The+Role+of+Tongues+in+Acts

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This article will explain how the gift of tongues functions in the book of Acts. The intention of this article is to help clarify how God intentionally used verbal tongues. The article will also be describing the three events in Acts where the gift of tongues is used.

**Definition of Tongues**
The term //glossolalia// is an Anglicized compound made up of two Greek words: Glossa (tongue) and //lalia// (speech). It therefore means tongue-speech or speaking in tongues. The term “tongue” was used to refer to the physical organ of speech (Luke 1:64). “Tongues is the miracle of speaking foreign languages which had not previously been learned”

God is very intentional in all that He does. When He sent the Spirit and people spoke in tongues, He did this for a reason. Everything He does has a purpose and meaning. This article will study what that purpose is of this. Tongues play a significant role in redemptive History because of various reasons.

**How Tongues Functions in Acts.**
==

== In Acts, the gift of tongues functions as a sign, not an apostolic gift. “The miracle of speaking in a previously unlearned foreign language was given by God primarily as a symbol rather than as an aid in communicating with the hearers.” “Speaking in foreign languages was a supernatural sign given by God during the transition from the old covenant to the new covenant.”

Tongues were a sign to the Jews. “It indicated to the Jews that God was no longer working through the nation of Israel but through the international church. Tongues also proved to the Jews that that the non-Jews were to be included in the church on the same equality level as the Jews themselves. Speaking in tongues demonstrated to the Jews that the goal was to be one unified church, not two or more churches. It was also a sign that the Holy Spirit, in His new covenant ministries, had been poured out not only on Jews but also to non-Jews.”

It was a sign to the Jews in racial and religious sense. Before the Jews didn't associate with the gentiles, and the gentiles didn't like the Jews, but when the Holy Spirit came on the Gentiles in Acts 10, peter realized that God doesn't differentiate between Jew and Gentile, clean or unclean, and He now opened the door for anyone to be unified in the church, unified by the body of Christ.

Tongues are deliberately used in Acts to show the nature of the new institution that was being built, called the church. Gods program was initially just focused on Israel, but now with this gift of the tongues, it showed that God isn’t just focusing on Israel anymore. By the pouring of the Holy Spirit, it showed that God doesn't show partiality to either Jew or Gentile, but accepts all who believe in Him. Both the miracle of tongues and the list of the nations serve the purpose of showing the potential international widening scope of the church. Walt Russell said, “The multiplicity of languages present at Pentecost foreshadowed not only the universality of the message of the gospel, but also the universality of the messengers of the gospel. No longer was the Word of God to come from only the Hebrew-speaking prophets. These prophets and //the// Prophet (Acts 3:21, 7:37) had been rejected by Israel...God now moved to fulfill his plan for universal proclamation of the gospel through a multiplicity of languages, and these “strange tongues” reminded Israel that she was no longer Gods mediatorial core in this age (cf. 1 Cor 14:20-22).”  The core purpose of speaking in tongues was to stress the nature of the new covenant that was centered in Jesus working in this new institution called the church.

This special filling of the Holy Spirit is a piece of evidence that the church is a new man and a new entity. The fact that God now indwelt His people through His Holy Spirit means that God is now intimate with His people. Because His Spirit indwells the believer, the believer now has direct access to Him. Gods children have the privilege, gift, and opportunity to freely worship God and come to Him anywhere, and at any time. There is no longer the need to go to the temple to worship God. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The church is all about Christ. It has to be by its very definition and existence. They continue who He is. Because of what Jesus has done on the cross, He has purchased His chosen ones through His blood. Jesus is the power and He sends the Holy Spirit to His disciples. Jesus gives the power to His disciples to carry out the mission through the sending of His Holy Spirit. Once empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church then had the capability of spreading the truths of Jesus to the rest of the world. Jesus says in Acts 1:8, “you shall be my witnesses…”

The function of the church is to testify of Christ and what He has done. Christians link to this because they are a living testimony to and through Jesus. This is the churches mission is to testify and be a witness for Jesus to the ends of the earth, and to attest to certain realities to convince others of those realities. The allusion, “end most parts of the earth” is from Isaiah 49:6. This is his mission. Here, Paul is writing to the Jews, but in Isaiah, God is talking to his suffering servant.

**Why Tongues is Needed at this Time**
Tongues are needed at this time because the church is being established. Previously, God was just focused on the nation of Israel, but now his scope has widened to the international extent. The day of Pentecost was the time that God chose for the Holy Spirit to descend. There are certain reasons why the Spirit came at this time and not at another time. Some believe that The Day of Pentecost was a Jewish feast and a celebration of the anniversary of the law, but not all believe this. On that day so many years before, Moses went up to Mt. Siaini and God gave Moses His law and Israel entered a covenant with God. The Holy Ghost came on that anniversary because the Holy Spirit is the new law of the Christian. The old law was written on stone, but the new law was written on the tables of the heart. “The old law was outside, while the new law is put within you as an instinct and institution of your being, something that is part of your very nature.” One of the many reasons why God sent the Holy Spirit was to gather a people, a church for His name. The Holy Spirit comes and fills and indwells people in Acts for a purpose. His purpose is to advance this new institution called the church. He does this by filling people and giving them the power to fulfill this mission. “He is the One who carries on the work of the kingdom through the chosen instruments He calls and prepares for service.” Gods Spirit empowered the disciples to go forth and carry out the gospel message to the entire world so that many would be saved, His kingdom would be expanded, and ultimately so that He would be glorified.

