1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Question

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.
7 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.

These verses clearly states that there are many gifts of the Holy Spirit, given to each individual as He wishes. It clearly states that not everyone has all these gifts, nor does it state that everyone has to have one of these gifts. So, I'm confused. Why does so many people say that if a person does not speak in tongues, they are not baptized in the Holy Spirit? I never understood where people got this. So you see anywhere in these verses, or another in His Word, that backs up that theory?

Status: Open Nov 29, 2014 - 03:05 AM

gifts of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Comments (0) | New Comment

Do you have the same question? Follow this Question

Report it

7answers

Voted Best Answer

Nov 30, 2014 - 12:10 PM

Here are two good articles that I found about tongues:

-- “The Gift of Tongues Part 2: The Gift and Fact of Tongues Today”
http://www.blogos.org/exploringtheword/gift-tongues-2-today.php

-- "What is praying in tongues? Is praying in tongues a prayer language between a believer and God?”
http://www.gotquestions.org/praying-in-tongues.html

If you want to read more about tongues, there are additional links contained within and/or following those two articles. You can also search for "tongues" at www.gotquestions.org.

2

0

Report it

Comments (0) | New Comment

Answers

Nov 29, 2014 - 08:31 AM

You are really opening up a can of worms with this one...

By the way, you cannot take one passage and use it out of its context to make a doctrine. You must use the whole counsel of God's word.

I would first ask, what does the word baptism mean?
I would also ask do you realize that there are more than one baptisms referred to in the New Testament?
I can think of 3 off the top of my head... We are baptized into Christ by being born again and our spirits immersed in and changed into His life and becoming His offspring, we are baptized in water by immersion in water as an outward testimony of the inward change, and we are baptized in the Holy Spirit by being immersed in His Holy Spirit. From what I see in the Gospels and in the book of Acts, it is possible to be born again and yet not have been either baptized in water or baptized in the Holy Spirit. I am not certain, but I suspect that baptism in the Spirit requires a greater surrender of our will in order that He is given free reign in our lives even to the point that we allow Him to use our tongue to speak what sounds like an unintelligible foolish language to our own ears.

In the book of Acts, I read that some were born again and later had the Apostles lay hands on them and receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then they spoke with other tongues.

The book of 1 Corinthians Paul calls milk. He clearly tells them that they are so immature in this letter with strife, dissension and divisions that he is unable to give them anything but milk, yet this book causes more strife and division in the body of Christ today than any other book... What does that tell us about the state of the body of Christ today?

My understanding of what Paul was doing with his letter to the Corinthians was correcting a whole bunch of problems in their church. He clearly tells them that they are immature but yet that they come behind in no gift (the gifts you listed). In listing these gifts he points out that the Spirit of God gives to every man severally as He wills, meaning that these gifts are available to ALL Christians, but God only uses them according to His will so that the immature believer doesn't get puffed up with pride saying look at me, God uses me in the gift of the word of knowledge or whichever gift it was.

Paul is letting them know that this is exactly why one service God uses them and another He doesn't. But he goes on to point out a better way in Chapter 13. The better way is walking in and by love (agape) God's kind of love, because God is love. In other words living as Jesus lived and like Jesus lived, in spiritual maturity, annointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, going about doing good and healing all who are oppressed of the devil.

As he continues in to chapter 14 he explains how we as Christians will grow into this love... By spending our hours praying in the prayer language of the Holy Spirit for he who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks directly to God and no man understands him (not even himself) howbeit, in the spirit he is speaking mysteries (the mysteries that God speaks through that supernatural language as referred to in Chapter 2 which eventually are revealed to the natural mind). He tells them that the one who prophesies (or speaks the mind of Christ to the church) is greater than the one speaking in tongues, because the tongues are not understood and the prophesying edifies the church. But then he also informs them that in order to be edified to the place of prophesying you need to pray in tongues, because he who prays in an unknown tongue edifies himself. Then he goes on to tell them to seek to excel to the place of prophesying, how? By praying in tongues.

If you go back and read chapters 12-14 in sequence over and over, I believe you will begin to see it.

I cannot begin to express how important praying in tongues has become to me and all that it does for me which is the same testimony I hear over and over from those who spend a lot of time praying in tongues. Many times something in the Bible that made no sense before just all of a sudden I know what it means when I previously was clueless. On top of that, my Bible has come to life like never before and is like a tightly woven fabric with truths in one book illuminating truths in others. Furthermore, I see my prayers answered significantly more often than in the past and have a closer fellowship with Him and my love for Him is growing as the Holy Spirit sheds His love abroad in my heart.

