Rev. W. Benson Male is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. f or fourteen years he taught Bible at the Christian High School in Denver, Colorado. He has also served as a minister in the Christian Reformed Church. Having recently retired from Grace OPC in Aurora. Colorado, Rev. Male is presently working to establish a Reformed missionary effort in Beirut, Lebanon. A number of Christians there had begged the OPC to send someone to help with what is now called The Middle East Reformed Fellows],ip. Rev. Male is serving in Lebanon until a younger man can be found to take his place.

I CORINTHIANS 13

It cannot be denied that today a large number of active Christians in many denominations are seeking or have received an experience which is generally called “speaking in tongues.” Usually this so-called supernatural gift is accompanied by other supposedly miraculous manifestations such as divine healing, prophecies, etc.

The claim is made that these gifts; (1) never ceased in the church and have always been present among genuine believers, or, (2) are renewed today as a sign of some impending redemptive work about to be accomplished (e.g., revival), or (3) are a sign of the imminent return of Christ. Many would hold that the only reason all Christians do not possess and exercise these gifts is that they lack the necessary faith and commitment.

The moral argument – There are many articles and books using various lines of argument, criticizing this practice of tongue-speaking. In this article I intend to limit myself to what may be called the moral argument.

By moral I mean the main or denoted sense of the word: “Of or concerned with the discernment and instruction of what is good and evil.” “Being or acting in accordance with established standards and precepts of good behavior” (American Heritage Dictionary). As a Christian I am assuming the existence of the Bible’s God, “infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 4). I assume then that the moral law is an unchangeable standard of that which in human behavior is pleasing and acceptable to Him.

It is this moral law that is summarized in the ten commandments and in the briefer summary by our Savior (Matt. 22:36–40). The Sermon on the Mount is our Lord‘s explanation of the breadth and profundity of this Law (Matt. 5–7) and it is this law which will be the standard of God‘s judgment on the Great Day, determining whether we have done evil or good, and are worthy of judgment or blessing. It is this law which all mankind has broken and which our Savior fully obeyed in our behalf in His life upon earth, and the curse of which He bore in His death that we might be saved.

A necessary element? The question before us is: Is the gift of speaking in tongues a necessary or desirable element in obeying the moral law of God? Is speaking in tongues required or helpful toward satisfying the demands of the Law? Did Christ redeem us so that we might speak in tongues? Is a Christian who speaks in tongues morally better than one who does not?

Certainly the all-embracing theme of the Bible is the righteousness and mercy of God in redeeming sinful men through Jesus Christ. God is presented as perfect in all His moral attributes. This perfect God created man in His own image, a moral being. He placed mankind under a covenant requiring moral obedience. Man‘s fall into sin was a rebellion against the moral law of God, and made man morally guilty and corrupt. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4).

The various covenants that God made with man in the steps of redemption were all moral covenants. The purpose of the “new covenant” given by the Savior was to write God‘s law upon His people’s hearts (Jer. 31:31–34). The Apostle Paul declares that the goal of redemption through Christ was “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit” (Rom. 8:4). Compare also Micah 6:6–8; Psalms 1 and 15; Romans 13:9–14; 2:12–16.

Temporary accessories – God, in the development of this plan of moral redemption, used many nonmoral accessories which were of temporary value and significance. Following is a list of a few of these.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was used as a test in the Garden of Eden.

The ark of Noah was l1sed to the saving of Noah‘s house.

The land of Canaan and the city of Jerusalem were a home for the people of God in pre-Christian times.

The ceremonial law with its priests and sacriflces were types picturing the atonement that Christ would effect in His coming.

Miracles were the signs of prophets and apostles as spokesmen from God.

For special needs –Speaking in tongues is mentioned three times (presumably tongues is included in Acts 8:17) in the Book of Acts. Each time it occurred there was a pressing need for just such a miracle. It was a supernatural proof that those receiving it were or were to be included in the true people of God.

On Pentecost (Acts 2) the one hundred and twenty received this sign as divine proof that the Holy Spirit was no longer in the temple but among the followers of Jesus the Messiah. In Acts 8:14–17 the Samaritans were considered by the Jews (and even by the Christians) as outside the pale of God’s Kingdom. In Acts 10, the gentile Cornelius and his family received the gift and were received into the church by baptism by Peter, who defended his action by saying, “What was I that I could withstand God?” (Acts 11:17). And the disciples of John received the same gift when they heard of Jesus and believed (Acts 9:1–7).

These are the only times the gift is mentioned in the Book of Acts, these events covering a period of about twenty-five years. The only other mention of the gift is in I Corinthians 12–14, which was written during this same brief period in Apostolic history, when on occasion the miraculous gifts appeared among the churches.

When God’s purpose in using any of these non-moral accessories was accomplished, they were discontinued. A consideration of the above list of such will bear out this point, e.g., the ceremonial law of the Old Testament.

Redemption was brought into its final form, its fulness, in the life, death, etc. of Christ, and in the establishment of the universal Church through the Holy Spirit’s special activity in the Apostles.

The redemptive acts of the Savior were completed, and the Apostles were inspired of God to record and interpret those acts in the New Testament. The moral restitution of sinners to God, and their life of obedience to the moral law was established finally until the end of the world when sin and evil would be destroyed forever.

A tragic mistake – Speaking in tongues was never an essential part of God’s moral redemption. It did serve an important function for a brief period in the early church. But it was not a part of the Old Testament religion; John the Baptist did not preach or practice it; Jesus’ ministry did not include it; the apostle Paul gave it the lowest rank among the supernatural gifts then present (I Cor. 12–14). The New Testament books setting forth Christianity in its full-orbed system do not even mention the gift. (See Romans, Hebrews, Ephesians).

“Tongues” as well as other supernatural gifts are definitely declared to be no part of true Christian morality nor a sign of it (I Cor. 13; Matt. 7:2o–23). “Love never faileth; but whether there be prophecies they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease . . . And now abideth faith, hope and love, these three, and the greatest of these is love” (I Cor. 13:9, 13).

The moral law is the perfect standard of a life pleasing to God. Any failure to perform it is sin; adding something to it is a denial of its perfection and is sin; making anything a substitute for it is sin (Matt. 15:6).

Through the ages God is building His holy temple. It is made of living stones—His holy, true, and righteous people, saved by Jesus Christ from a life and death in sin. During the building of that temple He has used many things as scaffolding; things never intended to he a part of the completed edifice.

It is a tragic mistake to confuse the tcmporary elements used for scaffolding with the permanent building. Many have done this, e.g., circumcision (Acts 15:1); the priesthood (the Roman church); the Old Testament theocracy (the uniting of church and government); Old Testament civil laws (the Salem witch-hunt); etc., etc. The results have been tragic!

Let us leave the temporary and follow after the permanent, striving through the use of Scriptural means of grace to reach maturity in obedience to the moral law of love to God and man.