New Testament Christians consider speaking in tongues as a God-given sign accompanying the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This Biblical pattern for the Spirit-filled life is still valid today.
Speaking in tongues is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It is a Spirit-inspired utterance whereby believers talk in a language they have never learned. It may be in an existing spoken human language or languages unknown on earth. It is not “ecstatic speech,” as rendered in some translations, for the Bible itself never uses the term “ecstatic utterance” when referring to speaking in tongues.
Tongues are the initial outward sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is an inspired utterance whereby the believer’s Spirit and the Holy Spirit join in verbal praise or prophecy. God linked speaking in tongues with the baptism in the Spirit from the very beginning, as described in Acts chapter two verse four. Therefore the one hundred and twenty believers at Pentecost, and the believers after, would have an experiential confirmation that they have indeed received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In this manner, the experience could be certified as valid to the place and time of reception. Since the beginning of the church, whenever tongues as a confirming sign are denied or lost from view, the truth and experience of Pentecost is distorted or ignored entirely.
Speaking in tongues is described as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the believer. This gift has two purposes: Speaking in tongues may be a Spirit-given message during worship for a congregation but must be accompanied by interpretation so that everyone understands the message and is enlightened. In this way, all may enter into Spirit-directed worship, praise, or prophecy. Speaking in tongues may be used by the individual believer to talk to God during their devotions and build up or strengthen one’s spiritual life. Speaking at the level of the Spirit may involve praying, giving thanks, or singing.
The mere occurrence of speaking in “other tongues,” or any other supernatural manifestation, is not incontestable evidence of the work and presence of the Spirit. Speaking in tongues can be counterfeited by human initiative or demonic activity. The Bible cautions us not to believe every Spirit but to examine whether our spiritual experiences come from God. To be valid, speaking in tongues must be “as the spirit gives them utterance,” as in Acts chapter two verse four. To follow the norm of the book of Acts, speaking in tongues will be the spontaneous result of the initial filling of the Holy Spirit. It is not a learned phenomenon, nor can it be taught by instructing believers to speak incoherent syllables.
The Holy Spirit explicitly warns that in the last days, there will be within the church hypocrisy, signs and wonders from satanic powers, and deceitful workers disguising themselves as God’s servants. We must heed these warnings about counterfeit spiritual manifestations described in Matthew chapter seven twenty-two to twenty-three.
To discern whether our speaking in tongues is genuine, we must look for the Biblically defined results of the baptism in the Spirit. If someone claiming to speak in tongues is not committed to the Lord Jesus and the authority of scripture and is not attempting to obey God’s Word, whatever manifestations they may have are not from the Spirit.