Troublesome Topic: PRECEPTS ABOUT TONGUES FROM I CORINTHIANS 14:6 & 10

1 Corinthians 14:6

Translation

But now brothers, if I should come to you speaking in [strange] tongues, what will be the benefit to you, if I should not speak to you in a revelation,

or in knowledge,

or in a prophecy,

or in a teaching?

Paraphrase

But now brothers, what if I did what is reported that you do? What if I came to one of your church meetings and “prayed” out loud with unintelligible utterances I call my “prayer language”? Would that benefit you, as all of the Spirit’s gifts are intended to do? Or, in order for it to benefit you and others would I also need to include a truth that has been uncovered for me by God , or some of the knowledge I have acquired from my personal experiences in my relationship with God, or a divinely inspired word of admonition about how to put truth to work in your life, or a summary of time-honored teaching that is respected by all followers of Jesus?

WHAT WILL BE THE BENEFIT TO YOU?

Paul was making the point that what they were doing in no way fit the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s gracious gifts. His gifts were, and are, always for the benefit of others, often fellow believers, and sometimes unbelievers. The only way the people in Corinth could be of benefit to others was to add something other than their version of tongues. This shows that they had things backwards in many ways. In contrast, the two proper forms of tongues would be of benefit to others; speaking in a foreign language by the Spirit’s inspiration was of benefit to unbelievers because it was used to convince them to believe in Jesus, and private tongues, i.e. praying with unintelligible utterances such as groaning, tears and sighs, ends up being of benefit to others when that burden is clarified by God and then He helps us bring it to fruition as a ministry to others.

1 Corinthians 14:10

Translation

It happens that there are many kinds of languages in the world, and none are without meaning.

Paraphrase

We know that there are many different languages spoken in this world, and we know that all of them have meaning; no people group uses their tongues to speak gibberish, because they want to be understood. Both of the proper forms of tongues have meaning, but what you do has no meaning. You are not using public tongues as on Pentecost because that serves to convince the unsaved, and you are not using private tongues because you are not keeping it private.

NO LANGUAGE IS WITHOUT MEANING

The Corinthians were engaged in something which went against the purpose of Spiritual gifts, violated the nature of languages and human communication in general, and could not be justified in any way. Paul had to be talking about false tongues here because the two proper forms of tongues have meaning, although private tongues (groaning and weeping in prayer) are understood fully by God and partially by the one praying. Some people today will probably say, “when I pray in tongues it is the same way – God knows what my heart is trying to say even if I don’t.” Yes, God understands the yearnings of the heart. But I would say that the biggest problem with modern “prayer languages” is that they are often used in public settings, which is contrary to the purpose of private tongues. But in the case of the Corinthians, Paul sensed that what they were doing had no meaning for anyone, even God. This seems to indicate that he was accusing them of doing something only for the purpose of looking more spiritual in the eyes of others. As I have mentioned elsewhere, those who knew what the real thing was and still chose to create a counterfeit will be judged more harshly than those today who have been taught that something is the real deal when it is not.

Corinth was worse than Babel; at least the people at Babel were saying things that made sense!

The next lesson in the Short Series on Tongues is Precepts about Tongues from I Corinthians 14:13 &15

Footnotes

1

“to uncover, unveil, reveal something previously unknown.”

2

This is “practical, experiential knowledge, moral knowledge, and knowledge gleaned from relationships.”

3

This refers to “God-inspired speech which makes clear the mind of God” and the way we can apply His mind to our lives.

4

This usually refers to “established teaching, or summarized body of respected, time-honored teaching, doctrine, applied teaching.”