SPEAKING IN TONGUES: is it Christ-like behaviour?
- The majority of 'Christians' who speak in tongues and interpret tongues belong to the Pentecostal Church or the Charismatic movement?
- The Pentecostal Church and the Charismatic movement are the fastest growing sections of the modern Christian Church?
- There are over half a billion (i.e. 500 million) 'Christians' around the world who belong to the Pentecostal Church or to the Charismatic movement?
- Speaking in tongues is also popular in pagan and satanic cults?
- Where did speaking in tongues come from?
- What is the spiritual significance of speaking in tongues?
Paul described 'speaking in tongues' in 1 Corinthians 12:10 and 14:1-28. He identified it as one of his nine ‘spiritual gifts’. Additional references to this practice are given in other Pauline passages.
In fact, in Mark 16:17, it is explicitly stated that a sign of true salvation is one’s ability to speak in tongues! Many Christians are not aware of this Pauline teaching regarding their eternal salvation!
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Of course, many believers will ask- if I cannot speak in tongues or if I don't believe in speaking in tongues, does this mean that I am not truly saved?
I think that this is a great question!
I hope that by the end of this Bible study you will be able to understand what God and Christ taught us about ‘speaking in tongues’.
OTHER PAULINE REFERENCES TO SPEAKING IN TONGUES
In Acts- specifically Acts 2:4, Acts 10:46 and Acts 19:6, Luke related examples of saved persons who spoke in tongues after becoming believers. I highly recommend that you read each one of these passages closely in order to understand for yourself what ‘speaking in tongues’ means from the Pauline perspective.
BTW- WHAT DOES THE TERM ‘PAULINE’ MEAN?
Please remember that in my Bible studies, I never use the term ‘Pauline’ to refer to Paul only (i.e. Saul of Tarsus).
Rather, the term 'Pauline' refers to a group of four persons.
This term refers to Mark, Luke, Paul and the author of the book of Hebrews (see 2 Timothy 4:11 and Philemon 1:24) whom together wrote seventeen of the New Testament's books.
The opposite of the term Pauline is the term 'Apostolic'. Apostolic refers to Jesus' 12 Apostles. And it refers to Matthew, John, James, Peter and Jude, in particular. These five men are the five authors of the ten Apostolic Books of the true New Testament.
WHY WAS SPEAKING IN TONGUES SO IMPORTANT TO PAUL?
According to Paul, he considered speaking in tongues to be the real evidence that a believer had been baptised by the Holy Spirit!
But I find this Pauline belief and doctrine odd and very puzzling. Consider the following question and facts.
DID JESUS OR HIS APOSTLES EVER SPEAK IN TONGUES?
No! In fact, in the Gospel of John 20:22, Jesus gave His Apostles the Holy Spirit but no one started speaking in tongues!
Furthermore:
- Jesus NEVER spoke in tongues!
- Jesus NEVER advised or taught His disciples or any of His followers to speak in tongues!
- There is no record in any of the TEN Apostolic Books that the Apostles EVER spoke in tongues or taught others to speak in tongues!
- The Old Testament NEVER mentions 'speaking in tongues' or any other unintelligible utterances as a good thing to be desired!
HARVEST TIME Prophecies’ is the blog post site of TNG Academy. Our blog post site gets its name from Matthew 13:30- the separation of wheat and tares that occurs at harvest time (i.e. the endtimes). Remember, the ‘wheat’ symbolises the things of God and the ‘tares’ symbolise the things of the devil.
The purpose of this blog is threefold.
1. Some of the posts are written to help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the theology of Christ’s core message- i.e. the ‘gospel of the kingdom’.
2. Some of the posts are written for the reader’s personal discipleship journey. We need to understand what God expects from us. After all, all believers should be on a journey of ‘becoming’ our best selves, capable of impacting and changing the world!
3. Finally, some of the posts are written to answer this question:
What would our faith look like today IF we had fully embraced Christ’s doctrines, as recorded by His Apostles, and rejected the doctrines of Paul and the other false apostles?
If we are sincere about our desire to restore Christianity to its roots, i.e. a return to Christ’s original message, then we must start by admitting that ‘while men slept’ (Matthew 13:25) the enemy planted false teachings (tares) into the New Testament!
Visit our website- WWW.TNGACADEMY.ORG, to see our Bible study books. Which books would I recommend for you to read first? Start with these three-
- WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
- MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN!
- THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES.
Comments
Post a Comment