Holy Spirit that the apostles had received (Acts 10:47; 11:17).

Acts 10:44-47 describes this, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.'” Peter later points back to this occasion as proof that God was indeed saving the Gentiles (Acts 15:7-11).

Speaking in tongues is not presented anywhere in the Bible as something Christians should expect when they receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and are therefore baptized in the Holy Spirit.. In fact, out of all the conversion accounts in the New Testament, only two record speaking in tongues in that context. Tongues was a miraculous gift that had a specific purpose for a specific time. It was not, and never has been, the evidence of the reception of the Holy Spirit.


Note: I won't be back until day after tomorrow but I cannot wait to read your opinions on all of this.
 

MindTwister

New Member
There's nothing that indicates that this has changed. This still happens today. According to Acts 1:38-39, this promise was to them (and us) and our children... as many as the Lord shall call. 2000 years later, the Lord is still calling people to Him.
What I hear when people speak in tongues doesn't sound like actual languages, it's more often the repetition of the same syllables/words... Can't wait for the day when I'll witness that
 
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divya

Well-Known Member
There are many gifts that God make give us as Christians, including speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues, according to the Bible is speaking languages, not incomprehensible sounds/utterances. It is the gift to speak languages that you have never learned, in order to spread the gospel.

I Cor. 14:9 - 14
So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.

Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.

Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
 

MindTwister

New Member
Galatians 5:22-23:
--these scriptures speak to our CONDUCT, our behavior, lifestyle. Yes. This scripture does not negate or undo the scriptures about being filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. In fact, it further establishes that a BELIEVER has to have the infilling of the Holy Spirit in order to PRODUCE these fruit...especially with some degree of consistency. Even with the Holy Spirit, there are some tough days. But without the Holy Spirit? YIKES!!!! How much MORE FRUIT can I produce with the Holy Spirit helping me to STAY HOLY?!?? LOL!!!!

Matthew 7:20: same as above.
Ok then do we agree that speaking in tongues is not the ONLY way, the only evidence of someone being filled with the Spirit? Our conduct are evidence of that too right? Because you asked "How would we know that we are HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED believers without this EVIDENCE?"

I fail to understand how speaking in tongues would be the ONLY evidence of someone having God's Spirit
 
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PaperClip

New Member
So are you saying Christians that do not speak in tongues do not have the Holy Spirit or what is your understanding?

I know what I believe but just interested in learning from you all.

It is my understanding that speaking in tongues according to Acts 1:38 is available and accessible to those who claim Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. As the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Our manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ to take His place after His Ascension following His earthly life, death, burial, and resurrection. (Acts 1)

Just as the 120 filled the upper room per the Lord's instruction that the Holy Spirit would come upon them, and would give them power...speaking as the Holy Spirit prompted them (Acts 2).

So before I would arbitrarily say that a person doesn't have the Holy Spirit if they don't speak in tongues, I would say it is a vital and necessary part of this Christian walk. There are too many scriptures that speak to the expectation that we are to speak in tongues, for both personal/private as well as public purposes. (1 Corinthians 14)

My personal story: I got baptized and I wanted to speak in tongues so much but it didn't happen right away but I continued to pray and believe the Lord and just like it happened to the 120 in that room, it happened to me one Sunday after service sitting in a car with my friends. We were sitting there and started praying quietly (some in English, some in tongues) and I closed my eyes and the Holy Spirit filled that car so thick and I opened my mouth and it was like I could not control my tongue anymore but these sounds came out with so much....

Speaking in our heavenly language is a way for us to pray to the Lord and the devil can't understand what we're praying....
 

PaperClip

New Member
Speaking in tongues is not presented anywhere in the Bible as something Christians should expect when they receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and are therefore baptized in the Holy Spirit.. In fact, out of all the conversion accounts in the New Testament, only two record speaking in tongues in that context. Tongues was a miraculous gift that had a specific purpose for a specific time. It was not, and never has been, the evidence of the reception of the Holy Spirit.


Note: I won't be back until day after tomorrow but I cannot wait to read your opinions on all of this.

Out of the mouth of TWO or more witnesses, so let the word be established: Matt 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1.
 

PaperClip

New Member
What I hear when people speak in tongues doesn't sound like actual languages, it's more often the repetition of the same syllables/words... Can't wait for the day when I'll witness that

No offense, but do you speak another language besides your native tongue?

And speaking in one's heavenly language is just like a new baby learning how to talk. First they say one or two syllables and then their "vocabulary" grows.... I've heard the mature intercessors and their tongues sound like fluent tongues of other earthly languages. It's a beautiful thing.
 

PaperClip

New Member
Ok then do we agree that speaking in tongues is not the ONLY way, the only evidence of someone being filled with the Spirit? Our conduct are evidence of that too right? Because you asked "How would we know that we are HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED believers without this EVIDENCE?"

I fail to understand how speaking in tongues would be the ONLY evidence of someone having God's Spirit

Maybe not "only", but a "significant" sign because speaking in tongues has a specific function.
 

MindTwister

New Member
No offense, but do you speak another language besides your native tongue?