**Where the Gift of Tongues is Seen in Acts**
==

== In Acts 2:1-13 we see tongues at Pentecost. The purpose for tongues here is to show the Jews that God was beginning a new international body called the church. When it says they spoke in “other” languages, that other means that they spoke in languages that weren’t native to them. The word “language” is //dialekto// (or dialect) comes from. It’s clear here that the disciples were talking in other foreign languages such as languages mentioned in verse 8-11. The languages include Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia and Phrygia. “When the apostolic community spoke in tongues, ‘as the spirit gave them utterance’, on the day of Pentecost, they were speaking by divine inspiration languages they had not previously learned. To them it was tongues, but to the bystanders who heard and understood their dialects, it was not tongues, but prophecy.”

In Acts 10:44-48 we see tongues displayed in the house of Cornelius. The purpose for tongues in this passage is to show the Jews that Samaritans were to be in the church on an equal basis. Tongues serves purpose here to teach Peter something about the exercising of the exercise of apostolic authority. When Peter shared the gospel message to the gentiles at Cornelius’ house, “the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word,” and they spoke with tongues. Even though this account doesn't say that they spoke in foreign languages, it is implied that they do. Peter also said, “God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 11:17). What he said leaves no doubt that the glossolalia in Act 10 was of the same kind of nature as that in Acts 2. “Luke uses the word “//isen”// (equal) to describe the gift.

The third instance in acts where we see the gift of tongues is in Acts 19:1-7. The purpose for tongues in this passage is to show the Jews that Old Testament saints in special situations were to come into the church on an equal basis. The people at Ephesus had heard Johns message of the coming of Christ, but they hadn't been told that Christ already came, and they didn't know of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). When Paul told them more about these things, he also baptized them. He then laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and were prophesied. Luke uses the same term, //glossa// in the other two accounts. This event is the same as what happened in acts chapter 2 and in chapter 10. In all the cases it was the miracle of speaking in foreign languages that they hadn't learned. Tongues served purpose here to authenticate Paul’s apostleship with message approved from God. “In Acts 19:1-7, 12, believers had been baptized but had not heard of Holy Spirit. Paul laid hands on them and they spoke with tongues and started prophesying. They didn't speak in “ecstatic utterances” of 1 Corinthians 12-14 but in foreign languages.”

__The Role of Tongues in Acts bibliography__


 * 1) Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson. 2007. //Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament//. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic.
 * 2) Broomall, Wick. //The Holy Spirit; A Scriptural Study of His Person and Work//. New York: American tract society, 1940.
 * 3) Burdick, Donald, W. 1969. //Tongues, to speak or not to speak//. Chicago: Moody Press.
 * 4) Dillow, Joseph C. 1975. //Speaking in tongues//. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House.
 * 5) Deere, Jack. 1996. //Surprised by the power of the Spirit: discovering how God speaks and heals today//. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Pub.
 * 6) Dyer, Luther B. 1971. //Tongues//. Jefferson City, Mo: Le Roi Publishers.
 * 7) Hillis, Donald Whitman. 1963. //What can tongues do for you?// Chicago: Moody Press.
 * 8) Horton, Harold Lawrence Cuthbert. 1975. //Gifts of the spirit//. Springfield, Mo: Gospel Pub. House.
 * 9) Howard, David M. 1973. //By the power of the Holy Spirit//. Downers Grove, Ill: Inter Varsity Press.
 * 10) Smith, Charles R. 1973. //Tongues in Biblical perspective; a summary of Biblical conclusions concerning tongues//. Winona Lake, Ind: BMH Books.
 * 11) Kelsey, Morton T. 1981. //Tongue speaking: the history and meaning of charismatic experience / Morton T. Kelsey//. New York: Crossroad
 * 12) Mills, Watson E. 1986. //Speaking in tongues: a guide to research on glossolalia//. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
 * 13) Pettegrew, Larry Dean. 2001. //The new covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit//. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications
 * 14) Pierson, Arthur T. 1895. //The Acts of the Holy Spirit: being an examination of the active mission and ministry of the Spirit of God, the divine Paraclete, as set forth in the Acts of the Apostles//. New York: F.H. Revell Co.
 * 15) Polhill, John B. 1992. //Acts//. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman Press.
 * 16) Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. 1999. //Basic theology: a popular systemic guide to understanding biblical truth//. Chicago, Ill: Moody Press.
 * 17) Thieme, R. B. 1974. //Tongues//. Houston, TX: Berachah Tapes and Publications].
 * 18) Unger, Merrill F. 1971. //New Testament teaching on tongues//. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.
 * 19) Ervin, Howard M., and Howard M. Ervin. 1987. //Spirit-baptism: a biblical investigation//. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers.
 * 20) Zahn, Theodor, Melancthon Williams Jacobus, John Moore Trout, Charles Snow Thayer, William Arnot Mather, Lewis Hodous, Edward Strong Worcester, William H. Worrell, and Rowland B. Dodge. 1909. //Introduction to the New Testament//. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.
 * 21) Zondervan Publishing House (Grand Rapids, Mich.). 2002. //Nasb thinline Bible: New American Standard Bible//. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan.

 Burdick, Donald, W. 1969. //Tongues, to speak or not to speak//. Chicago: Moody Press. Pg. 16  Pettegrew, Larry Dean. 2001. //The new covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit//. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications. Pg. 91  //Ibid,.// Pg 154  //Ibid,.// Pg 154  //Ibid,.// Pg. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">93 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Simpson, A. B. 1891. //Gospel of John and the Acts of the Apostles//. New York: Christian Alliance Pub. Co, 31. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Broomall, Wick. //The Holy Spirit; A Scriptural Study of His Person and Work//. New York: American tract society, 1940, 77. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Ervin, Howard M., and Howard M. Ervin. 1987. //Spirit-baptism: a biblical investigation//. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 41 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Hillis, Donald Whitman. 1963. //What can tongues do for you?// Chicago: Moody Press. Pg. 29

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