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NASB | Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 10:9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. |
Bible Question:
Is there anywhere in the Bible where it says that if you do not speak in tongues that you are not saved? I have a co-worker who is adament about the fact that you're not saved if you don't speak in tongues and I would really like to help her because she is very confused. |
Bible Answer: The apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, spoke of the different "gifts of the spirit", including the "speaking in tongues". (1 Cor 14:39 ) Yet, what was the purpose of "speaking in tongues" , among the many gifts of the spirit in the first century ? (1 Cor 12:4-10 ) Just before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told his followers: “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and . . . to the most distant part of the earth.†(Acts 1:8) He thus gave indication of just how this monumental witness work would be accomplished-with the assistance of the holy spirit. Modern communication technology that enables us to send messages earth wide in many languages did not exist back then. The good news of the kingdom had to be spread primarily by word of mouth, and in this the miraculous gift of speaking in foreign tongues would prove very helpful. Such was the case as first-century Christians preached to Jews and proselytes in Jerusalem at Pentecost 33 C.E. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Cretans, Arabians, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and the district of Asia, as well as sojourners from Rome, heard “the magnificent things of God†in their own language and understood what was said. Three thousand quickly became believers.(Acts 2:5-11, 41) An oft-overlooked fact is that speaking in tongues was just one of the nine operations of the holy spirit that the apostle Paul mentioned in his letter to the Christians in Corinth. Although Paul viewed speaking in tongues as a lesser gift, it was valuable to the early congregation in spreading the good news about the heavenly Kingdom of God. It was one of the “gifts†that contributed to the numerical growth and upbuilding of the infant congregation of Christians.(1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 14:24-26) The various operations of the holy spirit in the first century, including speaking in tongues, were also a visible evidence that God was no longer using the 1,500-year-old congregation of Israel as his special people. Unquestionably, his approval now rested with the new Christian congregation, established by his only-begotten Son.(Compare Hebrews 2:2-4.) These manifestations of the spirit were key building blocks in establishing the young Christian congregation and helping it to grow to adulthood. Paul explained that after having served their purpose, these miraculous gifts would cease: “Whether there are gifts of prophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease.†(1 Corinthians 13:8.) He, then gave an illustration to show this to be the case, by saying : " For we have partial knowledge and we prophesy partially; but when that which is complete arrives, that which is partial will be done away with. When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to think as a babe, to reason as a babe; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the [traits] of a babe." (1 Cor 13:9-11) A babe needs the complete help of it's parents or any loving adult. But, when it reaches adulthood, it no longer has the needs of his or her parents, for now they are capable of taking care of themselves. Hence, the Christian congregation, when newly formed on Pentecost 33 C.E., was like a "babe". So Jehovah God sustained it and helped it grow by the miraculous "gifts of the spirit".(1 Cor 14:12 ) Thus, the Bible is clear that the gift of tongues would cease. But when? Acts 8:18 reveals that the gifts of the spirit were received “through the laying on of the hands of the apostles.†Evidently, then, with the death of the last apostle, the passing on of the gifts of the spirit would stop-including speaking in tongues. Hence, when those who had received these gifts from the apostles also passed off the earthly scene, the miraculous gift would cease. By then the Christian congregation would have had time to become well established and would have spread to many lands. |