1 Cor 14: What the Bible Teaches About Tongues (Babbling Nonsense Isn’t From God’s Spirit)
1 Cor 14: What the Bible Teaches About Tongues (Babbling Nonsense Isn’t From God’s Spirit)
First Corinthians is a book which has many sections since the Apostle Paul addressed several issues which the Corinthians had asked him about or which there was otherwise a need to address. 1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14 are one continuous treatise on spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:7 says: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is for every man to profit withal.”
Any genuine spiritual gift from the true God is given for the profit of others.
We also read in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
It is also seen in the above verses that the Holy Spirit being poured out upon an individual is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not tongues. Those who are born again in Christ have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Speaking some unintelligible alleged language which some have labeled “tongues from the Holy Spirit” does not prove that you are baptized with the Holy Spirit nor prove that you are born again in Christ at all. Many tongue-promoting preachers actually persuade people that they are right with the Lord because they were able to get them to blabber nonsense and they told them that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is hard to believe this happens, yet it happens a lot. When someone truly repents and believes in Jesus Christ, they will receive the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38-39 and Acts 5:31-32).
Coming now to 1 Corinthians 12:29-30: “Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?”
If these are not rhetorical questions which have an obvious answer to each being “no”, then we’d have to foolishly conclude that every Christian is an apostle. When people debate about whether the supernatural gifts spoken of in the Bible have ceased or not, they often don’t note how there were fake spiritual gifts operating in the first century AD (as well as beforehand and afterwards). People who are admitted Pagans have been known to speak in nonsense tongues from ancient times. This babbling nonsense in reality stems from human contriving, human conditioning, or possibly even demonic influence. Hypnotists have induced people to speak in nonsense tongues at their meetings. Little children and parrots can be taught to speak in nonsense tongues. Phony tongues produce a phony definition of righteousness. Rather than being a mark of godliness, it is actually a mark of susceptibility to deception.
1 Corinthians 12:31: “But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”
That more excellent way is to seek to meet the needs of others and to edify others. The command is to earnestly desire the best gifts on that basis.
Many say that the “tongues of angels” referred to in 1 Corinthians 13:1 is a reference to nonsense tongues. Yet where else in the Bible are we told about this supposed angelic language that the nonsense tongues people think they are speaking in? And how could anyone ever truly know that their blabbering nonsense is this alleged angelic language? “Tongues of angels” is probably a reference to eloquence.
We read in 1 Corinthians 13:8: “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”
This proves that when Paul is speaking of tongues in these chapters, he is speaking of the languages of men on earth rather than an angelic heavenly language. If such a language existed, it would not fail like other things pertaining to earth eventually will.
Now we will look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse by verse due to how it deals with tongues in such a direct way after the groundwork for that had been set in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. The train of thought in 14:1 has never changed from chapter 12.
1 Corinthians 14:1-2: “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.”
The nonsense tongues people jump at this and say “See! There’s a justification for our nonsense!” This actually means that the one who prays in an unknown tongue speaks in mysteries to his hearers who do not understand his language.
1 Corinthians 14:3: “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.”
Note the definition of prophecy here. It is not necessarily a prediction about the future or bringing to light things which were never known before. It is bringing forth and articulating the mind of God, as revealed through His Word, for the benefit of others.
1 Corinthians 14:4: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.”
The nonsense tongues people get excited again. “How can you not see that he is speaking about our babbling nonsense?” It had already been established back in 1 Corinthians 12:7 that real gifts from the Holy Spirit are given for the profit of others. The nonsense tongues don’t profit anyone- not even those who speak them (in spite of their insistence that their fuzzy feelings are profitable). The admitted Pagans babbling nonsense in the Pagan temples of Corinth probably claimed to be edified by what they were doing. Along with verse 2, verse 4 is a reference to praying in a language which the one praying understands which the rest of the congregation does not understand.
1 Corinthians 14:5-6: “I would that ye all spoke with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?”
Paul wished that everyone in the church spoke many languages. Consider how convenient that would make everything. However, speaking the Word of God faithfully for the potential benefit of a Christian assembly is even better. Paul is basically saying that if he doesn’t edify others through his multilingual abilities, then there is no point in him demonstrating those. He would just be wasting everyone’s time in that case.
