Answer: Speaking In Tongues - Northern KY Church Of Christ

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Answers To Questions

Q: Is speaking in tongues necessary for salvation?

A: Some clarifications are required to get some background on this question. So-called charismatic teaching supports the idea that God still performs miracles today through men. Most prominent is the practice of tongue-speaking. The supposition that these miracles continue today is based on various biblical texts like Mark 16:17, 18, "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." Jesus makes this statement right after saying, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved." The view is taken that, as Jesus states that belief and baptism are necessary for salvation for all who live under this dispensation, believers today must likewise perform these signs. If the signs are not present, then faith must be absent; if faith is absent, there is no salvation. This doctrine is the assumed basis for the answer which follows.

Let's first take another look at the Mark 16 account. Is Jesus really making miracle-working mandatory for salvation, or is He merely indicating the actions of future believers? The answer to this lies in the purpose of the miraculous gifts, which we will begin to see as we continue. If we stop at verse 18, we'll miss it. Note what Mark says in the verses that follow:

Mark 16:19, 20, So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

There you have it. God used the miracles to confirm His word. In fact, it's hard to imagine how else people could have known that these disciples who went about preaching were not just cracked-pots with their own opinions. This is the logic that Moses understood; how could he prove to Pharaoh that God had actually spoken to him? God gave him a confirming sign:

Exodus 4:1-3 Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.' " So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.

So it was with the apostles; the signs confirmed the words of God spoken by them. Many of the things Jesus said would happen are recorded in Acts: "In My name they will cast out demons (Acts 19:12); they will speak with new tongues (Acts 2:4); they will take up serpents (Acts 28:3-5); and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Acts 9:37-41)." (Incidentally, some charismatics in recent years have been known to deliberately drink poison and handle snakes, thinking it is God's ordinance for them to do so; Jesus instructs no one to do such things). At any rate, the texts show that the miracles had the desired effect: the word was confirmed, and people believed. The writer of Hebrews makes the same point:

Hebrews 2:3, 4 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

Now that the word of God has been confirmed, there is no need for it to be reconfirmed. We have the confirmation of every recorded miracle. The complete will of God is now revealed to us in scripture: "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25), "all things pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3), "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). If men today teach nothing more than what is revealed in scripture, it is nothing new. It has been established as truth aforetime and needs not be re-established as such. On the other hand, if someone comes along and says, "God has spoken to me and has given me a new revelation," do not listen to him. If God really spoke some new thing to him, we should expect to see him perform some confirming miracle, as the original ambassadors did. However, we can be certain this will not happen; we have this warning:

Galatians 1:6-9 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

There is therefore no need for miracles today. In fact, the apostle Paul said they would vanish away. In 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are listed. In the next chapter, he speaks of their duration:

1 Corinthians 13:8-12 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

He reveals that the gifts will fade away when "that which is perfect" comes (not HE who is perfect). "That which is perfect" indicates none other than the finishing of the divine revelation: the completion of scripture. It is the word that matters; the miracle-working was just like child's play that is outgrown.

The sufficiency of scripture is nowhere better demonstrated than in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). They lived and died under the dispensation of the Old Testament: the Law of Moses. In Torments, the rich man requested Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to warn his brothers. He effectively thought it should take a miracle to convince them. Abraham responds by affirming that the Old Testament scriptures, the writings of Moses and the Prophets, are all the motivating influence they should need: even more compelling than a miracle.

Sometimes people misunderstand this matter and say, "so you people don't believe in miracles." Wrong. We believe every miracle recorded in scripture. They truly do not believe in miracles who believe they must still occur today to convict men.

Another thing can be stated about the passing away of miraculous spiritual gifts. The New Testament indicates that only the apostles and those to whom they imparted these gifts by laying on hands were able to perform miracles (Acts 8:13-17). Seeing that all these people have passed away, and there is no one today who could possibly meet the qualifications originally given to be an apostle's successor (Acts 1:20-22), these gifts have naturally and necessarily also passed away.

One more thing needs to be said. If miracles are being performed by men today, it would be undeniable. The works seen in scripture of Jesus and the disciples were of such power that God's hand could not be denied, even by unbelievers (Acts 4:16). ALL illness were healed, and the dead were raised; no one is doing these kinds of things today. So-called healings are difficult to confirm: usually a relieved head ache, back ache, or stomach ache. Likewise, so-called tongue speaking today performed by charismatics is not like that done by the early church. The gift of tongues as revealed in scripture was simply the ability to speak a foreign language without taking the time to learn it. We see it put to use the day the church was established:

Acts 1:4-6 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

The tongues were for teaching. However, tongue speaking performed today by charismatics is essentially an unintelligible form of vocal gibberish. Hearers cannot understand or translate what is being said, much less learn from it. Neither can the speaker. Paul demands that such words which cannot be understood are not to be uttered, except if another can translate (1 Corinthians 14:1-33).

Well, that's the long answer. The short answer is, "No, you don't have to speak in tongues to be saved."

Thanks for your question. Many people seem to be confused about this, so it's good that you asked.

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Northern Kentucky Church of Christ, USA