1 Corinthians 14

Finally, I have reached the most controversial of these three chapters dealing with spiritual gifts—the tongues chapter. I have heard several different attempts to explain this fourteenth chapter. None of them have fully satisfied me.

1. Those who believe tongues have ceased, argue that the word tongue or tongues is used three different ways in this chapter (spoken languages, heavenly languages, and nonsense babble that is falsely believed to be a spiritual gift), but this explanation offers no textual indication of which way was used when, and this interpretation seems to force fore-drawn conclusions on the text.

2. Another cessationist view claims that there is a textual distinction between the way Paul uses "tongue" and "tongues," the first being a mystical language—that is really a perversion of the true gift, and the second being the true New Testament gift, the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign language without study. This interpretation makes a bit more sense, but it fails to work consistently throughout this chapter and much less through the entirety of the New Testament.

3. A common non-cessationist's view to consider holds that all of the occurrences of the terms tongue and tongues speak mostly of the mystical language, but occasionally speak of a foreign language. This view also suffers from a lack of consistency, and unfortunately those who take this view most commonly, although not exclusively, abandon the guidelines in this chapter for use of the gift.

The best understanding of the chapter comes from a consideration of its meaning within the context of chapters twelve and thirteen. In chapter twelve, God reveals that He gifts people in many different ways and that we should be content with the gift that God gives us, using it to selflessly serve the church. Chapter thirteen explains why we should use our gifts to selflessly serve—the spiritually meaningful motivation of love. Now in chapter fourteen, the Bible addresses a specific application of this truth, indicating that the exercise of our spiritual gift in the church should benefit others. If we focus on this truth and always strive to edify the believers with our gifts, then wrangling about what tongues is becomes much less of an issue. If it can be used in obedience to Scripture and for the edification of the saints, then we must not forbid it, but if it is not used in obedience to the scriptures and it does not build of the Saints then it must be abandoned.