if you dont speak in tongues, does that mean you have recieved baptism in the holy spirit?

Question

I go to a non-denominational christian church. many people there practice speaking in tongues. its not a requirement of the church, such as many pentecostal churches where everyone speaks in tongues. i believe in it but i do not speak in tongues.they often have alter calls to see if anyone wants to pray to be baptised in the holy spirit with edification of speaking in tongues. i just want to know if its wrong if you don't speak in it....and if you don't are u not recieving the holy spirit as you should? also...is tongues a prayer language that should only be used publicly or privately as well? thanks

Answer 1

The Bible is very clear that if you "speak in tongues" of whatever kind whether real languages or not in Church that you have to provide a translator. Pentecost is about Jesus entering your heart and giving you love or "holiness of heart". That's what counts. Many think that in the original Pentecost they spoke in real tongues or languages.
Read 1 Corinthians 14:4 on speaking in tongues: "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church". In fact, read all of 1 Corinthians 14. For clarification on the last parts of this chapter see John Temple Bristow's "What Paul Really Said About Women". Here he clarifies the Greek and context. Also, read 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 which more directly address your concerns by explaining that each member of the Church have different gifts and talents and function together like organs in one body and other things.

Please read this article at the link below: THIRD WAVE OF THE SPIRIT AND THE PENTECOSTALIZATION OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY: A WESLEYAN CRITIQUE by Laurence W. Wood. He is a professor of Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary. If you have any trouble getting it at the link please let me know and I will paste it into the text for you. Just in case I am pasting part of the article in the text. It is very enlightening:

"My criticism of pentecostalism is not its display of emotion, but its implied claim that its theology of the Holy Spirit can be proved through certain emotional behaviors. It may be appropriate to make a joyful noise with shouts of praise. Methodists have a long history of this practice. Yet, one should remember Paul's words that worship should not foster confusion, but respect the principles of decency and order (1 Cor 14:40).

1. The pentecostalist concept of tongues tends toward a pagan practice of equating human speaking with divine speaking. The response of the Wesleyan tradition has been to issue a caution to pentecostalism and subsequently the charismatic movement. Any focus on the acquisition of spiritual gifts as the means of grace and as the goal of the Christian life tends toward the ecstatic experiences of paganism, which the Old Testament fought against and which Paul cautioned against.

To be sure, ecstatic experiences are not condemned by Paul in 1 Cor. 12-14, but the tone of his comments are largely negative. He downplays their importance and specifically exhorts the Corinthians to seek the fruit of the Spirit (1 Cor. 13). The gifts of the Spirit are not intended to be sought as such since they are given solely by divine choice (1 Cor. 12:11). The "love chapter" of 1 Cor. 13 is highlighted as the goal and essence of the Christian life. This agape love is not an emotional quality characteris­tic of an ecstatic experience, but an intellectual and spiritually-discerning quality of love which sanctifies the whole of human life.

In contrast to the universal seeking for the gift of forgiving and sanctifying love, the gifts of the Spirit are given solely by divine choice, not by human seeking. Nowhere does Paul command or encourage Christians to seek for spiritual gifts, though ft is normal to desire spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:1).[2] Since the gift of tongues was so highly prized among the Corinthians, Paul could even wish that all the Corinthians had it (1 Cor. 14:5). Yet the gift of tongues is the least and most inconsequential of all the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:27-31). This is not to imply that agape love is without emotion, nor that ecstatic experience is unChristian. Indeed, emotion and ecstatic experiences are evident aspects of a biblical understand­ing of the Jewish and Christian experience.

The ecstatic responses of the Corinthian Christians were similar in kind to the ecstatic religions associated with fertility cults. Corinth was a center of pagan worship where the devotees became passionately immersed in the divine through acts of sacred prostitution with the priest­esses. The gifts of the Spirit as appearing in Corinth, such as prophecy and healing, were not distinctly Christian." (from Lawrence Wood, ca 1995).

