Speaking in Tongues: 1 Corinthians 14:9

   So likewise you except you utter by the tongue words easy to be understood how shall it be known what is spoken for you shall speak into the air[1]



[1] Entire denominations use this passage to disparage the gift of tongues, but the apostle was not forbidding, nor even discouraging use of the gift of tongues, he was simply instructing the Corinthian believers in the proper use of it. 

He knew his words would be construed by some to forbid speaking in tongues altogether, so in this same passage, he was careful to add the words, “forbid not to speak with tongues.” 

To get around this clear command, some teach that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for the Out-Called, today. But in the letter to the Ephesians, we read that they are. Also, in the letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13, we read that the gifts of tongues and prophecy [specifically] will be with the church till that which is complete comes—i.e., the coming of Christ himself.

This is an excerpt from The Hungry Hearts Bible Commentary edited by this author.

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