91 - Edification: Purpose of Tongues

Edification; Purpose of Tongues; 1 Cor. 14:13-21

In chapter fourteen what we are dealing with is a problem that was unique in the New Testament times to the Corinthians church, and that is their problem with tongues. They had elevated their speaking in tongues to the highest form of spiritual gift and that being able to do that signified one's super spirituality, that it meant a closer relationship to God, that you were more spiritual than anybody else, and some have even gone so far as to say that was indicative of salvation. That error has repeat itself in modern times in the guise of the Pentecostal movement, but there are various shades even among those who believe the signs gifts continue. There are the more extreme Pentecostal-Charismatics who believe that speaking in tongues is indeed a sign of super spirituality and a sign of even salvation. On the other hand there are those who are classic Pentecostals who do believe that speaking in tongues is a sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but they play it down and put a greater emphasis on biblical study and edification and less emphasis on the outward demonstration of those gifts.

In chapter 14 Paul addresses the problem because what was happening in the church at Corinth was a pseudo or false use of tongues. We have seen that particularly in Corinth there was a problem with the mystery religions, all of which emphasized some level of ecstatic utterance where there would be practitioners who would go up into the various groves and worship centres around the city and there get involved in emotional exuberance and sometimes drunkenness, and it was a sign of having contact with the gods if you could speak in this kind of ecstatic utterance.

It is important to note that the term glossa [glwssa] as it is used in the New Testament is never used to refer to ecstatic utterance. However, what happened in the unique situation at Corinth is that coming out of that background and carrying that pagan baggage with them, when they heard of the spiritual gift of speaking in languages they interpreted that in terms of their prior frames of reference. And that is typical of every single one of us. We come out of a pagan background and we are taught all kinds of concepts within the categories of human viewpoint and especially viewpoints of religion and when we start getting exposed to biblical truth there is often the tendency to interpret what the Bible says in light of our frame of reference and in light of our past. What we have to do it develop objectivity which comes from the Word of God so that we can begin to evaluate what in our thinking is really a hold-over from the cosmic system, from human viewpoint and religion, and begin to think in terms of biblical categories and biblical definitions, and not in terms of religious categories and religious definitions that are then imposed on the text. This is why Paul has to correct the Corinthians and the emphasis here that he is making is on the importance of edification in contrast to using the pseudo gift of tongues.

One reason we know that there is a difference in the way that Paul is describing this in this passage is that he makes a contrast between the singular use of the word glossa and the plural use of the word, and it is the plural use that refers to the legitimate spiritual gift of speaking in languages. These were human languages that were not learned through the normal process but through a miraculous intervention of God the Holy Spirit able to communicate the gospel or Bible doctrine to someone through this supernatural methodology. It was a temporary gift restricted to the early stage of the church age.

In contrast to this use of tongues as a plural, which is legitimate, Paul uses the word in the singular in order to refer to the pseudo practice in Corinth which the carnal Corinthians were claiming was the legitimate practice, and they were labelling it as such. There are many times in this epistle where Paul uses certain catch words or catch phrases or slogans that the Corinthians had come up with for their spiritual life and throws back on them. There is an element of sanctified sarcasm here and it is clear that he is not happy at all with what is going on in their congregation.

The doctrine of edification

1)  The Greek term. The noun is oikodome [o)ikodomh] and the verb is oikodomeo [o)ikodomew]. It has a literal meaning to build up, to construct, or to strengthen something. It was used in the construction trade for putting up any kind of a physical edifice. The word is used in a figurative sense to refer to the strengthening of one's spiritual life. The noun oikodome is used in 1 Corinthians 14:3, 5, 12, 26.

2)  Literally, the verb and the noun refer to physical construction but they are used as a metaphor for the process of spiritual growth, the strengthening of the soul through Bible doctrine. The Bible uses the imagery of physical growth to portray what takes place in the spiritual life of every one of us. By analogy the newborn believer is to desire the sincere milk of the Word, 1 Peter 2:2. We are to hunger and desire it so that we may grow thereby. That is a command. The growth process is what edification refers to. It is the strengthening of our soul and spirit, that immaterial part of man, through the study of the Word of God.

3)  We use the imagery of the soul fortress to illustrate that the soul is built up or edified. As we study the Word something is constructed metaphorically in our soul. It is a protection against the assaults of the enemy, a protection against the false thinking of human viewpoint in the cosmic system. It consists of various problem-solving devices and it fortifies our soul, strengthening it against any temptation or testing in life.