This "weapon" may be the most dangerous to the kingdom of Satan and why he fights it so hard. Satan does not want Christians discovering who they really are and the dominion, power and authority they really carry as God's offspring. And when God's offspring are annointed by the Holy Spirit and going about like Jesus did destroying the works of the devil, his kingdom is in trouble.

I know many will argue that tongues is not for everyone, but God is not a respector of persons and He wants every child of God to be edified into spiritual maturity and anointed with the Holy Spirit and power and makes this gift available to all and misusing these passages in 1 Corinthians to tell Christians otherwise is exactly what Satan wants.

If you are interested in learning more about tongues and walking by the spirit, I highly recommend Pastor Dave Roberson's book:
The Walk of the Spirit, the Walk of Power.
You can find it in electronic format for free at his website: http://daveroberson.org/books.aspx
In addition, he has many series' of sermons on the topic that will instruct and edify you on the subject in the series section of the site.

0

1

Report it

Comments (0) | New Comment

Nov 29, 2014 - 09:48 AM

Just so you know, I do have the gift of tongues. I received it one day when I asked Him for it after attending church years ago. Also, I wasn't trying to make a doctrine, or support a doctrine. I was just saying that I couldn't understand where people got that interpretation (theory was the wrong word which I mistakenly used) from. I can see a point in which you described.

I do agree, however, that having the gift of tongues is a wonderful gift, but not the only evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. There are other gifts, in which I mentioned, along with Apostleship, Prophets, Teachers, Those Who Work Miracles, Healing, Tongues, and Interpreters. All these are evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I haven't read anywhere in the New Testament that speaking in tongues is the only evidence. What I have read concerning tongues is that alone, it is communication between God and that person. In a church, no tongue should be spoken unless an interpreter is there to interpret.

I have come across quite a few who say that they have prayed for the gift of tongues over and over, but never received it. And when someone tells them that the only evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues, I can imagine it would make them doubt their salvation. I know it would cause me to doubt it (if I was praying over and over for it, but never receiving it).

I am not claiming that I am correct in this, nor am I claiming that I am incorrect in this. However, if I am wrong, I do want to be corrected, because spreading lies about the Gospel is NOT something I want to do. This is why I brought this up. I see all these other gifts that Paul describes as evidence of the Holy Spirit.

Source:

0

Report it

Comments (0) | New Comment

Nov 30, 2014 - 12:11 AM

I remember and know that you speak in tongues. I was not implying that you don't.
My intention in answering your question was to try to clear up the understanding of the whole passage.

I also do agree that speaking in tongues is not the ONLY evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, however, everywhere that the Bible mentions Christians being baptized in the spirit it is the primary sign/evidence, and has nothing to do with whether a person is saved or not. Personally, I had the same problem you mentioned of "not being able to receive" for over 35 years and thought something must be wrong with me. The problem turned out to be a problem with my own thinking and unwittingly resisting the Holy Spirit instead of submitting to the work He wanted to do in my life. The majority of people that listen to Pastor Jim's sermons on the subject and follow his instructions at the end of those sermons receive the baptism and their prayer language. Our experience ("I cannot receive") does not nullify God's word... God's word is truth, whether our lives line up with His truth or not.

Furthermore, you mention Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists as gifts of the spirit, but the Bible does not reveal these as gifts of the spirit though it mentions them as gifts to the body of Christ, they are however, revealed as ministry callings.
I don't see anywhere else in the word of God any other mention of gifts of the spirit other than in 1 Cor 12. Also, being called to fulfill a ministry calling is not in and of itself evidence of having been baptized in the Spirit, however baptism in the Spirit should be a prerequisite for operating in these ministry callings in order for them to be edified to the place of prophesying to the church (according to 1 Cor 14).

--What I have read concerning tongues is that alone, it is communication between God and that person. In a church, no tongue should be spoken unless an interpreter is there to interpret.
Yes, tongues is primarily a language for edification of the believer. Yet there are diversities of tongues. From what I have seen in the Bible, there are 4 of them. 1 tongues for edification, 2 tongues for interpretation in a church gathering (both of these are mentioned in 1 Cor 14), 3 tongues as a sign to unbelievers (when God speaks a language known to the unbeliever but unknown to the one speaking it such as on the day of Pentecost), and 4 tongues for intercession as mentioned in Romans 8:26.
As for "no tongues should be spoken in church unless interpreted" That is the standard, however it is not wrong for believers to gather for the purpose of spending time praying in tongues together as a group when there are not unbelievers in their midst and Paul also identified in verse 15 that we may worship in tongues and with our understanding in a service and that worship need not be interpreted. Remember the purpose was to restore order. This immature church was having chaos during the services with one trying to out-do another. And there was little or no edification being received in those services.

