TONGUES- PART 1

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The anchor scripture reference for this verse-by-verse bible study is Acts chapter 2. This is part one of the study of “Tongues”.

For a start, it would be good to consider the subtitles outlined for the entire Acts chapter 2 below:-

By GNT
– The coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13)
– Peter’s Message (Acts 2:14-42)
– Life among the believers (Acts 2:43-47)

By NKJV
– Coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4)
– The crowd’s Response (Acts 2:5-13)
– Peter’s Sermon (Acts 2:14-39)
– A vital church grows (Acts 2:40-47)

By NIV
– The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13)
– Peter Addresses the Crowd (Acts 2:14-41)
– The Fellowship of the Believers (Acts 42-47)

THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Based on the context and the subtitles outlined by these three bible translations, without a doubt, the first portion of the Acts 2 was about “THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.”

It is NOT about the giving of Spiritual Gifts. Nevertheless, a lot of sermons confuse by telling believers that Acts 2 is about the giving of the Spiritual Tongues and the giving of Spiritual Gifts.

The giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit happened on the Day of Pentecost. It was marked 50 days after the Passover. And it was also known as the celebration of the FIRSTFRUITS of the wheat harvest or the GIVING OF THE LAW.

Just to sidetrack. Under the Old Covenant, on the day of Pentecost, God gave the Law. Similarly, under the New Covenant, again on the day of Pentecost, God gave another Law of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. More detail can be found at “MELCHIZEDEK, GRACE, TRUTH, AND LAW”.

That day of Pentecost was also on the 10 days after Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3). Prior to that, Jesus commanded them in several accounts for His people to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Some of the verses can be found at:-
– Luke 10:1-20
– John 14:15-18
– John 20:19-23
– Acts 1:4-5
– Matthew 3:11
– Luke 3:16

The scripture references for Acts 1, Luke 3, and Matthew 3 as below:-

Acts 1:4-5, GNT
4 And when they came together, he (Jesus) gave them this order: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for THE GIFT I told you about, THE GIFT MY FATHER PROMISED.
5 John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.”

Acts 1:8, GNT
8 But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be WITNESSES FOR ME in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Matthew 3:11, GNT
11 I baptize you with water TO SHOW THAT YOU HAVE REPENTED, but the one who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit AND fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals.

Luke 3:16, GNT
16 So John said to all of them, “I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit AND FIRE.

Mathew 3:11 and Luke 3:16 reveal the importance of baptism. In brief, there are three kinds of baptisms:-

Water baptism
Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and
Baptism of the Fire

It is good to note the sequence of these baptisms. And water baptism is a call for repentance (from sins). Water baptism is not just a public declaration as Christ’s followers or just a symbol. Rather it is a baptism of public declaration of renouncement from a sinful lifestyle. It is baptized to show that believers have repented from their sins (Matthew 3:11).

And should we consider Acts 1:4-5; 8, the outpouring or the coming of the Spirit and with power is to empower believers in WITNESSING for Him. IT IS DIFFERENT FROM water baptism.

Should we continue with a close examination of Acts 2, when the feast of Pentecost came, they (Believers) were all gathered in one place (Acts 2:1). And the following events unfolded:-

Out of a sudden, there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong rushing wind blowing,
It filled the WHOLE HOUSE.
And they SAW what looked like TONGUES OF FIRE.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages. (Acts 2:1-4, GNT)

Notice that those believers “SAW” “Tongues of Fire.” It is visible; tangible. It is not imagination

And should we cross-reference to a few different translations, those people were speaking in “Different or foreign languages”.

Acts 2:4 (AMP)
4 And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (Different, Foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in APPROPRIATE WORDS].

Acts 2:4 (NLT)
4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began SPEAKING IN OTHER LANGUAGES, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

According to Acts 1, Matthew 3, and Luke 3, this outpouring of the Spirit should be the arrival of the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

To be certain, there were two groups of people. These were:
– One of the groups was inside the house that experienced the outpouring of the Spirit and witnessed Tongues of Fire. This group was referred to as “Believers”.

– Another group of religious men who lived in Jerusalem came from more than 10 nations (Acts 2:9-11) and were outside the house. Shall call this second group as “Multi-nations Group”, hereafter.

