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NASB | Mark 9:24 Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, "I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief." |
Bible Question:
I invoke the plea of the father in Mark 9:24. Please help me with my unbelief. Without undue elaboration, no one believes more deeply than I in the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit baptism, and spiritual gifts, including the gift of tongues. This belief has grown through extensive Bible study of the topic and related issues. Read, study, search and pray though I might, however, I cannot find contextual scriptural support for the Pentecostal beliefs that, with highly qualified exceptions, everyone who receives the Holy Spirit receives the gift of tongues, and that "tongues" is THE sign of Holy Spirit baptism. I am also still uncertain whether "tongues" refers to the God given ability to speak in a foreign language without being taught, or if it is an unintelligable utterance to God by the Spirit. I find scripture that would seem to support both positions. I have found Pentecostal literature which takes the 14th chapter of I Cor. in which, to the best of my understanding, Paul is admonishing the Christians of Corinth for their excessive emphasis on "tongues" to the exclusion of other more edifying gifts, and by using selective phrases out of context, claim this chapter as strong support for the Pentecostal belief. I eagerly and freely acknowledge the supernatural nature of God and my inadequacy as a human limited by six senses. I do not and will not deny any possible manifestation of God, nor speak against it. Heb. 11:6 tells us that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. I am simply seeking God and His truth in His word. Help me with my unbelief. |
Bible Answer: I have spent a long time one day with a pentecostal pastor who believed and practiced himself the speaking in tongues. But let me tell you what is the challenge I put before him and how he has answered to that. By the way, I am not a believer of the gift of tongues AS IT IS DONE IN CHARISMATIC OR PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENTS, but I believe in what Paul said in the Bible concerning that gift. Here is the challenge. According to them, THE sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the ability to speak in tongues. First of all, being a bachelor in theology, I was able to deal with the exegesis of the text and, above all, the context. Now, I give you just 3 points of reference to understand that the foundation of their belief is not biblical as they think it is. 1. The word tongue in greek is "glossa" which mean "the organ we have in the mouth or a language (real human language) and not a chalaman-di-asirlsljdf dede. You know what I mean... 2. Look thoroughly in 1 Cor. 12.13. It says that all christians have been baptized in the Spirit. Therefore, all christians has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit according to the text. 3. Lastly, I just ask you to look down the same chapter and see the rethorical question Paul asked when he said: "do all speak with tongues?". The natural answer is "NO". Now the question is, is it biblical to say that speaking in tongue is THE initial sign that a person has been baptized by the Holy Spirit? Once again, the answer is "NO", since Paul said "NO". Yet, concerning the fact that we have been "ALL" baptized by the Holy Spirit is a big yes for all christians and Paul backed it up in his argument against the Corinthian church that was, in passing very in trouble in their understanding of the gifts of the Spirit and above all that one. I hope it gave you light to your question. |