Legacy · Writings
Speaking in Tongues and the New Birth
I. The "Sound" of The New Birth:
a.) Jesus Stated That a Sound Accompanies The New Birth Every Time It Is Experienced: John 3:8
1.) "Wind" Translates From Greek as "Spirit."
2.) "Bloweth" Translates From Greek as "Breathes."
3.) "Sound" Translates From Greek as "Tone" or "Voice."
4.) An Accurate Translation Would Be: "The Spirit Breathes Where It Will, and You Hear It's Voice, But You Cannot Tell Where It Comes From, or Where It Goes: So Is Every one Who Is Born of The Spirit."
b.) Paul States That The Spirit "Cries Out" When It Comes In To Us: Gal. 4:6
1.) "Crying" Is Translated From Greek as "Crying Aloud."
2.) The Verse States That It Is The Spirit That Cries Out, Not Just The Person.
3.) "Abba Father" Is Translated From Greek as "Prayer To God" (See Rom. 8:26)
4.) So The Spirit Audibly Declares Us A Child of God When We Receive It; Much Like a Baby Cries When It Is Born.
II. The Token of The Covenant: [I Cor. 14:21,22]
a.) God Has Always Provided His Own Chosen Sign, or Token, To Mark Evidence of Every Covenant That He Has Established With Man: Gen. 9:11-13; Gen. 17:10-14 (Same With Old Covenant With Israel - Abraham's Seed)
b.) The Spiritual Condition of Man Is The Reason For a Necessity Of God Establishing Evidence (A Sign) That He Has Established a (The) Covenant:
1.) Jer. 17:9,10; I Kin. 8:39; I Sam. 16:5-7; Acts 15:8 (Man Does Not Know Enough About His Own Heart To Know When His Faith and Repentance Has Met God's Terms. Only God Can See The Heart That Clearly.)
2.) Prov. 28:26: (Anyone Who Depends On Themselves Or Someone Else To Declare That They Have Met God's Terms of Repentance and Faith Is Dealing Foolishly.)
c.) The New Covenant Is All About The True Remission of Sins Through Faith In Christ: Mat. 26:27, 28
1.) I Cor. 14:21,; Isa. 28:11,12 (Paul States That Speaking In Tongues Is a Sign Directly Relating To Isaiah's Prophecy About Rest and Refreshing For The Weary.)
2.) Isaiah Stated That "Stammering Lips and Another Tongue" Accompany The Experience That Imparts Rest and Refreshing To The Weary.
3.) Mat. 11:28 (Jesus Said That He Came To Make Rest Available For Those Who "Labor, and Are Heavy Laden.")
4.) Acts 3:19 (Peter Said That Refreshing From The Lord Accompanies The Experience of Being Born Again and Receiving Remission of Our Sins.)
5.) So It Is Evident That Speaking In Tongues Is The Sign, or Token, That God Has Chosen To Mark Evidence of The Remission of Sins With Everyone Who Meets His Terms of Faith and Repentance; Meaning That Speaking In Tongues Is The Sign, or Token of The New Covenant.
III. The Spirit's Testimony:
a.) Even Jesus Said That His Testimony of Himself Was Not Valid Without The Father's Testimony Preceding It: John 5:31,32 - Mat. 3:17
b.) Jesus Said That The Holy Ghost Would Testify of Him When It Came, And That His Followers Would Also Testify of Him: Jn. 15:26
c.) His Followers Did Not Testify (Bear Witness) of Jesus After His Ascension Until After The Spirit Had Come To Them And Testified of Him First: Acts 2:1-4,32-36
d.) Paul Said That No One Can Say That Jesus Is Lord on Their Own, Without Having The Spirit's Testimony: I Cor. 12:3 (If One Believes That This Scripture Means That The Holy Ghost Is Inspiring Anyone Who Mouths The Words "Jesus Is Lord," Then We Contradict The Proverb Already Stated In This Article, Which Says "He That Trusteth In His Own Heart Is a Fool" - Prov. 28:26).
IV. What The Apostles and The Early Congregations in Christ Understood, and What Biblically Recorded Events Bear Forth -The 'Seeing and Hearing' Factor:
a.) When The Holy Ghost First Came at Pentecost, Peter Referred To Receiving The Spirit as Something That Could Be Seen and Heard: Acts 2:4,32,33
b.) When Cornelius and His Household Received The Spirit, Again Peter and The Brethren With Him Knew That They Had Received It Because "They Heard Them Speak With Tongues, and Magnify God." Acts 10:44-46
c.) When The Disciples at Ephesus Received The Spirit Upon The Laying on of Paul's Hands, They Could Be Heard "Speaking With Tongues, and Prophesying" (Acts 19:6)
d.) In The Only Biblical Instance Where We Are Specifically Told That Someone Received The Spirit of God, And Nothing Is Said About Speaking In Tongues; We Are Told That Simon The Sorcerer Offered Money For The Gift of Laying on Hands To Impart The Spirit, Because of What He Saw Happen To The Samaritans When Peter and John Laid Hands On Them. No Doubt, He Saw Them and Heard Them Speak With Tongues: Acts 8:18,19
1.) Acts 8:5-13 (Simon Had Already Seen Miraculous Healings, Demons Cast Out, Deliverance From Sorcery, and Great Joy Among The Samaritans, Due To Experiencing These Things Through Faith in Christ; And He Had Never Offered Money After Seeing Any of The Above.)
