Are tongues available today???

Tongues



G1100
γλῶσσα
glōssa
gloce'-sah
Of uncertain affinity; the tongue; by implication a language (specifically one naturally unacquired): - tongue.



The question of tongues seems to be one of division among various denominations. The questions that I hope to answer are as follows.

1. Do tongues exist today?
2. Do tongues follow all believers at salvation?
3. Is it possible for us to talk in tongues?


In trying to understand this topic, we must look at the time and purpose of tongues. We will examine scriptural context and also we will look at perceived tongues as heard today by many charismatic churches.

The first time we are introduced to the use of tongues in relation to the new covenant is found in Acts 2.

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5 Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6 And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language.
Act 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8 And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born?
Act 2:9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,
Act 2:10 in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11 Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.
Act 2:12 And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
Act 2:13 But others mocking said, They are filled with new wine.
Act 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spake forth unto them, saying, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear unto my words.
Act 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but the third hour of the day;
Act 2:16 but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel:
Act 2:17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 Yea and on My servants and on My handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
Act 2:19 And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the day of the Lord come, That great and notable day.
Act 2:21 And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know;
Act 2:23 him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay:
Act 2:24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Act 2:25 For David saith concerning him, I beheld the Lord always before my face; For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
Act 2:26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; Moreover my flesh also shall dwell in hope:
Act 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption.
Act 2:28 Thou madest known unto me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of gladness with thy countenance.
Act 2:29 Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day.
Act 2:30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne;
Act 2:31 he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
Act 2:32 This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Act 2:33 Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear.
Act 2:34 For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Act 2:35 Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.
Act 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.
Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?
Act 2:38 And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Act 2:39 For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.
Act 2:40 And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation.
Act 2:41 They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Act 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
Act 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
Act 2:45 and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.
Act 2:46 And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
Act 2:47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved.


In every case above the Greek word used to describe the use of tongues is glōssa. This means literally that the language is of uncertain likeness or a language that they did not speak. It was unknown to the speaker, yet all those in the upper room were speaking. Look at v. 2-4. It says that they were ALL filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Now those outside heard it and they each understood it in their own language. So the tongues appeared for the purpose of reaching who?

Act 2:6 And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language.


Jesus had told His followers to wait in Jerusalem for the gift that He would send.

So there are two observations to be taken out of this text. The first one is that ALL the people spoke in tongues.

Act 1:15 And in these days Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (and there was a multitude of persons gathered together, about a hundred and twenty),

Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.


We are told that there were about 120 persons in the upper room waiting for God to pour out His Holy Spirit. Also we can observe that the Holy Spirit was poured out on all. This I do not believe was a salvation issue. What are we told throughout all of scripture?

Eph 2:8 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Heb 11:6 and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

So salvation is related directly to faith. Salvation does not consist of tongues, or any other spiritual gift as laid out in 1 Corinthians. These people were all in the upper room as devoted followers of Jesus already. Without going into details, scripture is clear from Hebrews and other books that we are saved by faith. Abraham, Enoch, Moses, they were all saved by FAITH. If this being the case, why do so many say you must speak in tongues to validate your salvation? Look at 1 John 3:14

1Jo 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.


The belief is that because ALL believers in the upper room received the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, that we should receive it too. It was not a salvation issue however. These people were already saved. They had been walking with Jesus for the past 3 years. They were under divine protection, and had divine authority. See Matthew 10 for further reading.



Now if the people were already saved, why tongues? God used these to make a point to all the different people gathered. Look again at Acts. There were people from all over the world. Medes, Persians, etc. Tongues were sent to communicate a message to these people. They were not to prove their salvation at all. It was a communication issue. God wanted to speak to these people, and to communicate His message to them. So in conclusion tongues are a communication issue not a salvation issue.

Now my final point I wish to argue is that it is possible for believers to speak in tongues.


1Co 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
1Co 12:2 Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might led.
1Co 12:3 Wherefore I make known unto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.
1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:5 And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord.
1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all.
1Co 12:7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit:
1Co 12:9 to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit;
1Co 12:10 and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 12:11 but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will.

So tongues are just 1 of many gifts that are available. We also see gifts of wisdom, knowledge, divine healings, and interpretations of these tongues. The key to this whole issue lies in v.11. As God wills. This is a gift that is given as it furthers God’s purposes. If we try to force something that is not truly of God we attempt to speak on God’s behalf. Remember, it was a form of communication for the building up of the church. Paul confirms this here.

1Co 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to the unbelieving: but prophesying is for a sign, not to the unbelieving, but to them that believe.
1Co 14:23 If therefore the whole church be assembled together and all speak with tongues, and there come in men unlearned or unbelieving, will they not say that ye are mad?
1Co 14:24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one unbelieving or unlearned, he is reproved by all, he is judged by all;
1Co 14:25 the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed.


So the point I am driving is that it is a gift given to certain people for communication. If you speak in tongues, you must have an interpreter to translate, and if not, remain silent. This shows that like gifts of knowledge, and teaching that it is available to those gifted to do so, they can exercise their will not to speak out and I believe in the same way, tongues can be suppressed. In the context of Paul’s writings in Corinthians, it is spoken of as a form of communication primarily to God. They had already established the church in Corinth and therefore they all spoke the same language. It seems therefore from the text that it would be far better to be teaching, not talking in tongues. Paul goes so far as to say

1Co 14:19 howbeit in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

So actual learning is far more important than tongues. With this being said, we can establish that tongues are non salvation related. They are a divine gift used to build the church. Paul said to desire the greater gifts. (Teaching, knowledge). If this is the case then why did Paul mention it?

Apparently people were unorganized and just speaking many words with no one to interpret. In the same way if we are in church and everyone stood up with a Word, there would be great confusion. Paul was simply putting order to the church. Remember what Jesus said.

Joh 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.


Many try to put God in a theological box and say that this does not happen anymore. This was a 1st. century thing to establish the church. If that is the case, then why do healings take place today. Why do demon possessed people still get delivered. In foreign country’s where the Gospel is just reaching, it is common for supernatural things to take place. The issue is that we as Americans have put God in our box. Jesus clearly said Greater things we will do. I take his Words over some scholars any day.

In closing I believe scripture gives adequate support for the use of tongues, although it is always a communication issue and not an unorganized event. God still heals supernaturally, and I believe the gifts are available today. Paul says to ask for the greater gifts. If the argument is that it was for the church back then only, then why not chuck the Bible, because it is just a book of history and not relevant today. I believe the Bible will answer that question.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2Ti 3:6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
2Ti 3:7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.