1 Corinthians 14:7-9: “And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.”
In relation to these things, it is notable that many preachers try to preach about how it is damnable to live in sin- while they also preach deceptive unconditional eternal security doctrine. No one is going to fight the Christian war and run the Christian race successfully because of such preaching. All that this contradiction amounts to is a message to get right with the Lord today so you can sin boldly tomorrow. The delusion related to this contradiction is only made worse when people are also led to think that they are faithful Christians because they are babbling nonsense.
1 Corinthians 14:10-12: “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”
Back to 1 Corinthians 12:7 again: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is for every man to profit withal.” Since there is no such thing as a valid spiritual gift from the true God which is only for the edification of the one who receives it, there is therefore no such thing as a gift from the Holy Spirit which is a private prayer language.
1 Corinthians 14:13: “Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.”
No one should speak to the congregation in a foreign language and just hope that somehow someone will be able to interpret what they say. In our time, language translation technology can allow communication between people who do not speak each other’s language. There is no need for a supernatural gift of speaking or interpreting tongues when communication can occur through natural means. To say otherwise is to practically worship experience rather than God Himself. Note also here that the nonsense tongue speakers twist the Word to confirm the alleged gifts. The Bible says that genuine gifts confirm the Word.
1 Corinthians 14:14: “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
In light of all the truths which have already been established, this is referring to the one who is praying and understanding their prayer in their own language though that understanding is unfruitful to those who don’t understand the language they are praying in. Those who speak in an unintelligible language, thinking that’s the gift of the Holy Spirit, have no understanding at all of their own words. Nonsense tongue speakers literally do not know what they are talking about because they do not even know what they are saying. Their nonsense is no better able to edify themselves than others.
1 Corinthians 14:15: “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
If anyone had any doubts about what Paul meant before, he has now left no doubt that he is not validating the speaking of a nonsensical prayer language. He has utterly destroyed the alleged legitimacy of praying in such a language in private by the principle set forth in verse 15.
1 Corinthians 14:16-17: “Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.”
And since spiritual gifts are given for the edification of the church, just allegedly exercising them in private is out of bounds here too. The principles set forth just hammer home repeatedly, to the point of maybe even seeming overly repetitive, that genuine spiritual gifts from the true God are for edifying others so anything else which is labeled as a spiritual gift must be deceitful. Yet there are over half a billion Charismatics and Pentecostals in the world who speak in nonsense tongues in utter opposition to this lesson.
1 Corinthians 14:18-19: “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.”
Paul was a highly educated person who knew more languages than any of the Corinthians knew. Yet he was going to seek to edify others at the church, not waste their time speaking in a language which they don’t understand. The principles he has laid down make it obvious that he was also not going to waste his own time speaking nonsense when he was alone which he did not understand himself.
1 Corinthians 14:20-21: “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.”
Paul has referenced Isaiah 28:11 here. “This people” in verse 21 is obviously a reference to the Jews. There are three references to actual events in the Book of Acts where people spoke in tongues supernaturally through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Every instance of tongues in the Book of Acts is either definitely or very likely a sign specifically for Jews.
Acts 2:1-11: Though the Apostles of Christ spoke in many languages here when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, understand that the people who were being supernaturally spoken to were Jews who had come to Jerusalem from many nations for the Feast of Pentecost. These people knew the languages of the lands they had settled in. They were confronted with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection through His Apostles speaking to them in those languages. In the Book of Genesis the Lord deliberately caused people to speak in different languages as the Tower of Babel was being built to confound their ungodly endeavor as a judgment upon them. The tongues which the Apostles of Christ spoke in were a remedy to Babylonian confusion as they pursued the righteous endeavor of calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus. Yet those who babble in nonsense tongues cause Babylonian confusion. Though it is not meant this way by those who claim their nonsense tongues are a gift from the Lord, to speak in nonsense tongues and attribute the confusion this causes to the Lord is essentially an admission to involvement in an ungodly pursuit and being under God’s judgment.
Acts 10:44-47: In this case Jewish Christians were persuaded that the Lord accepted Gentiles without conversion to Judaism when the Holy Spirit fell on uncircumcised Gentiles which had believed in Jesus Christ. They recognized that the Holy Spirit had fallen on them because they spoke with tongues and magnified God. If these new Gentile believers had been babbling nonsense, that would be no sign at all. It would not be known that they were magnifying God by their words and they could have spoken nonsense without the Holy Spirit anyways. Yet hearing those Gentile believers who didn’t already know the Hebrew language magnify God in Hebrew would be enough to convince the Jewish Christians that that Holy Spirit had really fallen upon them.
