THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE ADVANCED BIBLE STUDIES SERIES “THE FIRST EPISTLE TO CORINTH”
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The following is an excerpt from the Advanced Bible Studies Series course on The First Epistle to Corinth, which is available from Way of Life Literature. (It is best to order them by phone at 866-295-4143, but they can also be ordered from the newly redesigned online order form at the Way of Life web site, http://www.wayofife.org.)
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c. What about the doctrine of a “private prayer language” that is not understood by anyone on earth, including the one who is praying? Pentecostals and Charismatics often teach that there are two types of tongues described in the New Testament: the “public language” tongues of Pentecost and the “private prayer language” tongues of 1 Corinthians 14. Some call this distinction “ministry tongues” and “devotional tongues.”
(1) The doctrine of a “private prayer language” or “devotional tongues” was developed gradually when Pentecostals learned that their “tongues” were not real earthly languages.
(a) Early Pentecostal leaders understood that biblical tongues were real earthly languages. They even thought they would be able to go to foreign mission fields and witness through miraculous tongues without having to learn the languages, but this hope was dashed when they journeyed to China and elsewhere and discovered that their “tongues” could not be understood by anyone. The only actual record we have of one of the “tongues” spoken by Charles Parham’s Bible School students in 1901 was written by a reporter of the Topeka State Journal, and he described mere gibberish: “Mr. Parham called Miss Lilian Thistlethrate [Thistlethwaite] into the room and asked her if she could talk some. She at first answered that the Lord had not inspired her to say anything but soon began to utter strange words which sounded like this: ‘Euossa, Euossa, use rela sema calah mala kanah leulla ssage nalan. Ligle logle lazie logle. Ene mine mo, sah rah el me sah rah me.’ These sentences were translated as meaning, ‘Jesus is mighty to save,’ ‘Jesus is ready to hear,’ ‘and ‘God is love’” (“Hindoo and Zulu Both Are Represented at Bethel School,” Topeka State Journal, Jan. 9, 1901). One newspaper reporting on William Seymour’s meetings called their gibberish “Glibby Bluk” (Larry Martin, The Life and Ministry of William J. Seymour, p. 302).
(b) Eventually the “heavenly language” and “private prayer language” doctrine was developed. Those are the terms we have heard frequently at Charismatic conferences, such as in New Orleans in 1987, Indianapolis in 1990, and St. Louis in 2000. Michael Harper says: “In the short history of the Charismatic Renewal speaking in tongues has become rare in public, but continues to be a vital expression of prayer in private (These Wonderful Gifts, 1989, p. 97). He says this type of “tongues” is “a prayer language: a way of communicating more effectively with God” (p. 92). He claims that this experience “edifies” apart from the understanding.
(2) For the following reasons we are convinced that the Bible does not support the doctrine of a “private prayer language.”
(a) If the tongues-speaking of 1 Corinthians 14 is different from that of Acts 2, the Bible never explains the difference. We leave tongues-speaking in the book of Acts (the last mention is in Acts 19:6) and we do not see it again until 1 Corinthians 12-14. If the “tongues” in this epistle is a different type of thing than the “tongues” in Acts, why doesn’t the Bible say so and plainly explain this matter so that there is no confusion?
(b) Paul said the tongues speaker edifies himself (1 Cor. 14:4). That would not be possible unless the words he is speaking could be understood, because throughout the fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians Paul says that understanding is absolutely necessary for edification. In verse 3 he says that prophesying edifies because it comforts and exhorts men, obviously referring to things that are understood to the hearer. In verse 4 he says that tongues speaking does not edify unless it is interpreted. In verses 16-17 he says that if someone does not understand something he is not edified. Words could not be plainer. If there is no edification of the church without understanding, how is it possible that the individual believer could be edified without understanding? This is confusion. The word “edify” means to build up in the faith. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined it as “to instruct and improve the mind in knowledge generally, and particularly in moral and religious knowledge, in faith and holiness.” The words “edify,” “edification,” “edified,” and “edifying” are used in 18 verses in the New Testament and always refer to building up in the faith by means of instruction and godly living. For example, in Ephesians 4 the body of Christ is edified through the ministry of God-given preachers (Eph. 4:11-12). Thus, the fact that Paul said the tongues speaker edifies himself (1 Cor. 14:4) is proof that he understands what he is saying.
(c) Paul says that tongues are an earthly language (1 Cor. 14:21). If the tongues-speaking in 1 Corinthians 14 were some sort of “private prayer language,” why would Paul give this prophetic explanation of it and state dogmatically that it is an earthly language? He does not say that only some “types of tongues” are languages.
