Mark 16:17-18 (Misinterpreted Scriptures)
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Misinterpretation: This Scripture is often used to support the UPC doctrine that says a person must speak in tongues to be saved.
Facts: First, this is an apocryphal Scripture (see my comments on Mark 16:16). Second, if this Scripture means that all believers will speak in tongues then it also means that all believers will cast out devils, take up serpents, and heal the sick by laying hands on them. Finally, even if this Scripture is not apocryphal, there is nothing in it that says that all believers will do these things. It only lists some signs that will follow believers as a whole, not as individuals.
No one doubts that the early Church spoke in tongues, and quite a few Christians do not doubt that tongues and interpretation is still a spiritual gift that God gives out today. The problem is when people start to teach that all believers will speak in tongues, and they try to use Mark 16:17-18 to prove it.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
If one is going to argue from this ending of Mark, then one should continue on to vs. 20, ” And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” These signs were to confirm the validity of the Word they preached. Moreover, since the Lord Jesus in Matt 4:7 rebukes the devil by saying “You are not to put the LORD your God to the test” we should not test the Lord our God either by performing certain tests of faith like snake handling, working up some sort of tongues, etc. Signs were a sign from God, not a test from a manward perspective. The twisted view of signs directly contrasts I Cor 12 where Paul points out that not all speak in tongues, and I Cor 13 which teaches that these gifts will cease when the perfect (completion of Scripture) has come. We see that in later New Testament books, these gifts are already dying out as the apostles’ lives come to an end (as Eph 4:20 explains that the foundation as “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets”…once built, the foundation, verified by signs and wonders is finished, therefore, signs like tongues will cease.)
June 11th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Stephanie, I certainly agree with this article, but I disagree with what you just mentioned. Yes, the signs followed Jesus and his apostles… but they are the ones who laid hands on folks, and asked Jesus to heal them (or proclaimed healing on them in the name of Jesus). When 1 Cor. 13 says “when that which is perfect is come” it seems clear to me that it is a reference to complete spiritual maturity (heaven and the coming of the Lord) — not to the completion of scripture (which is a man-made doctrine, and is found nowhere else in the Bible)… that which is perfect was a full revelation, or entering into, of the kingdom of God.
July 16th, 2008 at 4:41 am
Again cart before doney sort of thinking. There are many fruits of the spirit after someone has had God’s grace applied to their life.
Modern tounges is practiced in many religions. In fact I read an article about US troops providing protection to a muslim group in Afganistan who spoke in tounges to the disaproval of the taliban. Many eastern religions have simular manifestations or chanting.
I have a feeling that truely biblical tounges and the present modern day so called manifestation could be two very differnt things. I even question my own experience and wonder how much of my so called fire baptism was divine and how much of it was from my altered emotional state and hearing of tounges arround me.
I have decided instead to focus on what is really importaint. God application of grace in my life.