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Key Verse
"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." (1 Corinthians 14:2, NKJV)
Learning Objectives
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
1. Distinguish three uses of tongues in the New Testament: the sign of Spirit baptism, private prayer, and the public gift with interpretation.
2. Explain what Paul teaches about the value of tongues and about their limits in 1 Corinthians 14.
3. Describe the gift of interpretation and state how it differs from translation.
4. Give the rules Paul sets for tongues in the assembly and apply them to a service.
5. State the main objections to tongues, including the cessationist argument, and give the Pentecostal answer.
The Voice of This Course
This course is written from inside the classical Pentecostal tradition, for students who belong to it. It is conservative and Trinitarian. We believe that speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit that continues in the church today. Other faithful Christians disagree, and we state their views fairly before we answer. Course 2, Units 4 and 5, already study Spirit baptism and the doctrine of initial evidence, and Course 1 tells the history. This unit does not repeat those studies. It asks a practical question: what does the Bible teach about how tongues and interpretation work, and how should a pastor lead a church that practices them?
Three Uses of Tongues
A common confusion arises because people speak of "tongues" as if the Bible meant only one thing. A careful reading shows three uses, and a pastor who sees the difference can answer many questions.
1. Tongues as the sign of Spirit baptism. In Acts, tongues accompany the coming of the Spirit on groups of believers. "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). At the house of Cornelius, the Jewish believers heard the Gentiles "speak with tongues and magnify God" (Acts 10:46). At Ephesus, "the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:6). Our tradition teaches that tongues are the initial evidence of Spirit baptism. The case for this was made in Course 2, Unit 5, and we do not repeat it.
2. Tongues as private prayer and praise. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul speaks of a person who speaks in a tongue "not to men but to God" (14:2). He says, "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself" (14:4). He then adds, "I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding" (14:15). He thanks God that he speaks in tongues more than all the Corinthians (14:18). Paul treats tongues as a normal part of his own devotional life. Many Pentecostals also connect this with Romans 8:26, where the Spirit helps our weakness and intercedes with groanings too deep for words. Whether Paul has tongues in mind in that verse is debated, so we use it with care.
3. Tongues as a gift for the assembly, with interpretation. In 1 Corinthians 12:10 Paul lists "different kinds of tongues" and "the interpretation of tongues" among the manifestations of the Spirit. In the gathered church, a message in tongues is to be interpreted so that all may be built up (14:5, 27-28). This is the use that needs the most order and the most pastoral wisdom.
Paul asks, "Do all speak with tongues?" (1 Corinthians 12:30). The question expects the answer no, and the context is the public gift in the church. Pentecostals read this as a question about the gifts in the assembly. Not everyone has the public ministry of tongues with interpretation, while every believer may receive tongues as the Spirit gives utterance in Spirit baptism. Some evangelicals read the question differently. We present our reasons in Course 2.
What Are Tongues?
Known languages and unknown tongues
At Pentecost the crowd was amazed because each person heard the disciples speaking in his own language (Acts 2:6-8). This shows that the Spirit may give believers a language they have never learned. In 1 Corinthians 14, however, Paul says "no one understands him" (14:2), and a message in tongues needs interpretation. Paul also writes, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels" (1 Corinthians 13:1). Pentecostal students hold different views on whether the tongues of 1 Corinthians are always human languages, or may sometimes be a heavenly or spiritual speech. The Bible does not require us to settle the question. In both cases the speaker does not understand the words with his mind, and the Spirit gives the utterance.
Over the years, some scholars have studied the sounds of tongues and have said that they do not look like natural languages. We reply that Scripture, not linguistics, tells us what the gift is. A scientific study may describe the sounds. It cannot show whether the Spirit is at work, and it cannot be the final test.
The value of tongues
Paul does not despise tongues. He says "I wish you all spoke with tongues" (14:5), and "do not forbid to speak with tongues" (14:39). He values tongues for self-edification, for prayer and praise, and for blessing others when interpreted. Pentecostal believers often report that praying in tongues strengthens their devotional life, makes them more sensitive to the Spirit, and helps them pray when they do not know what to say. We receive this witness with thanks, but we also remember that feelings are not proof, and that the gift is for service and not for pride.
The limit of tongues
Paul also teaches limits. "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church" (14:4). In the church he prefers clear speech: "yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue" (14:19). This is not a rejection of tongues. It is a rule of love. The question in the assembly is not "What do I feel?" but "Who is helped?"
The Gift of Interpretation
When a message in tongues is given in the assembly, Paul says someone should interpret (14:13, 27). A person who speaks in a tongue is told to pray that he may interpret (14:13), so one person may have both gifts.
Interpretation is not the same as translation. A translator works from a known language and renders each word. The one who interprets receives from the Spirit the meaning of the message. The interpretation may be shorter or longer than the utterance, and it may not follow word for word. Paul says that tongues with interpretation have the same value as prophecy: "he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification" (14:5). In practice, interpretations are usually messages of praise, encouragement or prayer to God, or words that are close to prophecy. For this reason, they are weighed in the same way as prophecy, which Unit 4 will study.
