1 Cor 12:28-31
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. (NIV)
However, this passage is merely making a statement of fact: That not everyone does speak in tongues. It’s true—I can show you many Christians who do not. However, that does not mean that they shouldn’t. Let’s see if God says they should:
1 Cor 14:5
5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. (NIV)
Now that you’ve noticed that God would like every one of us to speak in tongues, read this passage again with that in mind.
1 Cor 12:28-31
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. (NIV)
This passage is merely saying that not everybody speaks in tongues publicly. We already knew that. Here’s something it does not say: “not all can pray in tongues, and some shouldn’t”.
Even
if Paul is talking about praying tongues here, it would not negate his
statement in 1 Cor 14:5 in bold above.
He would simply be making an observation of fact, not doctrine. That fact would be this: not all Christians
are baptized in the Holy Spirit with the
evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance (Acts
2:4). That is clearly the situation
in the church at
However, that does not make the situation God’s will (1 Cor 14:5). There are many situations noted in the Bible which are not God’s will. He would like all men to be saved (John 3:16) and filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues (Acts 2:38). That does not mean that God’s will for man will always occur. The problem is not God’s willingness or faithfulness, but man’s.
Paul’s corrects the situation by offering consequent advice in verse 31. He
I. States the current situation of certain believers lacking certain miraculous spiritual gifts.
II. Offers a solution in verse 31. For all of them to eagerly desire all the gifts in greater measure.
You may not agree with my stance, but show me a contradiction please. Do you believe a charismatic “one-scripture doctrine” with 6 contradictions? Many who call themselves “Pentecostal” do. It goes like this: “1 Corinthians 12:30 implies that not all believers can/should speak in tongues”. At face value, this seems like the implication to many honest readers:
1 Cor 12:28-31
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. (NIV)
Let’s test this interpretation in light of other scripture. R.W. Deese B.Th, M.Div lists 6 contradictions that follow the above “one-scripture doctrine”
By R.W. Deese B.Th, M.Div
1
Corinthians 12:30
1 Corinthians 12:30 must NOT
contradict the New Testament Context.
|
Acts – The GIFT of
the Holy Spirit Accompanied by
Tongues |
1 Corinthians – The
Gift of Tongues |
|
In EVERY CASE where believers spoke in tongues in the book of Acts, they did so when receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit. |
1 Corinthians 12-14 says absolutely NOTHING about receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit. In fact, the subject is delineated for us. The subject is the MINISTRY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS! Chapter 12 begins with “Now concerning SPIRITUAL GIFTS”, and chapter 14 begins, “Follow after charity, and desire SPIRITUAL GIFTS”. |
|
In EVERY CASE where believers spoke in tongues in the book of Acts, they ALL SPOKE AT THE SAME TIME! |
1
Corinthians admonishes believers to SPEAK BY TWO OR BY THREE, and ONE AT A
TIME (1 Corinthians 14:27)! |
|
In EVERY CASE where believers spoke in tongues in the book of Acts, there was NO INTERPRETER! |
In 1 Corinthians, when there was no interpreter, THEY WERE TO STOP (14:28). |
|
In EVERY CASE where believers spoke in tongues in the book of Acts, THEY BROKE THE SCRIPTURAL PATTERN FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. How? ALL spoke in tongues! |
By contrast, 1 Corinthians informs us that God divides the gifts up, but THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT HE DID SO IN ACTS! They all spoke in tongues (accept the one time they prophesied as well)! |
|
In EVERY CASE where believers spoke in tongues in the book of Acts, THEY WERE NOT FOR THE COMMON GOOD! Hence, no one was edified except for individual, personal edification (1 Corinthians 14:2). |
1 Corinthians informs us that the gifts are for corporate edification (1 Corinthians 14:26), and through the means of the Gift of Interpretation, tongues would qualify for edifying others! |
A. If there is no distinction between tongues at
Spirit Baptism and tongues as a gift to the church, then we are left with the
following contradictions.