4)  Edification is also a synonym for progressive sanctification. The term sanctification translates the Greek word hagiasmos [a(giasmoj] which means to be set apart. We are set apart in three different ways in Scripture. We are set apart positionally at the instant of salvation when we are identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17. We are identified with Christ but experientially we still have problems. We still have a sin nature and can still commit any sin that an unbeliever can commit. We still have all of those horrible ideas, opinions and concepts that we were an unbeliever, hanging around in our soul influencing the way we live. We still have a sin nature that is attracted to all sorts of sins. The only way to overcome the sin nature is through the study of the Word and the application under the filling of the Holy Spirit. Then the third use of sanctification has to do with ultimate sanctification when we are absent from the body and face to face with the Lord, at which time there is no more sin nature and we are perfect. So edification, then, is a synonym for the middle of these, i.e. progressive sanctification. Edification defines that process of spiritual growth.

5)  There are two means of edification started in the Scripture, they work together; they do not operate independently of one another: the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We see this most clearly by a comparison of Ephesians 5:18, the command to be filled with the Spirit, and the results of that command given in Ephesians 5:19ff, cf. Colossians 3:16: "Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in your soul." As a result of that the same things follow in Colossians 3:17ff. that follow from Ephesians 5:18. The two work together. Acts 9:31 ^NASB "Acts 9:31 "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase." There had been some confusion caused by the young, recently saved Saul of Tarsus and his over exuberance in teaching the Word. That generated a little persecution in Judea and Samaria. But after his return to Tarsus we read that then the churches had peace and were edified. During that time there was growth. They had peace by being edified and by walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Notice they had peace by being edified and walking; those go together. The comfort of the Holy Spirit has to do with the teaching of the Word of God. A tracing of the word "comfort" shows that it has to do with comforting somebody by means of communicating the Word of God and doctrine to that individual. Perhaps the most clear passage related to this is in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 ^NASB "Therefore comfort [parakalew] one another with these words." Paul is saying that you comfort people by giving them doctrine. We grow by means of the comfort of the Holy Spirit which is teaching under His filling ministry. We are reminded that Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:17 ^NASB "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth."

6)  Edification is the goal of the communication gift. Ephesians 4:12 ^NASB "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ." It is designed to equip every believer to carry out the work of ministry, i.e. the function of those service gifts. The ultimate goal, then, is expressed in the last clause: "the building up/edification of the body of Christ."

7)  The edification of the body of Christ is the goal and task of the person with a communication gift. 2 Corinthians 12:19 ^NASB "All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. {Actually,} it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved." That is what controlled the apostle Paul's decision making: their edification.

8)  Edification is the result of mental processes in the soul as God the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and uses it to transform the mentality of the believer. Edification emphasizes thought, mentality, understanding the Word of God under the filling of the Holy Spirit who uses simple academic knowledge [gnwsij] to epignosis [e)pignwsij] so that the believer can grow and advance spiritually. epignosis is usable doctrine, it is not necessarily applied, it doesn't automatically produced growth, but as the believer uses it the Holy Spirit produces growth. The emphasis in this point is on the mental processes—thinking. The spiritual life is a life of thinking.

1 Corinthians 14:13 ^NASB "Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue [singular: pseudo tongue] pray that he may interpret." The "therefore" here is an inferential conclusion based on everything he has said in the first 12 verses where he has emphasized the importance and the centrality of edification. [14] "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful." The "if" is a 3^rd class condition to indicate a hypothetical situation. The word here for "spirit" is the Greek word pneuma [pneuma], it has numerous meanings and every time we run across it we have to decide on the basis of context what it is referring to. A few of the meanings: wind, breath, thought, attitude, inner person, spiritual gift, human spirit, Holy Spirit. What does it mean in the context? Two alternatives: sometimes it is thought to be the inner man in contrast to the mind. When it talks about the inner man, though, the concept of pneuma usually includes the mind because the inner man would just include both soul and spirit. So if there is a contrast here, and there is, between the mentality and the spirit, then spirit here can't refer to that which would include the mind. What is happening in the next verses is he is contrasting the person who is spirit verses spirit and mind. The emphasis all through these examples in the next four or five verses is the importance of having the mentality engaged—the importance of thinking. His point is, if you are not thinking it can't be the Christian life. God the Holy Spirit does not operate apart from thought. If you are just going through this thing and emoting and emphasizing experience then you aren't doing anything spiritually, you are a failure in the Christian life, you are operating like a pagan. So probably the best way to understand this is as breath: For if I pray in pseudo-tongues, my breath prays, I am just using my breath to articulate noise; "… but my mind is unfruitful." My mentality is not engaged, I am not thinking. The word for "mind" is nous [nouj], meaning mind of location of our rational processes, our thinking. Remember, our thinking is to be renovated as we grow and mature, according to Romans 12:2. So if the mind is disengaged then our spiritual growth is disengaged.