(d) In 1 Corinthians 14:28 Paul says the tongues speaker speaks both to himself and to God. “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.” This means that he can understand what he is speaking. Otherwise, how could he speak to himself? Does anyone speak to himself in “unknown gibberish”?
(e) There is no example in 1 Corinthians 14 of a believer speaking in tongues privately and there is no encouragement to do so. What about verse 28? “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God” (1 Cor. 14:27-28). This says nothing about praying in tongues privately. It is talking about the exercise of gifts in a public meeting. Paul says that if there is no interpretation, the individual tongues speaker should keep silent and pray to God, but he says nothing about getting off by oneself and praying privately in tongues. One must read all of that into the verse.
(f) If there were a “private prayer language” that edified the Christian’s life it would be very important and the Bible would explain it clearly and circumscribe its usage as it does the use of tongues in the church.
(g) Further, a “private prayer language” that helped the Christian to be stronger in his walk with Christ would doubtless be mentioned in other places in the New Testament in the context of sanctification and Christian living. In fact, though, it is never mentioned in any such context. The apostles and prophets addressed many situations in the New Testament epistles and gave all things necessary for holy Christian living, but they never taught that the believer needs to speak in a “private prayer language” in order to have spiritual victory or to find God’s guidance or to be healed or to be able to fall asleep or any other such thing. If there were such a thing as a “devotional prayer language” that built up the Christian life and made the Christian stronger spiritually, Paul would doubtless have instructed the church at Corinth to spend more time speaking in devotional tongues, but he gives no such counsel.
(h) It is not possible that tongues-speaking could be a necessary part of the Christian life, because Paul plainly states that not all speak in tongues (1 Cor. 14:29-20). Some will ask, “Why, then, does Paul say, ‘I would that ye all spake with tongues’” (1 Cor. 14:5)? The answer is that Paul was not saying that all did speak with tongues or that all could speak with tongues; he was merely expressing a desire that the exercise of spiritual gifts be done and that it be done right. In 1 Cor. 7:7, Paul uses exactly the same expression in the context of celibacy. He said, “For I would that all men were even as I myself...” We do not know of any Pentecostals or Charismatics who take this statement literally by teaching that it is God’s will for every believer to remain unmarried, but they take the same expression in 1 Cor. 14:5 as a law. There is a strange inconsistency here.
(i) All of the New Testament’s instruction about prayer take for granted that prayer is a conscious, understandable act on the part of the believer and that he is speaking to God in understandable terms. We see this in Jesus’ instructions about prayer. “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matt. 6:5-13). This is a conscious, understandable prayer. We see the same thing in Paul’s instructions about prayer (e.g., Rom. 15:30-32; Eph. 6:18-20; Col. 4:2-3; Heb. 13:18-19). There is not one example of a prayer recorded in Scripture that is anything other than an individual speaking to God in conscious, understandable terms. In fact, Christ forbade the repetitious type of “prayers” that are commonly heard among those that practice a “private prayer language.” “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Mat. 6:7). Yet I have oftentimes heard “prayer tongues” that sound like this: “Shalalama, balalama, shalalama, balalama, bubalama, shalalama, bugalala, shalalama....” Whatever that is, it is not New Testament “tongues” and it is not New Testament prayer.
(j) Even if we were to agree that 1 Corinthians 14 refers to a “private prayer language,” it would not be something that could be learned or imitated. Whatever is described in 1 Corinthians 14 is a divine miracle, but this is contrary to the Pentecostal-Charismatic practice whereby people are taught to speak in a “prayer language.” We discuss this under a later point in our study on tongues.
(k) To use the gift of tongues as a “private prayer language” would be to destroy its chief purpose, which is a sign to unbelieving Israel (1 Cor. 14:20-22). Former Pentecostal Fernand Legrand wisely observes: “By using this sign in private, some think they can profit from ONE of its aspects, while ignoring the others, but you cannot dismantle a gift and retain only one of its components. A car is a complex mechanical object that is driven as an entity or is not driven at all. You cannot take the wheels for a run and leave the body and the engine in the garage. When a car is running it is the whole car that moves. In the same way, TONGUES WERE NOT TO BE SLICED UP LIKE A SAUSAGE. They were to edify the speaker AND the others AND be a sign for the Jewish unbelievers AND be understandable or be so rendered by interpretation. They had to be all that at the same time. The gift was inseparable from its one and only unchanging purpose: to be a sign for non-believing Jews of the universal offer of salvation (Acts 2:17; 1 Cor. 14:20-22)” (All about Speaking in Tongues, p. 67).
