A Different Spirit

THERE can be no doubt that in the first century God’s holy spirit was at work. One way in which it manifested itself was by providing some of God’s servants with powers that others did not have. The ability to ‘speak in tongues’ was one of these.

But while the individual was given the ability to talk in a language he had not known before, others of that language group could understand what he said. For instance, those who heard the speaking in tongues at Pentecost said: “How is it we are hearing, each one of us, his own language in which we were born? . . . We hear them speaking in our tongues about the magnificent things of God.”​—Acts 2:5-11.

When Christians met together, the apostle Paul said: “If someone speaks in a tongue, let it be limited to two or three at the most, and in turns; and let someone translate. But if there be no translator, let him keep silent in the congregation.” (1 Corinthians 14:27, 28) How different it is with today’s charismatics who speak all at once, and in sounds that no one can understand or interpret!

The ability to speak in tongues was one of the “gifts” of holy spirit given to first-century Christians to aid people in identifying the organization that God was using. And this particular “gift” also served the practical purpose of helping to preach the “good news” to other language groups.

Too, some of those who had holy spirit back then also had the power to raise the dead. (Acts 9:36-41; 20:7-12) If it is the same spirit at work today, then charismatics should also have that ability. But they do not. Hence, it is clear that the “spirit” responsible for seeming miraculous displays among charismatics is not the spirit from God manifest among first-century Christians.