Estimated Read Time: 9 min

Supporting Text: Acts 2:1–13, Acts 8:14–19, Acts 9:1–19, Acts 10:44–48, Acts 19:1–7, 1 Cor. 13:1–13, 1 Cor. 14:1–40, Rom. 8:26–27, Eph. 6:18, Jude 20.

When you walk through the book of Acts, there are five occasions where people are initially baptized in the Holy Spirit. We mentioned these in the article on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Briefly, those passages are found in Acts 2, 8, 9, 10, and 19.

• Acts 2, 10, and 19 state that those who were filled with the Spirit spoke with other tongues.
• Acts 8 alludes to a physical manifestation occurring, more than likely the act of speaking in tongues being witnessed.
• Acts 9 records no mention of tongues. Instead, Paul's eyes are healed, and shortly afterward he begins preaching the Gospel. However, we do know from 1 Corinthians that Paul tells the Corinthian church that he speaks in other tongues as well (1 Cor. 14:18).

As you can tell, there is a clear majority of these cases where those who are initially filled with the Spirit speak with other tongues.

We have already covered tongues as the initial evidence of one being baptized in the Holy Spirit. If you haven't read that article, I encourage you to go back and read it. In this article, I want to focus on what speaking in other tongues actually is.

1 Corinthians 14:2 tells us:

"For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit." (1 Cor. 14:2)

Furthermore, in Acts 2 we find the use of two different Greek words regarding tongues.

1. Glōssa (Acts 2:4) — A language (specifically one unacquired). It emphasizes a mode of speech that the speaker has not learned through normal linguistic acquisition.
2. Dialektos (Acts 2:6) — The tongue or language peculiar to a particular people. It emphasizes the native, regional speech of each listener's homeland—Parthians hearing Parthian, Cretans hearing Cretan, and so forth.

The distinction between these terms matters. The disciples spoke in "other tongues" (glōssa) (Acts 2:4), while the multitude heard them speaking "in his own language" (dialektos) (Acts 2:6).

Therefore, speaking in other tongues, as the Spirit gives the utterance, means that the Christian begins speaking in a language unknown to him or her, yet one that is spoken somewhere else on this earth. This is supernatural, to say the least, as the speaker is, by faith, allowing the Spirit of God to flow through him and speak.

Paul writes:

"For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful." (1 Cor. 14:14)

"What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also." (1 Cor. 14:15)

Paul states that when one speaks in tongues, the mind is unfruitful. In other words, the speaker does not know what he or she is saying. Simply put, the believer yields to the Spirit of God and actively speaks the words that the Spirit gives.

This can be viewed similarly to prophecy. When someone stands to proclaim the Word of God or deliver a word the Lord has revealed, he speaks with his own mouth what the Spirit has made known to him. The difference is that, in speaking with tongues, the words themselves are unknown to the speaker.
For the overthinkers out there, this may be a difficult concept. It requires allowing your desire for control within your mind to be set aside and permitting yourself to speak words that are unknown to you. Certainly, this is an act of faith that requires yielding even more control to the Spirit of God.
Maybe that is part of the point.

When you give your life to Jesus, you acknowledge that He is King and Lord of your life. You submit to His authority and seek to live according to His ways. When one is baptized in the Holy Spirit, there is a further yielding of control to the Spirit of God so that you may operate in His power rather than your own.

There is one more type of tongue that deserves mention.

I have dealt with the fact that speaking in other tongues ordinarily involves speaking a language spoken somewhere else on this earth. However, Paul writes:

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels..." (1 Cor. 13:1)

Apparently, speaking in the heavenly language of angels is also within the scope of Paul's discussion.

When I read the Scriptures, it seems that the operation of tongues was more commonplace in the first-century church than many people assume.
In addition to the passages already discussed, consider the following:

• Paul describes both praying with his spirit and singing with his spirit (1 Cor. 14:13–15).
• The Spirit intercedes for believers with groanings too deep for words, knowing the mind of the Spirit and interceding for the saints according to God's will (Rom. 8:26–27).
• We are instructed to pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication (Eph. 6:18).
• We are exhorted to pray in the Holy Spirit, building ourselves up in our most holy faith (Jude 20).

The operation of tongues in the believer appears to have been commonplace, as we are repeatedly encouraged throughout Scripture to worship in the Spirit and, more specifically, to pray in the Spirit.
Your personal prayer time should be where you most often exercise the gift of tongues.

This is the practice I lean into most today. During times of prayer, I allow the Spirit to pray through me. Likewise, during worship services, when everyone is praising the Lord in their own way, I will often sense the desire to speak in other tongues, and I simply yield to the Spirit, quietly praising God.

I do so knowing that those who spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost were declaring the mighty works of God (Acts 2:11).

Since I have begun speaking about the regulation of tongues in personal prayer and worship, I want to briefly address its operation within the public worship service. Again, we find this instruction in 1 Corinthians 14. I'll simply summarize Paul's teaching. 

 Paul teaches that while the one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, the one who prophesies builds up the church through encouragement, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:1–5). In fact, Paul says that although he desires all believers to speak with tongues, he would rather they prophesy because intelligible speech benefits the entire congregation unless the tongue is interpreted (1 Cor. 14:5). He then exhorts believers that, since they are eager for the manifestations of the Spirit, they should strive to excel in those gifts that build up the church (1 Cor. 14:12).

The point of the public worship service is the edification of the whole body, not merely one individual.

If you sense the leading of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues during a service, remember that "the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets" (1 Cor. 14:32). In other words, the Holy Spirit empowers you, but He does not remove your self-control. You remain responsible for how and when the gift is exercised. Wisdom should always accompany spiritual gifts.

 Paul gives very practical instruction concerning public messages in tongues.

"If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God." (1 Cor. 14:27–28)

If you are in a church where there is no interpretation, or if your church does not permit public messages in tongues, then do not loudly exercise the gift. Continue praying quietly to yourself and to God, exactly as Paul instructs.

 Paul places an entire chapter on love immediately before discussing the gifts of the Spirit, and that is not accidental.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Cor. 13:1)

Love must govern every spiritual gift. Paul concludes his discussion by reminding believers that all things should be done for edification and that "God is not a God of confusion but of peace" (1 Cor. 14:33). Unity, order, and love are always more important than demonstrating one's spirituality.

 Even with these regulations, Paul never discourages the legitimate use of tongues. In fact, he concludes his instruction by saying,

"So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues." (1 Cor. 14:39)

The gift is to be welcomed, but it must always operate according to the biblical order God has established. When exercised in love, with interpretation, and for the edification of the church, the gift of tongues fulfills its proper place within the body of Christ.