I hope you have a chance to read all of Dr. Wood's article it brings so much clarity to everything. I had the opportunity to correspond at length with him. He's a great man and much loved by pentecostals and non-pentecostals alike.

Answer 2

That's a hard subject. I do speak in tongues and I have since I was 13. I do know it comes from being baptized in the holy spirit, it also is a step of faith that when you get prayed over that what is coming to you is coming from the holy spirit and speak it. I do both to myself and out loud depending on the situation. I would never want to scare some one with it, because so many people don't really understand it. I would pray about it and go from there. Not everyone will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I find it comforts me and I feel like I'm right next to the Holy Spirit. It is a awesome feeling.

Answer 3

Read 1 Corinthians 12 about the gifts of the Spirit. There are
different kinds, and churches don't even accept them all.
Like the discerning, (seeing and hearing), of spirits.
It actually says if there is noone to interpret the tongues, they
should put a sock in it! But I'm not a fanatic, and see nothing
wrong with allowing the speaking in tongues, even if there is
noone to interpret them.
If I may be so bold. I feel I was given the word of wisdom. I
seem to be able give reasonable answers to peoples questions,
and when I'm done, I often don't know where it came from.
Sometimes it's not my own knowledge or understanding.

Answer 4

Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit and I believe is given to all that recieve the Baptism of the Holy Spirit although many do not use the gift, usually because they don't understand it. I use my gift daily but usually in private.

When I pray in tongues I know that my spirit is speaking God's wisdom and not my own. I have found it to be faith building and edifying. I recommend going forward to receive the Baptism even if you wait till later to give your spirit utterance.

Answer 5

Well first, speaking in tongues is a gift from God. NOT EVERYONE KNOWS HOW TO DO IT. Don't ever be confused and be very leery of large groups of people who say they can speak in tongues. There are some who claim they can-entire churches claim it-but in actuality are just sitting there repeating whatever it is they think they are doing. But a person who speaks in tongues is always able to be interpreted, again by someone who is blessed with that talent by God. These people are few and far between.

Answer 6

In the Bible, when God first gave the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter 'spoke in tongues' but he spoke in his language and it was all the other people who's EARS where opened and each man heard Peter's message in his own language. THe purpose of speaking in tongues was so that people of all languages could hear the gosple. THere is no purpose of an English speaking church to speak in tongues.

Answer 7

Why don't you just believe the Bible. There is no such a thing as tongues in the Bible as it is practiced today. If anyone claims they can speak in tongues have them go and find someone who has never spoken English in heir lives and have them have a conversation with them. That is what happened in the Bible.

Answer 8

tongues is a spiritual gift given to us by God. not everybody is given this gift. there are many other spiritual gifts that one could be given. i was given a few gifts myself and use two of three of them quite often. i have yet to discover other gifts. i am able to speak in tongues, speak prophetically and i can speak truth and sometimes determine weather people are lying or telling the truth. do not feel discouraged that you don't speak in a heavenly language. look to your gifts that you WERE given. if God wants to gif you the gift of Tongues, you will receive it in due time. like i said a bit ago, not everyone receives the gifts that others get. it is not wrong if you do not speak tongues. just let God do whatever He needs to do and you will be fine. tongues is a prayer language that is between your spirit and God. sometines we are told by God to speak out in tongues to the public and there will be a translation provided by someone else. that is edifying the church body and encouraging them. as i said earlier, do not be discouraged, just use the gifts that you were given.

Answer 9

many people believe in tongues, I am not sure about this, I think some people do it to look more spiritual than others and therefore lift themselves above others. However for those that truly believe this it is how they communicate with God. I am not one to question that God would give this gift to some and not others, I guess the best thing that i could say is that i just dont know.

Answer 10

Speaking in tongues has no purpose. At Pentacost, they spoke in every language on earth so that everyone could understand the message of the Gospel. No one knows what anyone is saying with the fake speaking in tongues. It bears no fruit and does no good.