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A Paper
Presented to
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In Partial Fulfillment
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by
Wes Terry
November 29 2007
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Two young boys pack their bags for church camp. They have been best friends
since the fifth grade and were eager to share a week together worshiping the Lord. Luke
was from a Southern Baptist background whereas Ethan had grown up with more of a
Pentecostal influence. When the boys got home from camp they could not wait to tell
their parents about camp. Ethan went home and told his mother that he had been filled
with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues at the Wednesday night worship service. Luke
came home happy that he had gone but worried about something. He told his dad that the
boys at camp told him he was not really a Christian because he could not speak in
tongues like the other kids. Luke’s father had to answer a question that is still argued in
evangelical circles. Has the gift of tongues ceased or is it still a valid spiritual gift for the
Church today? This question can be answered intelligently if one understands the
the gift of tongues by a biblically consistent standard that exalts Christ and diverts
the twentieth century. Concerning salvation, United Pentecostals hold that salvation can
be fully experienced only by being baptized in the name of Jesus and that salvation is
1
H. Wayne House, Charts of World Religions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2006), 33.
2
3
minister named David Wilkerson. The firsthand account comes from a twelve year old
Though she was young, Neda had already delved into the world of sex, drugs,
and alcohol. She knew kids who used to have the same problems, but after going to the
chapel and “speaking in other languages” they seemed to be able to resist temptation.
“So they made me want the same thing. I went into the chapel one day to pray
by myself. I started telling God all about my problems and I asked Him to come into
my life like he had to those drug addicts. Like a blinding light, Jesus burst into my
heart. Something took over my speech. It made me feel like I was sitting down by a
river that somehow was flowing through me and bubbled up out of me like a
musical language.”2
churches. Does a person’s conversion experience really count if it was not accompanied
with the ability to speak in tongues and the filling of the Holy Spirit? That depends on
A Look at Scripture
The examples of spiritual gifts in the New Testament are varied. No one list is
exhaustive nor is one particular gift named in every list.3 There also seems to be some
degree of overlap between spiritual gifts. In 1st Peter 4:11 the author boils down all
spiritual gifts into two categories: whoever speaks and whoever renders service. With
such overlap and vagueness in Scripture, both sides of the camp can find Scriptural
Some of the debate over tongues centers on the interpretation of 1st Corinthians
12-14. Many believers take the middle ground because they believe that Scripture does
2
David Wilkerson, The Cross and the Switchblade (New York: Bernard Geis
Associates, 1963), 197.
3
Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, ed. Jeff Purswell (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1999), 398.
4
not speak clearly enough to make a conclusive decision. Myron J. Houghton, a
Corinthians 13:8-13.
assertions. Gifts, though there are different forms and measures, are
given by one Spirit for the sole purpose of edifying the body. The gift
that the Spirit gives will be excuted in love and never point to ones self
temporoary and have thus ceased. He aruges that these gifts are
“revelational” and that this distinguishes them from any other spiritual
gift.4
Why are “revelational” gifts the ones that have been ceased? The differences in
inspired, infallible, and inerrant word of God. However, in addition to that, extra-biblical
revelations (such as prophecy and “words of knowledge”) are, in some cases, equal in
knowledge” have no such authoritative standing. This is why speaking in tongues has
become such a theological issue. Can you indorse one while dismissing the others?
This is why many Evangelicals refrain from taking sides on the issue. It is hard
to be completely certain on either side of the camp. Paul’s desire was that the Church
might be unified as one through the diversity of each person’s gift by the Spirit. Perhaps
4
Myron J. Houghton, "A Reexamination of 1st Corinthians 13:8-13,"
Bibliotheca Sacra (July-September 1996): 344-345.
5
the Charismatic focus on the individual has taken the application of speaking in tongues
and being “filled with the Spirit” past what is Biblically consistent.
Andreas J. Kostenberger, in his essay What Does it Mean to be Filled With the
Spirit, concludes that the trust of passages that deal with being “filled with the Spirit” are
not individual or anthropological (though this is certainly the case in many churches) but
instead corporate and ecclesiological.5 Granted, a “church” cannot be Spirit filled unless
its members are. Despite that, many churches today, Pentecostal and Baptist, place an
This can be better explained as the “Body of Christ” and Paul goes into great lengths
The driving force for Paul was the unity of believers and the spread of the
Gospel. Likewise, the decision over the legitimacy of tongues as a valid spiritual gift for
today should be discerned through the same filter. Does the gift of tongues exalt Christ
and divert attention away from oneself while edifying the Body or does it exalt self and
Paul went to great lengths to discuss spiritual gifts and their usefulness to the
Church. He places extra emphases on prophecy7 in Corinthians 14. Paul stresses the
5
Andreas J Kostenberger, "What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Spirit? A
Biblical Investigation," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (June 1997): 231-
232.
6
Romans 12:3-5 - For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober
judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one
body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we,
though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
7
This essay interprets the word prophesy as the preaching of God's word. The
author acknowledges that this word has a wider meaning, but in the verses that are being
discussed "preaching" (in some form or fashion) seems to be a suitable modern-day
6
importance of prophecy over tongues because prophecy is understood without
interpretation and is naturally more edifying to the Body.8 Again, Paul’s primary concern
was the unity of the Church and the spread of the Gospel.
Speaking in tongues is a legitimate gift of the Holy Spirit, but the Corinthian
believers were using it as a sign of spiritual superiority rather than as a means to spiritual
unity. This author argues that this same abuse of the gift of tongues it still rampant today
and is evidenced much like it was in the fictional story at the beginning of this essay. To
judge a person’s relationship with God on an exterior ability to speak in tongues is both
Take into account these points made my Paul in 1st Corinthians 12-14. One, it
is a spiritual gift from God (14:2). Two it is a desirable gift even though it is not a
requirement of faith (12:28-31). Three, it is less important than prophecy and teaching
(14:4). Paul even points out that he speaks in tongues more than all those he is writing to
(14:8) but still stresses prophecy (preaching) because it benefits the whole church. These
spiritual gift.
Conclusion
Is the gift of tongues a valid spiritual gift for today? The conclusion of this
author is that the practice of speaking in tongues by most of those who claim to posses it
flatly contradicts what a valid spiritual gift is given by God to accomplish. Often, the
ability for one to speak in tongues alienates other believers from the body more than it
equivalent.
8
1st Corinthians 14:4-5 - The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself,
but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues,
but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in
tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
7
brings unity. Seldom does one who speaks in tongues during a worship service exalt the
name of Jesus and divert attention away from his or her self. Sadly, the opposite is true.
May the reader recognize that the evidence given does not conclude with
confidence that speaking in tongues has ceased all together. Many orthodox, genuine,
Christ-followers claim to posses the gift and practice it today. The author is not prepared
to conclude that those persons are mentally unstable or biblically inconsistent. However,
when one manipulates Scripture in order to draw attention to himself and his giftedness
while condemning another’s faith as incomplete because of the lack thereof, he has
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bruce, F.F. Ronald F. Youngblood and R.K. Harrison. Compact Bible Dictionary.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc, 2004.
Grudem, Wayne. Bible Doctrine, ed. Jeff Purswell Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
Houghton, Myron J.. "A Reexamination of 1st Corinthians 13:8-13," Bibliotheca Sacra
(July-September 1996): 344-345
Kostenberger, Andreas J. "What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Spirit? A Biblical
Investigation." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (June 1997): 229-
240.
Wilkerson, David. The Cross and the Switchblade. New York: Bernard Geis Associates,
1963.