Acts 19:1-9: Though this case seems a little less obvious, the men who spoke in tongues were already Jews religiously and repentant followers of John the Baptist which had not been adequately informed about Jesus Christ. This is logical and makes a lot of sense when it is considered that in the previous chapter (Acts 18) there had been a preacher at Ephesus named Apollos who was only familiar with the baptism of John. Apollos was taught the way of the Lord more perfectly through Paul’s co-workers Aquila and Priscilla. Apollos then left Ephesus before Paul arrived at Ephesus and met the twelve men whom he ended up baptizing in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul then laid hands on them so that they received the Holy Spirit. The twelve men spoke in tongues and prophesied. This established Paul’s Apostolic authority and was also likely a sign to the Jews at Ephesus. Immediately afterwards it is recorded how Paul was preaching in the Jewish synagogue there for three months. Whoever these tongues were spoken in front of, whatever language they were spoken in, and whatever was specifically said these tongues must have served a practical purpose in conveying a message to others in a language they could understand. It is impractical and presumption out of line with everything else the Bible teaches about tongues from the Holy Spirit to assume these men were speaking nonsense.
Also then, note that the people who use the tongues in Acts to try to say tongues are the evidence of the Holy Spirit don’t even speak in tongues like the people did in the Book of Acts.
Moving on now to 1 Corinthians 14:22-26: “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”
All things are to be done unto edifying. It’s amazing how many churches don’t even get this- let alone actually succeed in being edifying.
1 Corinthians 14:27-28: “If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.”
Whoever is able to interpret should be identified beforehand. This also implies that the language is a real language which can be objectively identified. The one who speaks a language that the congregation generally can’t understand should not speak to the congregation in the foreign language if no one present is able to interpret that language for the congregation. Otherwise, they should just pray privately to God in that particular language. There is nothing here validating some alleged mystical prayer language which even the speaker doesn’t understand.
1 Corinthians 14:29-32: “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”
These are basic principles for a church meeting which are also common sense principles of communication and common decency for life in general. The meeting should not be a free-for-all. Not more than a few people should be speaking at the meeting. If someone is going to speak, they should let the previous speaker finish. The speaker shouldn’t ramble- especially to the point where people have lost the ability to listen to the next speaker. Not more than one person needs to speak at once. If someone cannot control whether they speak or not, their words and actions could not be from the Spirit of God. Basic stuff. Yet many people were deluded on these matters in ancient times; and many are deluded on these matters today.
1 Corinthians 14:33: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
Of course anyone could claim they can interpret the nonsense tongues- yet the interpretation of the nonsense tongues could not be verified. That only creates confusion. It could not logically do anything but cause confusion. The true God is not the author of confusion. Those who speak in nonsense tongues literally do not know what they are saying.
1 Corinthians 14:34-37: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
What Paul said here is based on the principles already set forth in the Old Testament/Tanakh. The Lord appointed only men to serve as the ministers of the Tabernacle/Temple. That reflects a timeless principle. See 1 Timothy 2:11-14 along these lines. The reality that Pentecostals, Charismatics, Word of Faith, and New Apostloic Reformation people (all movements associated with nonsense babbling) typically believe in women pastors is a major red flag in itself which demonstrates they are out of line with the commandments of the Lord. They are guided by feeling and emotion rather than the Word of God.
1 Corinthians 14:38: “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”
Paul is obviously not saying to allow anyone to violate these principles in the church. That would contradict everything he had been saying. I think it’s reasonable to conclude he meant don’t go chasing people who refuse to follow these sound principles of Scripture. Let such start their own churches and let the bad fruit of their errors testify that they are wrong. Also, beware that many churches now are the product of such people.
1 Corinthians 14:39: “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.”
It has been made clear already that Paul means forbid not to speak with tongues when the tongue is an objective language which has an interpreter present and can be verified objectively as an actual language. He has made it clear that tongues should not be allowed otherwise since that would be disorderly and God is not the author of confusion. To say that alleged spiritual gifts shouldn’t be regulated and policed within the church is to say that there should be no discernment of spirits within the church. This paves the way for infiltration from the demonic realm and much chaos. Many also use counterfeit spiritual gifts to gain prestige and persuasive power over others- especially within church settings.
1 Corinthians 14:40: “ Let all things be done decently and in order (or, an arrangement).”
The Spirit of God does not empower anyone to disobey the Bible which He inspired.
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