When the second group of the Jews and devout religious men heard the wild rushing sound, they gathered and noticed their mother tongues were being spoken by those believers. And they questioned:-
– Aren’t these all Galileans?
– How come they spoke their various mother tongues? (Acts 2:5-8)

All of them were perplexed in witnessing the strange sound of the wild wind and on those believers spoken in their mother languages. There was also some mocking and saying, “They are drunk” (Acts 2:12-13).

Since this Multi-nations Group of people (from those more than 10 nations) called that their mother languages (Some translations use “their dialect”). Thus, it was NOT the Tongues of Angelic; or the Spiritual gift of Tongues they were spoken of. Rather, it was about Tongues of different kinds of Languages.

Those second Multi-nations Group of people gathered, heard, and witnessed the rushing or the outpouring of the Spirit should be more than 3000. The fact that bible recorded in verse 41 that “About 3,000 people responded to Peter’s message and got saved that day.

That means the Holy Spirit came so powerfully on Pentecost Day that many witnessed the one-off event. Today, the Holy Spirit won’t manifest or come that way.

Acts 2:41, GNT
41 Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added TO THE GROUP THAT DAY.

Most likely, apostles were those referred to as “They (Believers)” in Acts 2:1. They were the first group of people to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and speak in Tongues of Languages.

Based on Acts 2, and without separating two groups of people in the context, there is a teaching that suggests even the unbelievers were baptized with the power of the Spirit, before being saved. Thus, they are saying water baptism isn’t important to receive God’s power.

In actual fact, only the first group of believers who were in the house received the power of the Spirit. The other group, who were from more than 10 nations, were there just as witnesses.

Likely those disciples had already gone through the water baptism, performed by Jesus in His earthly ministry. Hence, it is unbiblical to say water baptism is not important to receive the Holy Spirit.

QUESTION
What was happening in Acts 2 then?

My personal view is that Acts 2 was a one-off event. It was the arrival of the promise of the Holy Spirit on that special Pentecostal day.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit did not define the Spiritual Gifts of the Spirit. Rather, God has altered the whole divine system. No longer the Almighty God known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. First time in history, God manifested Himself as God of Gentiles by enabling those believers to speak in more than 10 different nationalities’ languages.

Prior to that, the Almighty God was the God of Israel; for the Hebrews alone. But on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes as a God, not just for the Hebrews/ Israel. Instead, He made known Himself officially as the God of the universe.

Besides, the coming of the Holy Spirit also signified a change in Jesus’ earthly ministry to the Holy Spirit. The church age or grace period (Generation) has begun.

Effectively, there was a change of Law on the Day of Pentecost from the Old Testament to the New. The Holy Spirit is a much more effective Minister or Governor for the New Covenant people to obey His Law.

More details of this can be found at:-
MELCHIZEDEK, GRACE, TRUTH, AND LAW
LAW IS BEING CANCELED
LAW (1) – JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
LAW (2) – JESUS UPHOLDS THE LAW (CIRCUMCISION)
LAW (3) – JESUS UPHOLDS THE LAW (1)

In closing for this part one of the studies is that there were two groups of people mentioned in Acts 2. There were:-

People who gathered in the room
People who were outside the room. They were from more than 10 nations.

And the second group of people gathered should be more than 3,000 people there. They heard the wild rushing of sound or wind. Indeed, this group of people was only saved after Peter’s speech.

Acts 2:37-38 GNT
37 When the people heard this, they were deeply troubled and said to Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”
38 Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:41 GNT
41 Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day.

Hence, it is not true for certain teaching that says believers can be baptized with God’s power before accepting Him as Lord and Savior.

Indeed, NKJV bible was describing this group of people as a “Multitude”

Acts 2:6 NKJV
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Furthermore, Acts 2:38 spells out clearly that you shall receive “the Holy Spirit”. The scripture does not say you shall receive “the give of Spiritual Gifts.”

In part two of the verse-by-verse bible study, I shall further establish that Acts 2 was not the giving of Spiritual gifts. Rather, it was about giving or the arrival of the promise of the Holy Spirit. Amenbible