2.) Acts 8:14-17 (Though The Samaritans Had Experienced All of The Above Through Their Faith In Christ, Yet They Had Not Received The Holy Ghost.)
3.) Jn. 3:5; I Cor. 6:11; Titus 3:5; Rom. 8:9 (Without Question, The Scriptures Clearly Affirm To Us That Receiving God's Spirit Is The New Birth Experience.)
e.) There Was Absolutely No Controversy Among The Early Believers About Whether or Not Everyone Speaks In Tongues When They Receive The Holy Ghost, Because Everyone Understood That This Was The Case. And Everyone Understood This Because of Experience - Their Own, And Everyone Else's.
V. The Evidence of The New Birth Is 'Your Life,' Or 'Your Fruits' Theory:
a.) Speaking In Tongues Is The Initial Witness That Someone Has Been Born Again, But Not Necessarily A Witness of Righteousness In That Person's Life Thereafter: I Cor. 13:1.
b.) This Theory Goes Back To The Scripturally Unsound Argument That A Person Knows Their Own Heart, Or Someone Else's Well Enough To Say That Their Faith and Repentance Has Satisfied God's Terms: (Refer to II - b: 1,2 Above.)
c.) Jesus Stated Clearly That People Can Appear To Be Righteous To Others While Being Unrighteous In God's Eyes: Mat. 23:27,28; Prov. 14:12
1.) Jn. 7:24 (Jesus Commanded Us To Not Judge Anything [or Anyone] According To The Appearance.)
d.) Peter and The Brethren With Him Knew That Cornelius and His Household Had Received The Spirit Only Because They Heard Them Speak With Tongues. They Had Just Met Them and Didn't Have Time To "See Their Lives." And Peter Later Confirmed That Only God Knows The Hearts of Men; and That He "Bare Them (Cornelius, etc.) Witness (That Their Faith and Repentance Was Whole), Giving Them The Holy Ghost" (Acts 10:44-46; Acts 15:8).
1.) Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8; James 1:17; I Cor. 14:33 (This Is How God Established The Experience, And God Would Be A God of Variableness, and The Author of Confusion If He Had Changed The Experience Thereafter; and The Bible Assures Us That He Is Not.)
VI. The "Yeah But," Or "What About?" Factor:
a.) What of The Instances In The Book of Acts Like The Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts Ch. 8, Or The 3000 That Were Added To The Number of Believers On The Day of Pentecost, or The Philippian Jailor, etc.; Where Speaking In Tongues Is Not Mentioned?
1.) Firstly, Everything Recorded In The Book of Acts In Regard To Someone Making a Start In Their Faith Toward Christ, Is Not About Someone Actually Being Born Again. We Have Seen The Example of The Samaritans, Who Experienced Many Things Through Faith In Christ Before Experiencing The New Birth.
2.) Secondly, As We Also Have Already Seen, There Just Wasn't Any Controversy Among Early Believers About The Issue of Speaking In Tongues Always Being Synonymous With The New Birth Experience. Acts 10:44-46 Absolutely Confirms That This Biblical Reality Was Very Well Established and Understood By All Who Were In The Body of Christ. This Is The Reason That Speaking In Tongues Was Not Mentioned Continually, In Conjunction With People Being Added To The Congregation of Believers.
3.) Thirdly, This Question Has Already Been Addressed In (IV - e) Above, Where I Have Placed A Link To A Very Important Question And Answer on our FAQ'S Page.
VII. Summary:
As cited in this study, the real issue with this topic is the unquestionable scriptural truth that God alone knows the hearts of men, and that man, in and of himself cannot determine whether his own faith and repentance, or that of another, has met God's terms and been accepted by God. That is why God has provided His own sign to bear witness of His acceptance of our faith and repentance. In no covenant that He has established with man, has God ever left it in man's hands to confirm in and of himself that God has indeed established His covenant with him. This new covenant, which is predicated on the sufferings and death of God's Dearest and Best, is certainly no exception to this pattern and rule.
What this means to the body of Christ is that the traditional "new birth" doctrines ("Getting Saved," Accepting the Lord," etc.) that the overall congregation of God has adopted and embraced universally, are totally unscriptural and not of God; and have done untold damage to God's sheep, as well as stopping many souls short of the mark of truly being born again. Because of these erroneous teachings, many of God's children have ignorantly violated the commandment to not be "unequally yoked" in marriage, and all of the Body has been crippled by being in "fellowship" with non Spirit-baptized people who do not even have the capacity to be spiritually minded (II Cor. 6:14; Hos. 7:9).
