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What We Believe Concerning - Holy Spirit & Gift of Tongues
(A brief explanation)
I. God Is Not The Author Of Confusion
We take the position that God is not going to endorse Christian activity and behavior in a manner that will cause confusion to an individual, or group of individuals and in the various church services. I. Corinthians 14:33
2. Holy Spirit Evidence
We do not believe the evidence of a Christian walking daily with the Holy Spirit is manifested by speaking in known or unknown language (tongues).
We believe the evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life is seen in the "fruit of the spirit" as set forth in Galatians 5:22-23; (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control) The fruit on a tree tells us what kind of tree it is when we cannot discern its "leaves", "bark", or even the trees around it. Likewise, the Bible tells us "they will know them by their fruit" Matt. 7:6a. Speaking with a known or unknown language is not proof that one has the Holy Spirit in one’s life.
3. Speaking In Tongues Is A Gift from God.
We believe in speaking in tongues mentioned in God's Word is one of the many gifts as mentioned in Romans 12:3-8 and I Corinthians 12. It is not a gift that is mentioned as being better or less than any other gift. It is merely listed along with the other gifts.
In Acts 2:1-12 the tongues mentioned appeared in two forms:
1. as of fire v.3
2. in a known language v. 4-12
Because this was an 'initial' revelation of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised He would send and provide for the believers it had to be done in a way that they could know that it had happened. Our Lord chose the event and experience of Acts 2 to do this for the disciple's benefit.
When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit we will see 'long term' evidence of such. We quite often refer to this as 'being filled' (an ongoing process). We also call it being 'sanctified' (set apart in various areas of our life) for the Lord's use.
4. Evangelistic Purpose
The 'gift of tongues' is just that. It is a gift. A gift given, according to Scripture, by the Holy Spirit and in a known language usually for evangelistic purposes.
“Tongues should not be used in a service where unsaved people are not present. It is to be a sign to unbelievers, not to believers (I Corinthians 14:22). This also rules out ecstatic tongues (i.e. any tongue which is not a human language and hence has no use in evangelization). The Holy Spirit is sent to convict the unsaved, and a message in a tongue unlearned but in the language of the hearer would be a greater convicting sign to the unsaved, but a message in a language unknown to a hearer and then interpreted into his language would be less convincing and convicting than a prophecy, i.e., a message, directly in the hearer’s own language, Hence, prophecy is to be preferred to tongues (I Corinthians 14:2-6, 9, 11, 23-25).”
Special Note
The Gift of Tongues is not to be confused with the reference to languages to Article 15 of The 26 Articles of Religion (of the Evangelical Methodist Church). Article 15 refers to the use of Latin and other languages in church services prior to the Protestant Reformation.
Holy Spirit And Tongues ; Light And Life Press, 1974,
Dr. Wesley Duewel pp 44-45.
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