(l) Though I have heard many examples of “devotional tongues” over the past 33 years, I have never heard anything but gibberish. What I have heard is not languages of any sort but mere repetitious mutterings that anyone could imitate. Larry Lea’s “tongues” at Indianapolis 1990 went like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.” I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” on Thursday evening of the conference. Her tongues were a repetition of “shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” This is taken directly from the audiotapes of the messages. If these are languages, they certainly have a simple vocabulary!
(m) The fact is that biblical tongues were real earthly languages, and this is a foundational truth. Any doctrine of tongues that reduces this practice to mere gibberish of any sort that is not a real earthly language is unscriptural.
d. Questions answered on 1 Corinthians 14 and the gift of tongues. We have already dealt with some of the following questions, but for the sake of convenience and to have several of the most common questions and their answers in one place, we will repeat them here. The questions are organized by verse, beginning in verse 1 and ending in verse 40.
(1) Why does Paul mention the “tongues of angels” (1 Cor. 13:1)? Could it be that the tongues speaker is speaking in angelic languages?
ANSWER: There are many examples of angels speaking in the Bible, but in every instance they spoke in a language readily understood by men. If they have a special language of their own, the Bible does not identify it, and there is not one hint anywhere in the rest of the Bible that tongues-speaking involves speaking in angelic languages. The claim by some that they speak in the tongues of angels is a desperate attempt to justify an unbiblical practice of speaking in unintelligible mutterings that they have mislabeled the gift of tongues.
(2) What does Paul mean when he says of the tongues speaker that “in the spirit he speaketh mysteries” (1 Cor. 14:2)?
ANSWER:
(a) A mystery in the New Testament is not something that is mysterious or unknowable.
(b) A “mystery” refers to truth that was hidden in the Old Testament times but is revealed today. See Rom. 16:15-16; Eph. 3:4-5.
(3) If tongues-speaking is not a “private prayer language,” why did Paul say, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself...” (1 Cor. 14:4)?
ANSWER: The gift of tongues did edify the user, but this was not its chief purpose and there is not a hint elsewhere in the New Testament that the gift of tongues involved any sort of “private prayer language” whereby the user exclusively edified himself. The chief purpose of tongues was a sign to unbelieving Israel (1 Cor. 14:20-22), and this is what we see in the book of Acts. Every instance of tongues-speaking was public and in every instance Jews were present. Every spiritual gift edifies the user but that is never its chief purpose. Its purpose is for the edification of others. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). How ridiculous it would be for someone to preach to himself or to work miracles for himself or to give himself a word of wisdom.
(4) If all believers did not speak in tongues, why did Paul say, “I would that ye all spake with tongues...” (1 Cor. 12:5)?
ANSWER:
(a) Paul was not saying that all did speak with tongues or that all could speak with tongues; he was merely expressing a desire that the exercise of spiritual gifts be done and that it be done right. He said, “I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” Note that in this context the apostle exalted prophesying above tongues, but the Charismatic movement focuses on tongues far more than prophesying.
(b) In 1 Cor. 7:7, Paul used the same terminology when he said, “I would that all men were even as I myself,” meaning that he would have all men remain unmarried. Does this mean that it is God’s will for every believer to be unmarried? Of course not. Paul went on to say, “But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.” We have never heard of a Pentecostal or Charismatic who used 1 Cor. 7:7 as a statement that all believers should remain unmarried, but they use the same terminology in 1 Cor. 12:5 because it suits their purposes.
(5) If tongues can be understood by the speaker, why does Paul say, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Cor. 14:14)?
ANSWER:
(a) The Pentecostal-Charismatic movements find justification in this verse for their doctrine that tongues-speaking is some sort of communication that bypasses the intellect and understanding. Pastor Bill Williams of San Jose, California, says that the awareness one has through tongues is “beyond emotion, beyond intellect. It transcends human understanding” (“Speaking in Tongues--Believers Relish the Experience,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 19, 1987, p. B2). Charles Hunter says, “The reason some of you don’t speak [in tongues] fluently is that you tried to think of the sounds. ... You don’t even have to think in order to pray in the Spirit” (Hunter, “Receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit,” Charisma, July 1989, p. 54).
