May 31, 2026 -Tongues?
- brooks16055
- May 31
- 2 min read
Acts 19:1-6 NIV
[1] While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples [2] and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” [3] So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. [4] Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” [5] On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Reading this was the first time I have ever thought that I can see why the Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations could take these incidents in the book of Acts and interpret that if you are a believer, the Holy Spirit should come on upon you and you should speak in tongues and or prophecy. But you must consider all of scripture. I think this was very common in the early church, but I don't think that continued. It got me wondering when this started to fade. We know that Paul talks about the gift of tongues and prophecy in 1 Corinthians. I believe Acts and 1 Corinthians are the only books that talk about believers speaking in tongues. 1 Corinthians was written in the same time span of Acts. So, it was an early book. None of the other books mention speaking in tongues. Which helps me understand why many denominations say that the gift of tongues has ceased because it is no longer needed. I don't believe either extreme is right. I don't think tongues is necessary to show the filling of the Holy Spirit and I don't believe that we can decide what is necessary to emphatically say that the gift of tongues has ceased. I believe that all the spiritual gifts are possible and what gift is given to whom is decided by God. We cannot say that there is never a time when God might give someone the gift of tongues for some purpose of His. I don't believe that tongues would be common. I have talked to a few people in churches where they expect you to speak in tongues and they admitted they felt like they had to fake it. So, I don't think it is genuinely as common as it looks in those churches. I also would never say that God would never give that gift to someone.
They are gifts of the Spirit that are given by the Father through the Son so only He can say who should and will receive them.
Comments