3. In the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul asks, “Do all speak with tongues?” This is proof that not all people will speak in tongues when they receive the Holy Ghost.
There is a difference between receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues and the operation of the gift of tongues discussed in 1 Corinthians 12. Tongues was established as the sign of receiving the Holy Ghost in Acts. Corinthians does not void that, but expounds on a different aspect of tongues. When you read “Do all speak with tongues?” you will see that the question refers back to the unique gift of “divers tongues and interpretations” at the beginning of the chapter and not to receiving the Holy Ghost at conversion. 1 Corinthians 12 has nothing to do with conversion.
The speaking in tongues mentioned by Paul was one of the nine gifts of the Spirit actively operating in the church. This is not the same thing as described as receiving the promise in Acts. Paul couldn’t undo what Jesus said in John 3:8, either: “And so is EVERY ONE born of the Spirit.”
Paul is not telling us that not everyone will speak in tongues when they receive the Holy Ghost. He is telling us that not everyone in the church will operate in this unique gift of tongues and interpretations.
1 Corinthians was a letter written to the church at Corinth. It was only broken into chapters and verses for our convenience. Therefore, we must consider the whole letter and not take chapter 12 out of context. We’ve presented much scripture to show that tongues is the only biblical evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost in the book of Acts, but Paul tells us something in 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 that goes far beyond the initial evidence: “14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also:”
When Paul prayed with the spirit, he prayed in unknown tongues. This means that when he prayed with his understanding, he wasn’t praying with the spirit, no matter how sincere or passionate his praying. And he said he would continue to pray with the spirit (unknown tongues) and with his understanding also. Why would Paul stress praying with the spirit? “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself” (1 Corinthians 14:4). Edify means to build up. Don’t we want to pray with the spirit and build ourselves up? Well, according to Paul, the way to do that is praying with unknown tongues.
Jude said almost the same thing in his letter: “20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” Wouldn’t this be the same as praying with the spirit? How do we build ourselves up on our most holy faith? By praying in the Holy Ghost. If praying in the Holy Ghost is the same as praying with the spirit, then that means we build ourselves up on our most holy faith by praying with unknown tongues.
Okay, where does that leave those who do not pray with unknown tongues? They can’t pray with the spirit or build themselves up like Paul did, and they can’t build themselves up on their most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost like Jude spoke about.
If you can’t pray with the spirit and you can’t pray in the Holy Ghost because you don’t speak in unknown tongues, what is the implication here? You don’t have the Holy Ghost in the first place. That brings us full circle. Acts shows us what happens when people receive the Holy Ghost, and the epistles were written to people saved in Acts. If we haven’t received the speaking-in-tongues Holy Ghost as recorded in the book of Acts, then 1 Corinthians does not apply to us anyway.
Finally, if you were called to testify as a witness in a court proceeding, you would “speak” on behalf of the defense or the prosecution. To give testimony or bear witness means to speak. 1 John 5:6: “And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.”
Would the Spirit “speak” when it bears witness? Acts 2:4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” In the upper room, when the people spoke with tongues, the Spirit spoke supernaturally through the believers. When God shows up, He’ll speak for Himself.
Try this little experiment:
I know that I received the gift of the Holy Ghost because…
(Fill in the blank)
Now, list as many examples as you can of people in the church in the Bible who knew they received the Holy Ghost by the same evidence that you just wrote down, and then harmonize that with Acts 2:16, Acts 8, Acts 10 and Acts 19.