1 Corinthians 14:15 ^NASB "What is {the outcome} then? I will pray with the spirit [breath] and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also." It is not an issue of breath versus mind, it is that you have to have the mind engaged. It is the mentality that makes it significant. [16] "Otherwise if you bless in the spirit [breath]{only,} [just say something and make noise] how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted [the one who doesn't know what he said, he just hears the noise] say the 'Amen' at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?" The hypothetical conclusion to counter their argument. How can somebody affirm that they believe what you say if they don't know what you have said and if you don't know what you've said.

1 Corinthians 14:17 ^NASB "For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified." Edification is the point here, that is what spiritual gifts were given for. [18] "I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all." Notice the change: not a singular glossa (pseudo-tongues] but a plural [languages]. This is the legitimate use of the gift. As an apostle Paul probably had all of the spiritual gifts, so he affirms the reality at that time, it is in the pre-canon period. Then he drives home the point. [19] "however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue." In other words, he is saying it is more important and more significant that you say five things somebody can understand and that will produce edification than to say a thousand words in something nobody understands and doesn't produce edification.

1 Corinthians 14:20 ^NASB "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature." He says, Grow up! With the word "thinking" he changes from nous [nouj] to fren [frhn] which emphasizes the process of thought. He says: "Quit being immature in the way you are thinking, yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking [process of thought] be mature." Grow up; get past this infatuation with experience as a basis for evaluating your spirituality.

The purpose of tongues: 1 Corinthians 14:21 ^NASB "In the Law it is written, 'BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,' says the Lord." The words, "In the Law it is written," is the standard phraseology in the Greek for an authoritative quotation from the Old Testament. This is a quotation from Isaiah 28:11 and part of verse 12. A point to be made here is that this is not a fulfilment of prophecy. There are four different ways in which Old Testament passages are quoted in the New Testament, but the fourth way is by taking a summary of an Old Testament passage and applying it to a New Testament situation. That is different from a direct prophecy such as Micah 5:2 which prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Actually, the event in Isaiah 28:12 is a fulfilment of a prophecy and Paul is drawing an analogy from the reference in vv. 11, 12 and what was going on at the beginning of the church age as both being fulfilments of prophecy in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 28 describes the stages of divine discipline on the nation Israel. It is related to the five cycles of discipline that God would bring upon the Jews. In verse 49 we read: ^NASB "Deut 28:49  "The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand…" So the prophecy was that if you are continuously disobedient to God's Word, if you continually ignore the Law, then God will eventually discipline you through a foreign power who will speak a language you don't understand. The first time this happened in the history of Israel was when they went out under discipline, first the northern kingdom in 722 BC and then the southern kingdom in 586, and this is the context of the Isaiah 28 passage. In fact, the Isaiah 28 passage was written after the northern kingdom had gone out under divine discipline. This was just a reminder to the southern kingdom that they were committing the same error, the same mistake of the northern kingdom. They were more concerned with experience and personal pleasure than the Word of God. 

Isaiah 28:7 ^NASB "And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter {when rendering} judgment." They are getting drunk and are not teaching the Word. In fact, there is a picture here that Isaiah walked in on them and they are having a party, and they are all drunk, vomiting all over the table and passed out in their filth, and that is verse 8. Then in verses 9 and 10 Isaiah is quoting their response. This is their ridicule of Isaiah's teaching. "To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those {just} weaned from milk? Those {just} taken from the breast?" In v.10 they quote him: "For {He says,} 'Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.'" They are just regurgitating back and saying all Isaiah is concerned about is teaching, it is inculcation, repetition, and we are sick of it, tired of it, it is boring, we don't want to hear it anymore. That is the thrust of their ridicule. So Isaiah's response begins in verse 11 and this is what Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 14. Isaiah is going to give them a warning: "Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, [12] He who said to them, 'Here is rest, give rest to the weary,' And, 'Here is repose,' but they would not listen."

God is the one who promised to the Jews rest. He told them how to experience in Him, and that was through obedience to the Mosaic law where God would give them blessing. Yet the indictment is given in the last phrase of v. 12, "they would not listen." So the judgment is that in Gentile languages they will hear the Word taught. This would be a sign of God's judgment and this is exactly what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:20. He says that the purpose for the spiritual gift of languages was to be a sign of judgment on Israel because they had rejected the Messiah. And there was judgment coming. The judgment that Jesus warned about in Matthew 24, the destruction of Jerusalem which would occur in 70 AD. And it was in 70 AD that marked the end of the use of the gift of tongues because its purpose was no longer there. The purpose was to serve as a sign of judgment to Jews. It does not mean that Jews always had to be present or that it always contained the gospel, it was simply that when Jews heard the Word taught in other languages, Gentile languages, it would be a sign of judgment.