Speaking in Tongues : Real or Fake?

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Speaking in Tongues Real or Fake

Speaking in Tongues : Is it real or fake?

Speaking in tongues is the New Testament phenomena where a person speaks in a language that is unknown to him. This language is either the language of angels or other earthly languages (1 Cor. 13:1). It occurred in Acts 2 at Pentecost and also in the Corinthian church as is described in 1 Corinthians 14. This New Testament gift was given by the Holy Spirit to the Christian church and is for the purpose of the edification of the Body of Christ as well as for glorifying the Lord.

There seems to be three divisions in the use of tongues: First, a private prayer language that is not interpreted; second, a language that is interpreted — this defines proper usage in the Christian congregation; and third, missionary context — that is, it appears in the context of evangelism where people are presenting the gospel.

Speaking in Tongues : Must for Salvation?

Some churches maintain that you must speak in tongues in order to be saved. This is a grave mistake since not all people speak in tongues because not all people are gifted by the Holy Spirit this way. Tongues must not be focused on as being the only evidence of having received the Holy Ghost/Spirit. It is NOT the only evidence of Holy Spirit! 1 Cor. 12:27-31 Everyone does not receive the gift of speaking in tongues. Just as we must not forbid it, we must also not require it. The bible does NOT say that speaking in tongues is required and it does NOT say that speaking in tongues is the only evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost.

1 Cor. 12:7-11,28-31 — “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills…28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts.

So, the gifts of the Spirit are varied and they are for the edification of the body of Christ. Speaking in tongues is not necessary for salvation and it is not a prerequisite proof of Baptism in the Holy Spirit. We must remember the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 13:1-2,13 given below.

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing….13 But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Speaking in Tongues : Holy Bible says

Acts 2
Acts 10
Acts 19:1-7
1 Cor. 12
1 Cor. 14
Mark 16:17

Speaking in Tongues : Conclusion

Speaking in tongues is a Real Gift from GOD. Sometimes some people speak false gibbish, some times people speak in devil tongues but other times some people do correctly use the real gift from GOD known as speaking in tongues. If and when done from and of God, it is Biblical. The ministers that forbid it are going against 1 Cor. 14:39 “forbid not to speak with tongues”! Paul’s solution to the tongues problem in the Corinthian Church was not to forbid tongues, but to correct the improper use of the gift from GOD.

It was not for just the day of Pentecost. Pentecost happened in Acts 2. But speaking in tongues was continued in Acts 10 and Acts 19. No where in the Bible does it say that it stopped being allowed or that it was reserved only for the early days of the church. In fact, it says it will also be for the end times! And if it was for the early days AND the end times, then it is also for the in-between times! Acts 2:16-20.

Do you speak in tongues? Please share your thoughts here.

Related christian articles for further reading:

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16 thoughts on “Speaking in Tongues : Real or Fake?”

  1. When our Lord predicted the gift of tongues (the only mention of tongues in the four Gospel records) He said, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues” (Mark 16:17). The adjective “new” (Gr. kainos) can only mean they were going to speak in languages new to them, that is, languages they had not learned or used until that time. If I say the Russian language is “new” to me, I do not mean that I never knew there was such a language, but rather its use by me is new to me because I can neither speak it nor understand it when I hear others speak it. On the other hand the English language is not altogether “new” to me because I can both read and speak it .

    The biblical narrative of Pentecost is given in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. As recounted in Acts 2:1-6:[4]

    And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.[5]

    So these days ppl in prayer groups speak in tongues at times ,whts that supposed to mean ??

  2. I speak and sing in tongues!When we are praying ( or speaking ) in tongues. it means that the Holly Spirit comes to help us, to heal, us, to deliver us from evil. Cause many times we don’t know what to ask, or how to ask, but The Holly Spirit knows everything we need! we don’t understand the words, ’cause It’s not us that are praying but The Holly Spirit in praying in our hearts. I comes from directly from the heart to our mouth. It doesn’t pass through our mind, That’s why we don’t understand. But there are some people that have the gift of interpretation of tongues. And we we talk about tongues. we don’t mean about any language of the world, but the tongue of the angels. The evil spirits can’t understand it. I’d like to say that this gift is the smallest one from the others. And God gives as many gifts He wants, to the people he wants, and when He wants…according to His will.God bless

  3. Dear friend in Jesus, please do read Paul’s writings to Corinthians again and again. He never recognized and never agreed to speak in tongues in the church. [ref 1Cor14:9-11]

  4. Yes i totally agree with John David !!!

    In 14:7-11, Paul gives three analogies that expound on the necessity of intelligibility in the church. First, Paul uses the metaphor of musical instruments. In order to be understood or appreciated musical instruments must play a discernible melody. In 14:7, Paul writes, “Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp?” Paul cites the flute and harp, two of the common musical instruments of his day. The point he makes is: if the musician does not give a clear distinction between the notes on whatever instrument is being played, the people will not understand the tune.