1. All those who received the Holy Spirit at
Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Ephesus (Acts 2, 10, 19) violated Paul’s admonition to
speak by two or at the most three, and one at a time (1 Corinthians 14:27), and
to stop if there was no interpreter (v. 28).
2. Those in Acts also broke the Scriptural
pattern for the distribution of spiritual gifts. EVERYONE spoke in tongues! 1
Corinthians 12:29, 30 seem to indicate that only some speak in tongues.
a. Which passages are correct? I contend that
they are both correct when blended properly. In the book of Acts, when everyone
spoke in tongues, they violated no Scripture because they were not receiving
spiritual gifts. All received the same GIFT (the Holy Spirit) with the same sign
(tongues).
b. An example of similar interpretation problem
would be centered on the question of what happened to Judas Iscariot? Did he
hang himself (Matthew 27:5), or did he fall down and die (Acts 1:18)? Both of
those passages need to be blended or they contradict each other!
3. The Gentiles at
a. Doing this would be very disorderly if they
were operating the gift of tongues! However, when the Gentiles burst out in
tongues, bringing Peter’s message to an abrupt end, Peter not only failed to
rebuke them but even implied that the interruption was timely when he said,
"Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have
received the Holy Spirit as well as we? (Acts 10:47). These new Spirit-filled
believers were not disrupting the order of service – it WAS God’s "order
of service" to save their souls and fill them with the Holy Spirit!
4. The book of Acts "demonstrates"
that tongues were not being used for "the common good" (1 Cor. 12:7).
a. Tongues, evidently, were not for "the
common good", for, as far as we know, no one interpreted or understood
them. Hence, no one else was edified, except for whatever edification might
result from knowing that some ELSE has received the Holy Spirit.
b. Were these believers "in the
flesh"? Did these believers violate the principle of doing everything unto
edification? (1 Corinthians 14:26)? No! Absolutely not! They were certainly
edified by praying in tongues (1 Cor. 14:4). Moreover, knowing that they had received
the Promise of the Father edified them all. This, in fact, was the reason for
the tongues (Acts 10:46)
5. If tongues are only a SPIRITUAL GIFT, then
Paul speaking in tongues somewhere other than church (1 Cor. 14:18, 19) also
violated the "common good" principle (1 Cor. 12:7). Therefore, Paul
was out of line when he spoke in tongues more than all the Corinthians. He was
using his "gift of tongues" at "home".
6. If there is no distinction between tongues as
a prayer language for the believer and tongues a spiritual gift for the church,
then Paul contradicted himself in the space of two chapters. In 1 Corinthians
12:30, Paul said, "Do all speak with tongues? [no!]" Yet two chapters
later he said, "I want you all to be speaking in tongues" (1
Corinthians 14:5, lit. Greek).
B. One of the most important interpretation
rules of hermeneutics is simply this: Scripture cannot contradict Scripture. My
interpretation presents no problem between Acts and 1 Corinthians. These two
books of the Bible blend harmoniously. Your position has more than one
contradiction that cannot be resolved if one holds to your position!
- R.W. Deese B.Th, M.Div
So, obviously there are at least 2 different meanings of “tongues”. What are they?
1. A spiritual gift given in order (with an accompanying interpretation), per meeting, to edify the body collectively (same as 2c below).
2. An ability that any “Spirit Baptized” believer has, and can do at various volumes.
a. Praying loudly in tongues (Acts 10, 19), with no interpretation, especially upon initial reception.
b. Praying quietly or silently in tongues (1 Cor 14:14-18, 28) to yourself and to God.
c. Speaking loudly in tongues at a regular church meeting, expecting an interpretation from yourself or someone else (1 Cor 14:28).
Paul’s guidelines become clear and non-contradictory if one appropriately uses the above meanings. Those who only think of meaning #1, tend to use the following passage to say that not all should have a prayer language: As if God says to certain people, “Sorry buddy, it’s not my will for you to have this gift”. God did not say that to anybody.
Return to Tongues Initial Evidence.
Return to The Full Gospel's home page.
Return to thisGospel.com's home
page.