A gift of the Spirit

The Gift of Tongues

The nine gifts of 1 Corinthians 12 · 1 Corinthians 12:10

The gift of tongues is a Spirit given ability to speak in a language the speaker has not learned, whether to praise God or, when interpreted, to edify the church. Paul lists it among the gifts and gives careful instructions for its use in worship. Like every gift it is for the building up of the body, and it is nothing without love.

To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:1 Corinthians 12:10 (KJV)

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.Acts 2:4 (KJV)

What the gift is

Paul names divers kinds of tongues among the manifestations of the Spirit. In Scripture the gift appears in more than one form. At Pentecost the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, and the crowd from many nations each heard the wonderful works of God in their own language. In Corinth, Paul describes tongues spoken to God in prayer and praise, mysteries uttered in the spirit, which need interpretation to profit the gathered church.

Paul values the gift and says he would that ye all spake with tongues, yet he orders its public use with great care. In the assembly, he says, tongues must be interpreted, or the speaker should keep silence and speak to himself and to God, because what no one understands cannot build anyone up. The gift is real and good; its public use is to be governed by love and by the goal of edifying others.

How it appears in the New Testament

Tongues appear at the great openings of the gospel in Acts: at Pentecost, at the house of Cornelius when the Gentiles received the Spirit, and at Ephesus. In each case they are a sign that the same Spirit has been poured out. In First Corinthians Paul addresses tongues as an ongoing part of the church's worship, giving detailed rules: let it be by two, or at the most three, and that by course, and let one interpret; and if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church.

Paul is neither dismissive nor enthralled. He thanks God that he speaks with tongues, and in the same breath says that in the church he would rather speak five words with his understanding, that he might teach others, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. The whole aim is that all things be done unto edifying, so that the body is built up and God is glorified.

How it builds up the body of Christ

Paul's rule is simple: without interpretation, tongues edify only the speaker; with interpretation, they can edify the whole church, functioning much like prophecy. So in public worship the gift serves the body only when it is understood, which is why Paul insists on interpretation and on order. In private, the gift can be a means of prayer and praise to God, building up the believer's own communion with Him.

Above all, tongues must never become a badge of superior spirituality, a temptation clearly present in Corinth. Paul refuses to let any gift be ranked as a mark of maturity, and he frames the entire subject with love. A church that prizes tongues over love, or over the plain building up of the body, has missed the point of the gift entirely.

How to recognize and use it

If God has given you this gift, use it with the order and love Paul commands. In private, let it enrich your prayer and praise. In the gathered church, do not speak in tongues unless there is interpretation, so that others are edified and not confused; and let everything be done decently and in order. Never treat the gift as proof of a deeper spirituality, and never look down on those who do not have it.

And whether or not this is your gift, hold the whole subject in the peace Paul commands: forbid not to speak with tongues, and let all things be done unto edifying. The measure of every gift is whether it builds up the body in love and gives glory to God through Jesus Christ.

Where Christians differ, held honestly. Because tongues were a prominent sign gift in Acts and a point of confusion in Corinth, they are among the most discussed of all the gifts. Here sincere, Bible loving Christians genuinely differ, and it is worth saying so plainly. Cessationists hold that the more visibly miraculous gifts were tied to the foundational age of the apostles and to confirming the gospel before the New Testament was complete, and that they have therefore ceased, or greatly quieted, now that we have the finished Scripture. Continuationists hold that the Spirit never withdrew any gift, that the same God still gives as He wills, and that we should earnestly desire the gifts while testing everything by the Word. Godly, careful believers stand on both sides. The Living Bread takes no side in this. What every faithful reading agrees on is the purpose: the gifts are given by one Spirit to build up the church, never to exalt the person who carries them, never to rival or add to God's revealed Word, and never to be pursued apart from love.

How this gift points to Christ

Even this gift, Paul makes plain, is worth nothing without love, and its whole worth in the church is to build up the body of Christ. At Pentecost the tongues declared the wonderful works of God, and every right use of the gift still ends in the praise of God through Jesus Christ. It is never a trophy of spirituality but a servant of worship and edification, and when it is interpreted it magnifies the same Lord that prophecy and teaching magnify. Like all the gifts it belongs to Christ and returns its praise to Him, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever.

The more excellent way

Whatever place the gift of Tongues holds, Paul sets one thing above every gift. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, he says, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal; and though I have all knowledge, and all faith, and have not charity, I am nothing. The gifts will one day pass away, but now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; and the greatest of these is charity.

So this gift, like all the rest, is given by one Spirit for the common good, to build up the one body of Christ, and it is nothing at all apart from love. The gifts are not for our standing but for our serving, and they all belong to Him whose body the church is. Use whatever you have been given to love one another, and to point every eye to Jesus, from whom every good gift comes and to whom every gift returns its praise.

The Giver calls you

Every gift of the Spirit comes from the risen Christ and points back to Him. The same Lord who pours out gifts on His church calls you by name to know Him, to be filled with His Spirit, and to take your place in His body. Read the Word, pray, and gather with the family of God on The Living Bread. Free, with no ads, for all people.

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Questions people ask

What is the gift of tongues?

It is a Spirit given ability to speak in a language one has not learned, whether to praise God in prayer or, when interpreted, to edify the church. It appears at Pentecost in Acts 2 and is named among the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:10, with careful rules for its use in worship in 1 Corinthians 14.

Do Christians agree about tongues today?

No. Some hold that tongues, as a sign gift of the apostolic age, have ceased; others hold that the Spirit still gives them. Both agree they must never be a badge of superior spirituality, must be governed by love and order, and in public require interpretation to build up the church.

Is speaking in tongues proof that someone has the Spirit?

Paul teaches that not all speak with tongues, and he refuses to rank it as a mark of maturity. Every believer who trusts Christ has the Spirit. Tongues are one gift among many, given as the Spirit wills, and worthless without love.