Question #138

Are the gifts of the Holy Spirit still active today?

I would like to know whether the gifts of the Holy Spirit is still active in these days? I am very much confused as some say that for example speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit while the other says it is 100 percent demonic. These are two extremes. I don’t know sir. Please help me.

The Answer:

This answer applies to Question 138 and Question 153.

For the initial response to these questions you are referred to the answers to Question 9 and Question 27, together with Class:Questions, Lesson 12. All of these relate directly to the work of the Holy Spirit. You should also read our lesson on Miracles or Magic that deals with modern day “miracles.” Some of that material deals with speaking in tongues. Additional comment is made on that subject here.

Given the teaching of scripture that miracles, including speaking in tongues, ceased with the death of the last person upon whom the apostles laid their hands and to whom miraculous gifts were bestowed, it is clear that modern day tongue speaking is neither miraculous nor of God. While some people assert that the modern day phenomenon must be demonic, that is not a necessary conclusion. It is certainly possible, and in some cases likely, that good honest people are moved to an emotional state where “tongue speaking” takes place. This, of course, does not mean that it is acceptable to God. Believing that which is wrong does not become right. It simply means that one is honestly mistaken. In Matthew 7 Jesus told of those who honestly believed that they had prophesied in the name of Jesus, cast out demons and done many mighty works in his name, yet who were turned away because they had not done the Father’s will. Believing that they had was not sufficient.

Perhaps one other matter should be addressed. The “tongues” that were spoken on the day of Pentecost were not unintelligible babble of the type passing for “speaking in tongues” today. They were intelligent languages that were the everyday tongues spoken by those who had gathered in Jerusalem. No one even claims this gift today. The “other tongues” in Acts 2:4 are clearly the native languages of the multitude in Acts 2:6, 8. In this passage Luke used glossa (tongues) and dialektos (language) interchangeably. Dialektos is defined by Arndt and Gingrich as “language of a nation or region.” Different nationalities were present on Pentecost and the speaking in various languages by the apostles attracted the multitude. Luke recorded the amazement of those assembled as they realized that all of the men who were speaking the various foreign languages and dialects were Galilean Jews speaking in languages that they had never learned so that the natives would understand what was being said. Acts 2:9-11. Three times in these verses Luke mentioned that the speaking was in each one’s native language. Acts 2:6, 8, 11.

Some have tried to explain the Pentecost phenomenon as a miracle of the ear, and not of speaking. They assert that the apostles were all speaking in their native tongue but miraculously the ears of the listeners heard and understood it as their own language. However, that is manifestly against the language of Acts 2:4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues” before the crowd gathered.

Thus, those who claim the gift of tongues have two problems. First, even when speaking in tongues existed it never was unintelligible babble. Second, neither type of speaking in tongues exists today. There is no need to question the sincerity of those who claim the present day gift, especially of the followers. One may have more reason to question the motives of some of the “health and wealth” proclaimers who use such claims to their own financial advantage. This is certainly contrary to the case of those who possessed the gifts in the early church.