In addition to Pastor Dave's book about tongues, Pastor Jim has a series of sermons entitled "Taking Heed to Your Ministry" wherein he breaks down in detail the passages in Ephesians, 1 Cor 12, and Romans 12 that mention and describe the ministry callings and shows how they are parallel passages all referring to the same ministry callings.
If you are interested in this series, you can find them here:
http://jmmgrace.com/teachings2.html

1

Report it

Comments (0) | New Comment

Nov 30, 2014 - 03:46 AM

I couldn't remember if I told you in the past about my having that gift or not. If I gave an impression that I got upset in any way, I apologize, I didn't even get a bit disappointed, much less upset or angry. I try not to let difference of opinions on God's Word to "get to me". All I do is tell someone my interpretation and also listen, because I am not right all the time, I'm human. But, in the end, if I still feel that I am correct, and the other person is wrong, then I leave it to God to open the eyes of that person. (Not saying that about this conversation, speaking of discussing God's Word in general.)

But about this subject, this conversation, I am referring to those who claims that the gift of tongues is the "only" sign of the Holy Spirit. Although I hadn't come across a lot of people, but I have came across a few that claimed that if someone didn't have the gift of tongues, they are not baptised in the Holy Spirit. There are other gifts mentioned in Paul's letter that are signs of the Baptism. I have read in quite a few verses where Paul encourages everyone to seek the gift of tongues. So, I agree, everyone should seek it. And if Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ Himself, encourages everyone to have that gift, then everyone can have it. But my whole point is that those who doesn't have the gift of tongues doesn't mean, in my opinion, that they are not baptised in the Holy Spirit.

As for the subject of prophecy, teachers, etc., I believe I see your point. When I read in 1 Corinthians 12:27-31, I read that in reference to individuals. I can see now that he was referring to the church as a whole, not to each individual. The tongue I speak is not for the church, it is only between God and me.

In fact, to be perfectly honest (something that is hard for me to tell others), my "tongues" doesn't even appear to be words of any language. But everytime I speak it, my spirit person leaps (the best way I can describe it). This is the only reason I know it is from God, and not nonsense. Not to mention how it came upon me. But at the same time, because of it not being actual words, I rarely speak it "just in case" it isn't from Him. But if it is "nonsense", it doesn't explain how I can feel my spirit person "leaping for joy" whenever I speak it. Hopefully you can see my dilemma with this.

Anyways, the whole point in this post is my wondering how anyone can get that the gift of tongues is the "only" sign of baptism of the Holy Spirit. Though tongues are encouraged, there are other gifts Paul mentioned, " But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills".

Source:

0

Report it

Comments (0) | New Comment

Nov 30, 2014 - 07:44 PM

Texan,
l would like to encourage you...
According to 1 Corinthians 14:14, the reason your tongues sounds like unintelligible babble to you is because it is a spiritual language your natural mind does not understand.

Butrest assured it is God forming the perfect prayer in and for you as He leads and guides you in to all truth.

John G Lake reported "it is that peculiar language that I spend hours speaking in the night hours that is the source of the revelation that I teach."
Smith Wigglesworth prayed in tongues nearly constantly and if you research these 2 men you will find that they were powerfully used by God.

And though great benefit is obtained by setting aside hours to do nothing but pray in tongues, the beauty of it is that since praying this way does not require your concentration, you can pray in tongues most anywhere and at nearly any time. Not only that, but because it is the Holy Spirit forming the prayer in you, you need only speak it out and need not use more volume than a whisper.

And I would add that the more you do it, the more the benefit and change it will bring in you as He works in you to perform His perfect will and transform you to the image of Christ as He sheds the love of God abroad in your heart.

So be encouraged to devote more time to praying...
By the way praying while driving is a great way to redeem your time.

1

Report it

Comments (0) | New Comment

Dec 01, 2014 - 01:49 PM

Linda,

Thanks for sharing those articles. I especially enjoyed the first one. That is one of the best articles I have read on "Tongues" in a while. I think the person who wrote this hit the nail on the head when he said:

"All Christians need to be careful about seeking supernatural experiences that are outside of God's will. The Christian who continues to push the matter may indeed have a spiritual experience, however the spirit behind that experience may be anything but holy."

0

Report it

Comments (1) | New Comment