(b) But if 1 Cor. 14:14 means that the tongues-speaker is speaking “beyond his intellect” or something of that sort, it would be the only place in Scripture where such a doctrine is found. Nowhere else does the Scripture say that man’s spirit can operate properly without the understanding or that God operates on man’s spirit in such a manner that he does not understand the communication or that there is some sort of spiritual level of communication that bypasses the understanding. In this same epistle, Paul said, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” (1 Cor. 2:11). Thus, man’s spirit is that part of him that knows and understands. Eph. 4:23 says the believer is to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Obviously this involves understanding, because Romans 12:2 says we are “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God...”
(c) What, then, is Paul talking about in 1 Cor. 14:14? Most commentaries say that he is referring to the tongues-speaker’s understanding in relation to others rather than to his own understanding.
Barnes: “Produces nothing that will be of advantage to them. It is like a barren tree; a tree that bears nothing that can be of benefit to others. They cannot understand what I say, and, of course, they cannot be profited by what I utter.”
Adam Clarke: “... my understanding is unfruitful to all others, because they do not understand my prayers, and I either do not or cannot interpret them.”
The Family Bible Notes: “... according to another and preferable view, it bears no fruit to others, since it communicates nothing to them in an intelligible way.”
Jamieson, Fausset, Brown: “... understanding, the active instrument of thought and reasoning; which in this case must be ‘unfruitful’ in edifying others, since the vehicle of expression is unintelligible to them.”
John Wesley: “‘My spirit prayeth’--By the power of the Spirit I understand the words myself. ‘But my understanding is unfruitful’--The knowledge I have is no benefit to others.”
Matthew Henry: “... but his understanding would be unfruitful (1 Cor. 14:14), that is, the sense and meaning of his words would be unfruitful, he would not be understood, nor therefore would others join with him in his devotions.”
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge: “That is, ‘not productive of any benefit to others.’”
(d) The context of 1 Cor. 14:14 supports this interpretation (1 Cor. 14:13-17). Paul says the tongues-speaker should pray both with the spirit and with the understanding, and it is obvious that he is talking about the understanding of those who are listening, because he says, “Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?” In 1 Cor. 14:13-17 Paul is saying that the tongues-speaker should give an interpretation of his tongue so that he is not the only one that understands what is being said, because if he prays in a tongue that is not interpreted those who are listening cannot understand and cannot therefore be edified.
(6) Why did Paul say, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all...” (1 Cor. 14:18)? Since Paul did not speak in tongues in the church, does this not mean that Paul oftentimes spoke in tongues to himself and to God privately?
ANSWER: Paul answered this question in the very next three verses: “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe” (1 Cor. 14:20-21). Paul spoke in tongues in his missionary journeys in the presence of Jews as a sign to them that God was reaching out to all tribes and tongues.
(7) What does Paul mean in 1 Cor. 14:24 when he says, “But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all”?
ANSWER:
(a) Paul is speaking in a general sense and not in an absolute sense. He is not saying that every individual member of the church will prophesy. In verses 23 and 24 he is simply saying that it is prophesying rather than tongues that convicts men’s hearts and brings them to salvation. In verse 29 he says, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.” Thus, he is not saying in verse 24 that every member is to prophesy in the sense of preaching. Not every believer has the gift of prophesying or preaching. (He defines the gift of prophecy in verse 3 as speaking unto men “to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.”)
(b) Individual believers can prophesy in ways other than preaching. In verse 26 Paul mentions having a psalm, a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, and an interpretation. All of these are forms of prophesying. (Tongues becomes a type of prophesying when it is interpreted.) A testimony is a form of prophesying. Notice that Paul mentions “a psalm” in the context of prophesying. The Bible says one can “prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals” (1 Chron. 25:1). Elsewhere Paul says we should teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs by singing with grace in our hearts (Col. 3:16). Thus the church members can prophesy in the song service, not only by giving “special music numbers” but also by singing heartily during the congregational numbers.
(c) We see in this passage that the church should never be a “one man show.” Each true believer is a member of a holy priesthood and is to offer up spiritual sacrifices unto God (1 Pet. 2:5). While this does not mean that every believer is equal in the church and it does not mean that there are not pastor-elders who have more authority than the other believers, it does mean that the church body should function as a body and not merely as a head and this should be reflected in the services. Thus Paul instructed: “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying” (1 Cor. 14:26). I have seen this in practice in many churches, and it is a joy to behold. One church typically dedicates part of its services to inviting the people to give a testimony and then to select a hymn for the congregation to sing. This is an excellent way to get all the people involved and is right in line with the instruction in 1 Corinthians 14.