And speaking in one's heavenly language is just like a new baby learning how to talk. First they say one or two syllables and then their "vocabulary" grows.... I've heard the mature intercessors and their tongues sound like fluent tongues of other earthly languages. It's a beautiful thing.
Yea to the first question and no offense taken ;)
What was the point of the question?:)

So RR do you agree that speaking in tongues is supposed to be actual existing languages?
 

PaperClip

New Member
Yea to the first question and no offense taken ;)
What was the point of the question?:)

So RR do you agree that speaking in tongues is supposed to be actual existing languages?

Good. The point of the question was to see if you were hearing actual syllables in a different language or were you hearing babble like a new baby speaking....

Per your second question, I think it's both. Sometimes it's existing languages and sometimes an entire new tongue altogether. The Sovereign Lord got it like that.
 

Keen

Well-Known Member
It's Acts 2:38:
"37 When the Jews heard this, their hearts were troubled. They said to Peter and to the other missionaries, "Brothers, what should we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Be sorry for your sins and turn from them and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you and your children. It is to all people everywhere. It is to as many as the Lord our God will call." (NLV)


1 Corinthians 12:
4-11God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

The "spiritual gifts" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 speak to the distinct manifestations that either come upon a person at a particular moment for a particular situation, or some of these manifestations reside, regularly in a believer as it is part of his/her ministry or function. See these as specific FUNCTIONS, as they are noted in the same chapter that speak to PARTS OF THE BODY... each BODY PART has a specific FUNCTION.

Where as Acts 1:38 speak to a kind of "sealing" or preservation, if you will, of a believer who receives and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The EVIDENCE that the Holy Spirit swells within a BELIEVER.

Acts 1:1 The followers of Jesus were all together in one place fifty days after the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. 2 All at once there was a sound from heaven like a powerful wind. It filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then they saw tongues which were divided that looked like fire. These came down on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they began to speak in other languages which the Holy Spirit made them able to speak.

How would we know that we are HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED believers without this EVIDENCE? Anybody can SAY they are filled. But what better "proof" is the actual heavenly language, tongues?

So the gift of the holy spirit is speaking in tongue?
 

PaperClip

New Member
How come there is an emphasis on speaking in tongues and none on the other gifts? It's my understading that ALL those gifts serve a specific function right?

Maybe it depends on the context of the conversation. Tongues may seem to get all the attention because there is confusion between the Acts 2 explanation of tongues to EVERY BELIEVER versus the 1 Corinthians 14 manifestations of the Holy Spirit, of which one of the nine is gift of tongues.

Revelation Gifts - gifts that reveal something
Power Gifts
- gifts that do something
Inspiration Gifts
- gifts that say something

Here's a link and it includes some wording re. your question about the fruit of the spirit: http://www.christcenteredmall.com/teachings/gifts/index.htm
 

kblc06

Well-Known Member
Yea to the first question and no offense taken ;)
What was the point of the question?:)

So RR do you agree that speaking in tongues is supposed to be actual existing languages?

I know this question wasn't addressed to me, but I'll give my take. I believe tongues is a form of the universal language (the language that we once all shared). From a linguistics perspective, it would be similar to "infant" tongue (all infants have the capacity to produce every occurring sound in human language). They also tend to lose this capacity as they age as well-but I think tongues are just a way of rediscovering what we once knew in a spiritual sense :wink2: , but I tend to think all spiritual discovery is a way of acquiring new knowledge about God and our world/universe.
 

divya

Well-Known Member
I know this question wasn't addressed to me, but I'll give my take. I believe tongues is a form of the universal language (the language that we once all shared). From a linguistics perspective, it would be similar to "infant" tongue (all infants have the capacity to produce every occurring sound in human language). They also tend to lose this capacity as they age as well-but I think tongues are just a way of rediscovering what we once knew in a spiritual sense :wink2: , but I tend to think all spiritual discovery is a way of acquiring new knowledge about God and our world/universe.

Do you have any scriptural references to support this?
 

MindTwister

New Member
Good. The point of the question was to see if you were hearing actual syllables in a different language or were you hearing babble like a new baby speaking....

Per your second question, I think it's both. Sometimes it's existing languages and sometimes an entire new tongue altogether. The Sovereign Lord got it like that.

In an ealier post you said that speaking in tongues is a VITAL part of a believer's walk. May I know why it's a vital part of one's walk?

What purpose do speaking in tongues specifically serve in the Bible? If you could please answer me with specific scriptures I'd appreciate it (not because I'm trying to be argumentative lool, just trying to have reference points since I'm not that well versed in the topic)

If the puprpose of speaking in tongues is to edify the body and/or to spread God's Word and be able to minister to others in their own language, why would there be a need for a new language?
That's why I'd like to know the original purpose of speaking in tongues
 

MindTwister

New Member
I know this question wasn't addressed to me, but I'll give my take. I believe tongues is a form of the universal language (the language that we once all shared). From a linguistics perspective, it would be similar to "infant" tongue (all infants have the capacity to produce every occurring sound in human language). They also tend to lose this capacity as they age as well-but I think tongues are just a way of rediscovering what we once knew in a spiritual sense :wink2: , but I tend to think all spiritual discovery is a way of acquiring new knowledge about God and our world/universe.
But Acts portrays the believers speaking actual languages though
 
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