Spiritual gifts are abilities given by God to human beings the moment they receive salvation and become Christians. The spiritual gifts are supernatural and are to be used to give glory to God. Moreover, the gifts may also entail natural abilities but they are enabled by the Holy Spirit.
The bible says in that”… let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified…” (1 Peter 4:11). God gives the spiritual gifts to individual Christians in church so that they can use them to build the church. Therefore, the spiritual gifts are not for personal edification but for the common good of the whole church or the body of Christ.
Every Christian is important in the body of Christ because they have different gifts and each is very important. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:15 that every member of the church is important as he compares the church with the body and says that each part of the body is important because once it stops function the whole body hurts.
On the other hand is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and they include “peace, joy, goodness, patience, love, self control, faithfulness and gentleness” Galatians 5:22-23. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in a Christian. The fruits help a Christian to live Christ-like life because they change one’s life and work against fruits of the flesh. The difference between spiritual gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit is that the former are given to edify the body of Christ and the later to edify an individual.
The spiritual gifts shows spiritual concepts when they are used for the common good of the church and the gifts’ bearers do not boast and use them for selfish gains. Furthermore, maturity is exhibited through spiritual gifts when all the members are treated as equal in spite of how insignificant their gift may look because each member of the body of Christ has a role to play to build the Church.
Speaking in tongues is the ability bestowed upon a believer by the Holy Spirit and given to whomever the Holy Spirit desires. It involves uttering words in foreign languages that the person did not previously speak. The purpose of speaking in tongues was to act as sign to the non-believers (1 Corinthians 14: 21).
Moreover, baptism in the Holy Spirit refers to the filling of a believer with the Holy Spirit. The evidence in the bible shows that Jesus Christ would baptize his people in the Holy Spirit and he told his disciples after his ascension to wait in the temple in Jerusalem for the baptism in Holy Spirit1. They were baptized and given the ability to speak in tongues during the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:2). People filled with the Holy Spirit have power given to them in order to make Disciples of Christ through the preaching of the gospel.
Speaking in tongues is not a necessary sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is not a sign because every believer is filled with the Holy Spirit the moment they confess Jesus Christ as personal saviour and the fruits of the Holy Spirit begin working in them to transform them from their sinful nature. Speaking in Tongue is a gift given to believers that God wishes to act as a sign to the non-believers of the existence of the messiah2.
Finally, speaking in tongues today is still valid because some non-believers still need a sign in order to believe in the messiah. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 that tongues will be stilled, prophecies and knowledge will go away because we know them in part but we shall know known them fully when perfection comes3 (Feeney 2004). The perfection has not yet come and so speaking in tongues as still valid today.
Bibliography
Dunn, James. “Forty years on: An appreciation and assessment of baptism in the holy spirit.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 19, no. 19 (2010), 2-11.
Feeney, Jim “The spiritual gifts of the holy spirit are for today.” Home of Pentecostal Sermons and Bible Studies) 2004. Web.
Hudson, Neil, “Dealing with the Fire: Early Pentecostal Responses to the practices of speaking in tongues and spoken prophecy.” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 28, no. 2 (2008), 145-157.
Footnotes
- Neil Hudson. “Dealing with the Fire: Early Pentecostal Responses to the practices of speaking in tongues and spoken prophecy.” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 28, no. 2 (2008), 145-157
- James Dunn. “Forty years on: An appreciation and assessment of baptism in the holy spirit.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 19, no. 19 (2010), 2-11.
- Jim Feeney. “The spiritual gifts of the holy spirit are for today.” (Home of Pentecostal Sermons and Bible Studies) 2004.