(d) On the other hand, not everyone in the church is qualified to preach and to minister on an equal basis and the preaching-teaching ministry is not something that is to be shared on an equal basis. Women, for example, cannot teach nor usurp authority over the men (1 Cor. 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:12). Certain men are called and qualified and ordained to lead the churches, and they have more authority in the church and should exercise a greater ministry than the others (Acts 14:23; Eph. 4:11-14; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5; Heb. 13:7, 17).
(8) What does Paul mean in 1 Cor. 14:29 when he says, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge”?
ANSWER: This refers to judging the preaching and teaching that is given in a church. This is in accordance with the practice of the noble Bereans who “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). God’s people are never to blindly follow a man or to accept what he teaches unquestioningly. Everything is to be carefully tested by God’s Word and preachers that do not preach the truth are to be rejected (Rom. 16:17; Tit. 3:10-11). Any preacher that wants people to accept him and his teaching unquestioningly has overstepped his bounds and is more akin to a cult leader than a biblical preacher.
(9) If the believer is not to seek after spiritual gifts and if they are sovereignly given, why did Paul say, “But covet earnestly the best gifts...” (1 Cor. 12:31)?
ANSWER: This exhortation is not addressed to an individual but to the church. Individual believers cannot covet spiritual gifts because they are sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:11), but a church can desire that God will grant it all necessary gifts. As missionaries, we have always had this desire for the churches we have planted.
(10) What did Paul mean in 1 Cor. 14:32 when he says, “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets”?
ANSWER: He is referring to the operation of the Holy Spirit in contrast to that of the Devil. The Holy Spirit’s influence is not forceful. He does not throw people to the ground and force them to say strange things like the Devil does. If it is the Holy Spirit that is in operation in an individual he or she will be in control of himself and will be able to speak or not to speak as the situation requires. Thus there will be no confusion, which is the teaching of the next verse (1 Cor. 14:33). “... that is, their own spirits, acted on by the Holy Spirit, are not so hurried away by His influence, as to cease to be under their own control; they can if they will hear others, and not demand that they alone should be heard uttering communications from God” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown).
(11) What about 1 Cor. 14:34-35: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church”?
ANSWER:
(a) This is referring to teaching and prophesying. That is the context. The woman is not allowed to speak out in the church services in the sense of teaching or preaching. “For women to speak in public would be an act of independence, as if they were not subject to their husbands (compare 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:22; Tit. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:1)” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown). The woman is strictly forbidden to teach men or to usurp authority over men (1 Tim. 2:12). I do not believe it is appropriate for a woman to lead in public prayer in a mixed congregation. 1 Tim. 2:8 says the men should lead in prayer. I also do not believe that it is appropriate for a woman to lead the singing in a mixed congregation or choir. She simply should not be put into any position whereby she is exercising authority over and leading men.
(b) This also forbids women to speak out and disturb the meetings with their questions and comments. Recently I heard from a pastor who was troubled about two women in his church who have the habit of speaking out during the teaching and thereby disturbing the service. This is forbidden in 1 Corinthians 14.
(c) This does not mean, though, that a woman can never say anything in church. She can sing and testify in due order. A woman can testify about what God has done in her life without getting into a teaching mode, but she must be very careful that she limits herself to her proper role and does not overstep her bounds. If there is an open question and answer time, I believe women can participate if so invited, but they are not to blurt out questions in a disorderly fashion in other contexts. What Paul is warning about in the context of 1 Corinthians 14 is disorderliness and the exercise of ministry gifts.
(12) What does Paul mean in 1 Cor. 14:36, “What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?”
ANSWER: He is asking them if they themselves are the source of the truth. He is trying to make them acknowledge his authority as the Lord’s apostle. “I wish to know, do you pretend that your church is the first church FROM which the gospel word came, that you should give the law to all others? Were you the first to receive or spread the gospel, that you, in the above-mentioned things, act so differently from other churches, as if you were wiser than they? By no means.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown).
(13) What does Paul mean in 1 Cor. 14:37: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord”?
ANSWER:
(a) He is giving a test of true spirituality. There were false prophets in the early churches and the test of truth was whether or not they agreed with the teaching of the apostles. Paul said that if a man or woman is truly spiritual and truly of God he or she will acknowledge that his teaching is of divine origin and therefore authoritative.
(b) Paul is stating unequivocally that he is writing by divine inspiration. The things that he wrote are the commandments of the Lord. This overthrows the modernistic doctrine that the apostles did not know that they were writing by inspiration and that the early churches did not recognize this.