A word to bilingual churches is useful. In many of our congregations, a visitor may speak Spanish, English, or an indigenous language, and the pastor may be tempted to treat interpretation as language translation. It is better to teach the congregation clearly that a human translator renders a sermon from one language to another, and that a person with the gift of interpretation gives the meaning of an utterance in tongues. Both are valuable, and they should not be mixed.
Paul's Rules for the Assembly
In 1 Corinthians 14:26-33, Paul gives practical rules.
1. Everything must edify (14:26). When the church comes together, each one may have a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation. All must be done for the strengthening of the church.
2. Two or at most three may speak in a tongue, and each in turn (14:27).
3. Someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God (14:28).
4. The prophets also speak in turn, and the others weigh what is said (14:29-32).
5. The speaker keeps control. "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (14:32). The Spirit does not take away self-control, and so no one can say, "I could not help it."
6. The reason is God's character: "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints" (14:33).
Paul ends with the verses a pastor should know by heart: "Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order" (14:39-40). The two commands stand side by side. A church that forbids tongues disobeys the first. A church that allows disorder disobeys the second.
Objections and Our Answers
Objection 1: Tongues have ceased
Cessationists argue that tongues were a sign for the apostolic age. B. B. Warfield taught this in Counterfeit Miracles (1918). Some also point to Paul's statement that tongues "will cease" (13:8), and to his quotation from Isaiah that tongues are "a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers" (14:22), and conclude that the sign was meant for unbelieving Israel at the founding of the church.
Our answer. We take Warfield's concern seriously, and we do not claim that tongues add to Scripture. But the text of 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 says tongues will cease when "that which is perfect has come." We understand this to mean the return of Christ, when we shall see face to face, and we have given the reasons in Course 1, Unit 1. The same passage in 1 Corinthians 14 that calls tongues a sign for unbelievers also commands the church to use them with order and says Paul does it himself. Paul does not say the gift would stop before Christ returns. A sign for unbelievers also fits what happens today when an outsider is moved by hearing the Spirit's praise, though Paul also warns that outsiders might think the church mad if all speak in tongues without order (14:23).
Objection 2: Tongues are only emotion or learned behavior
Some critics say that modern tongues are learned imitation or emotional release. This criticism is sometimes just, and a pastor should be honest about it. In some churches people are pressed to produce tongues or are taught a method to "get" them.
Our answer. Abuse does not cancel the gift. The Spirit gives the utterance (Acts 2:4); human effort does not produce it. We should not pressure anyone, and we should not tell a seeker that he has failed. Jesus said that the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). We invite people to ask, to believe, and to yield, and we leave the work to God. We also test the fruit: a genuine work of the Spirit leads to love for Christ, obedience to Scripture, and humility. Unit 8 will discuss discernment more fully.
Objection 3: Tongues divide the church
This objection is serious. Corinth itself was divided over gifts, and many churches have been hurt by claims that people with tongues are more spiritual than others.
Our answer. Paul's remedy is not to remove tongues but to place them under love, order and the profit of all. The body of Christ includes those who speak in tongues and those who do not. We do not say that a believer without tongues is lost, or inferior, or less loved by God. We teach what we find in Scripture and invite all to seek it, and we remain at the table with brothers and sisters who read these passages differently.
Pastoral Application
During the Sunday service in a small church, a woman stands and speaks loudly in tongues. After her, another man does the same. A third person begins before the second has finished. No one interprets. A visiting couple from another church look uncomfortable. The pastor thinks, "Do I stop them? If I do, am I forbidding the Spirit?"
He remembers 1 Corinthians 14. Afterward, he does not shame anyone before the congregation. He meets privately with the people involved, with kindness, and with Scripture open. He explains Paul's three rules: no more than three, each in turn, and an interpreter or silence.
Then he teaches the whole church a short series on 1 Corinthians 12 to 14, so that the order is understood and not just imposed. He tells them that disorder does not honor the Spirit, and that silence when there is no interpretation is itself obedience to Scripture.
In the next services, he gently invites a mature member to interpret when possible, and he is ready to say, "Let us wait on the Lord," when no interpretation comes. He also speaks to the visiting couple after the service, thanks them for coming, and explains what the church believes and why. They may not agree, but they will see that the church tries to follow the Bible.
Summary
The New Testament shows three uses of tongues: the sign of Spirit baptism in Acts, private prayer and praise as in 1 Corinthians 14, and the public gift with interpretation. Paul values tongues, practices them, and does not forbid them. He also teaches that in the church, clear speech and interpretation matter more, because the aim is the building up of others. Interpretation gives the meaning of the utterance and is not word-for-word translation. Paul's rules require that no more than two or three speak in turn, that an interpreter be present or the speaker be silent, and that the speaker keep self-control, because God is a God of peace. We answer the cessationist, the skeptic and the critic of division from the text, and we hold our convictions with humility and love.
Further Reading
• Gordon D. Fee, God's Empowering Presence (1994).
• Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (1996).
• Wayne Grudem, ed., Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views (1996).
• Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (1993).
• B. B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (1918), a cessationist argument.
Unit 3 Exam
Certificate track: the 20 multiple-choice questions. Associate track: add the 10 fill-in-the-blank questions. Master’s tracks: add the 10 short-answer questions.