    The second metaphor comes from the field of battle. Bugle calls to battle must be clear enough for soldiers to distinguish “Advance!” from “Retreat!” In 14:8, Paul writes, “For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?” Trumpets or bugles were often used to summon people to battle or to give a signal for when to charge the enemy or when to stop fighting because the battle was over. Presumably there were different note patterns for each command. But if the trumpeter sounded either an unclear note pattern or a muffled sound so that the soldiers could not clearly distinguish what was being played, they would become confused and not know what they were supposed to do.

    The third and final metaphor explains that foreign languages remain unintelligible to those who have not learned them. In 14:9-11, Paul writes, “So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian [i.e., foreigner], and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.” The one who speaks in tongues without interpreting is speaking into the air. In basketball, a player that misses a shot hears the chant “air ball…air ball!” Similarly, the person who blurts out a tongue in worship without an interpreter could hear the chant “air talk…air talk!” It is important to understand that these verses merely serve as an illustration. Paul is not saying here that the gift of tongues in this context is a foreign language. He is simply trying to say that tongues must be interpreted or they are of no value to those who can’t interpret.27 Applying all three of these illustrations, Paul says that it is not the mere sound of speaking that is important, but whether the sounds can be understood by the hearers.

  5. I do speak in tongues. God has gifted me with this gift of tongues.
    I speak in tongues when i praise God and pray in the Holy Spirit.
    There is also another great blessing which is hidden in the gift of tongues.
    I start to speak in tongues whenever i have terrible pain in my body, whenever i feel disturbed and whenever i don’t have words to pray in any language.
    Suddenly, a great presence of God fills me and His strength is made PERFECT in me.
    A great peace which surpasses all understanding if this world fills my heart.
    My body experiences a divine healing touch of the nail-pierced hands of Lord Jesus Christ.

  6. Yes I speak in tongues. I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit on Tuesday October 23, 2001 at our Tarry service & I’ve been speaking ever since. I am glad that I have the gift of speaking in tongues as the spirit gives utterance. I have the power that is associated with the Holy Spirit as well

  7. I have studied this a lot and have also conferred with biblical history scholars. I learned that the “Tongues” mentioned in Acts and 1 Corinthians are described as “new”, “other” or “foreign” tongues (meaning: earthly- established languages). And what people are claiming today is most likely to be hyped-up emotions from being raised in that form of environment. In other words, if they had not been exposed to this phenomenon as a child, they would not experience this “revelation” for themselves; and many would understand that the gift of tongues were the ability to learn another man’s language quickly, so as to be able to share God’s Word with others of other nations – this is the historical fact.

    But then people were speaking their own indigenous language, each one to another, e.g., Medes were speaking Mede and Parthians were speaking Parthian while Arabians were speaking Arabic without either of them speaking the universal language of Greek (prophecy: share God’s Word) so that all may understand and say “Amen”! There are extensive scholarly researches on this that took place in Southern Greece, about 1957 years ago. I have to agree with David and Anisha who is meticulously insightful. If the both of you may, please look me up in Facebook, I would love to fellowship. Thanx…

  8. the holy ghost is a gift from god it’s his spirit when god gives u his spirit they way u will know is because you will speak with other tongues that is your inital evidence.. now the gift of tongues is different thats a gift everybody won’t have that gift but you need the gift of the holy ghost from god because you have to be reborn again of the spirit

  11. I had a my daughters friends mum talk tongues in my kitchen. We had been sat outside and i was explaining how i had christ consciousness since 2001 and then a lightship flew past in the sky and she wouldnt look lol. She was a total bible bashing nutter with a closed mind and no belief that change comes from within. That we are ALL capable of having christ consciousness. I was just explaining that 666 was actually a christ number (18) and she started clutching her stomach uttering gibberish. I thought she had stomach ache or something lol. She then said at the end of her ‘possession’ that it meant she was right! LOL how EGO! I havent had her round since. You cant talk to absolute brainwashed people. Tongues indeed!

  12. speaking in tongues is an awesome gift from God and its the power we need today in our personal lives ,in the church and for our families and our country the world would be a better place if every believer would use this gift daily

  14. Good Morning, I just have a question that kips on hindering me from the last few weeks..

    I dont’t know if its real but i need to be clarified and given ideas of this enquiry.

    A woman spokesing in tongues in church and i was at the altar call.. at da midst of my worship i have this goosebumps in my whole body.

    I have been going to the altar many times but fist time in my life to have that feeling.

    What is it? Is it normal? Is anything happening in the Church? Need some advice..

  15. i had a problem with speaking in tongues…i used to speak the tongues of the enemy before i became a christian because i was involved in the occult….now i am having problems…even when i try to speak i am afraid it might come from the enemy and when i am going for it…i would say a word that is not from GOd…now i dont know what to do….i really wanted to speak in tongues ….hope you can help me.

  16. Prays the Lord our God I have the gift of speaking in tongues. When I speak I tongues, I feel peace surrounding on me, love, compassion for people and I pray for people to get heal and for me too. On Mark 16:17 this versus coming for our Lord Jesus Christ new testament and Isaiah 28:11 is God speaking in the old testament, if do not believe that speak in tongue is real, than you are not truly believe.

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