(14) What does Paul mean in 1 Cor. 14:38, “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant”?
ANSWER: He is referring to those who are willfully ignorant by resisting the truth and holding to their own opinions. This is the definition of a heretic. It refers to one who has willfully chosen to hold on to a false teaching and who refuses the truth. Titus 3:10-11 says that such heretics are to be rejected after only one or two warnings.
(15) Why does Paul say, “forbid not to speak with tongues” (1 Cor. 14:39)?
ANSWER:
(a) While it is wrong to forbid biblical tongues, it is certainly not wrong to forbid unbiblical “tongues” or tongues practiced in an unscriptural manner. Paul himself did this.
(b) When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 14 the genuine gift of tongues was still operative. “The answer is to place the text in the context of the day for which tongues were given. While the reason for tongues had not been fulfilled the gift of tongues must not be forbidden. However, if we find in the Scriptures a basis for believing that biblical tongues have ceased, then we are at perfect liberty to forbid what is not a biblical gift but an un-biblical aberration and extra-biblical phenomenon” (Ronald Baxter, Gifts of the Spirit, 1983, p. 156).
(16) What about Mark 16:17-18, which says “these signs shall follow them that believe”?
ANSWER:
(a) First, these signs were fulfilled by the apostles. It was to the apostles that the Lord gave special sign gifts (2 Cor. 12:12; Acts 2:43; 4:33; 5:12, 15; 19:12). The apostles cast out devils (Acts 16:18) and spoke in new tongues (Acts 2:1-4) and took up serpents (Acts 28:3-6) and lay hands on the sick and they recovered (Acts 3:6-8; 9:40-41; 28:7-9).
(b) Second, the gift of tongues was chiefly a sign to the nation Israel that God was doing a new thing by extending the gospel to all people and creating a new spiritual body composed both of Jews and Gentiles (1 Cor. 14:20-22; Isa. 28:11-13). It was a temporary sign (1 Cor. 13:8) that ceased when the nation Israel rejected it and was judged (Isa. 28:13). Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. and the Jews were scattered to the nations. By then there were Gentile churches scattered widely across the world.
(c) Third, no one can do the specific apostolic signs today. Those who claim to do them do not work after the fashion that we see in the book of Acts. No one is raising the dead like Peter did in Acts 9. No one is healing after the fashion of Acts 3:6-8. There are no “healing services” or “signs and wonders crusades” in the book of Acts. There was no spirit slaying or spiritual drunkenness. The apostles did not have signs of healing such as heat or vibrations or electricity in their hands. Not once did the apostles attempt to heal someone and fail. The wondrous miracles recorded in the book of Acts are simply not being reproduced in churches today.
(d) Fourth, though the apostolic sign gifts ceased, the Lord has continued to do miracles throughout the church age. He has redeemed countless souls from the power of Satan and has supernaturally answered countless prayers and has supernaturally supplied countless needs and has given supernatural strength and encouragement and wisdom to countless men and women in every conceivable situation and difficulty and has healed countless people in answer to prayer in accordance with James 5 and has miraculously established countless churches in the devil’s own territory and many other miraculous things.
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The previous is an excerpt from the Advanced Bible Studies Series course on The First Epistle to Corinth, which is available from Way of Life Literature. (It is best to order them by phone at 866-295-4143, but they can also be ordered from the newly redesigned online order form at the Way of Life web site, http://www.wayofife.org.)
There are currently 20 titles in the series, and any of them can be special ordered in large print and in ring coil binding. We don’t believe that you will find better quality, more truly life-changing Bible courses from any other source. They are based strictly upon the King James Bible and the powerful word studies assist in the understanding of the KJV but never cast doubt upon it. They are thorough and comprehensive. They are very practical and have the objective of producing well-equipped Christian soldiers that have a solid understanding of the Bible. They stress holy and obedient Christian living and separation from worldliness and error, exalt evangelism and the New Testament church, and promote world missions. They emphasize the crucial differences between law and grace and positional and practical sanctification, and they continually fortify the student’s understanding of the life-changing doctrines such as justification, substitutionary atonement, and eternal security. The courses are non-Calvinistic and interpret Bible prophecy literally. The student will be prepared to stand against the wiles of the Devil and to refute the major theological heresies of our day. One pastor said the books “are extremely helpful for any Christian, no matter where they are spiritually; the practical application is extremely helpful and edifying.”
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