But isn't Tongues one of the 9 Gifts of the Spirit?
Rev Gary L Evensen
@2005 NJUPCINC
This study addresses the
question of whether tongues is simply one of the 9 Gifts of a spirit mentioned
in
Many are concerned with this
question and for the answer to this question let us delve into the Greek
definitions of the word Gift of the Holy Spirit in
The word for Gift as in gift
of the holy spirit is the Greek Dorea which come from doron which implies to us
a sacrifice
G1431:
gift as in gift of the Holy Spirit
do-reh-ah'
From G1435; a gratuity:—gift.
This word dorea comes from the Greek Doron
do'-ron
A present;
specifically a sacrifice:—gift, offering
Now lets look at
the word for gift of the Spirit which comes from the Greek word for charisma in
G5486 : gift as in gift of the spirit
char'-is-mah
From G5483; a (divine) gratuity, that is, deliverance
(from danger or passion); (specifically) a (spiritual) endowment,
that is, (subjectively) religious qualification, or (objectively)
miraculous faculty:—(free) gift.
The Greek definitions for Gift of the Holy
Spirit, the dorea does not denote a working of miraculous powers, but rather a
working of a new spirit in men, and that new spirit is from God
The Greek definition for Gift of the
Spirit, or charisma, does denotes the working of miraculous powers, a spiritual
endowment, a miraculous facility and is not speaking of the first time a person
is filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The Greek here denotes 2 separate applications
of the spirit, not 1 common spiritual experience, and this is where the disconcertion comes in.
When you talk about receiving the gift of the Holy
Spirit and receiving the Gifts of the Spirit you are talking about 2 completely
separate applications or administration of the same experience.
You may say that’s not possible but the same
distinction is apparent in regards to faith!
To be saved, everyone must have faith and
without faith you cannot be saved but
That gift of faith falls under the charisma,
the spiritual endowment which is above and beyond the normal realm of faith,
and so it is with tongues as the evidence of receiving the spirit and the
tongues used miraculously to deliver a message directly from the spirit of God
Paul said in
29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all
teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do
all interpret?
But the tongues he is speaking of here is
those used miraculously to receive a message from God to be interpreted, those
tongues fall under the miraculous endowment for service or the charisma.
In the book of Acts we find in the 2nd
chapter of Acts all 120 believers in the upper room spoke with tongues but they
received the Gift, the sacrifice, the doron of the Holy Spirit not the charisma
or Gift pf the Spirit which is above and beyond the normal experience like the
gift of faith is above and beyond the realm of normal faith.
When Jesus spoke of the Born again
experience in John chapter 3:1-8 in the latter part of the reading in verses
7-8 he explains something to further add to our understanding of this question
7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but
cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born
of the Spirit.”
John 3:7-8
Jesus relates the birth of
the spirit to the wind
The wind blows where it will
You hear the sound of it
You don’t know where its
coming from
You don’t know where its
going
And SO is everyone that is
born of the spirit
Jesus let us know, that just
as a baby is born in the natural and there is the sound of that baby’s cry at
birth
So there will be a sound that
accompanies every person that is born of the spirit!
Just like the newborn who
cries and the cry becomes the sign to all that are present that the breath of
life has entered into the new born child, that sound he spoke of is the sign
that the breath of the spirit has come into the believers life which also is
that witness to those present.
But at this point Jesus did
not reveal to us what this sound would be and for that we have to go to the
place where the Holy Spirit was poured out for the first time in Acts chapter 2
1When the Day of Pentecost had
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3Then
there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:1-4
The wind blew, there were
cloven tongues as of fire and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with tongues as the spirit gave the utterance
So we see 2 possibilities
here for the sound Jesus talked about, the rushing mighty wind and speaking
with tongues.
Lets move on further in Acts
to see which one was the sound.
44While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
45And those of the circumcision who believed
were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy
Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46For they heard them speak with tongues and
magnify God.
Acts 10:44-46
We find the sound here was
speaking with tongues
Lets go to a third witness in
Acts 19
5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Acts 19:5-6
The 3rd witness of
the scripture says the spoke with tongues when they received the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit.
Neither Acts 10 nor Acts 19
gave a witness of the wind being the sound so evidently the sound Jesus spoke
of in John 3:8 was speaking with tongues and it fits the description
You hear the sound of it – you hear
yourself or others speak with tongues
You don’t know where its coming from – you don’t
know where it came from because a person speaks with tongues as the spirit
gives the utterance.
You don’t know where its going – You don’t
understand what is being said. It may
sound like nonsense to the unbeliever but so does Chinese to those who cannot
understand the language.
You see the speaking with
tongues when a person is filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a
separate and distinct operation of the spirit from someone receiving tongues as
a gift of the spirit.
The tongues of the charisma,
or the gift of the spirit is to bring a message to the church from the spirit
of God and is meant to be interpreted to edify or build up the church and Paul
said in that instance if no interpreter in present for them one speaking with
tongues to remain silent because there is that difference in operation.
But as we find in the 3
witnesses in the book of Acts No such prohibition was put upon those who spoke
with tongues as the spirit gave the utterance when they were filled with the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Research suggests that the letters to the
Corinthians were written around 57 AD and the Book of Acts was written around
62 AD. Surely if the Apostles had meant for there to be a prohibition of
speaking in tongues by more than 2 or 3 when they received the baptism of the
Spirit they would have written it in to the book of Acts but its simply not
there.
Paul did not forbid speaking
with tongues, while the scripture is silent about his new birth experience we
find in 1 Corinthians 14:18 Paul said:
18I
thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;
1 Corinthians 14:18
Please understand that when
you are seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit you are not seeking a tongues
experience, you are seeking an experience with the spirit of God filling you
and your Biblical evidence that that has happened is when you begin to speak
with other tongues.
In conclusion, in order for a
person to receive a Gift of the Spirit they must first be born again of the
spirit and Jesus said there would be a sound that accompanied all believers who
were born again of the spirit. That sound is speaking with tongues.
I pray this study has given
some clarification of this issue of speaking with tongues as a evidence of receiving
the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Speaking with tongues as a gift of the
spirit.
How about you, Have you received the holy ghost since
you believed?