Gifts of the Spirit

Gifts of the Spirit
Dr. Frederick K.C. Price
Many people make the mistake of lumping together speaking with tongues with the gift of divers kinds of tongues, one of the nine gifts of the Spirit recorded in 1 Corinthians 12. They are not the same manifestation; yet some people and churches say that speaking with tongues and the gift of tongues are one and the same, and use that as an excuse to get out of doing what the Word of God declares.

You need to be careful about what translation of the Bible you read, because many versions of the Bible were translated by people who do not believe in speaking with tongues, or that speaking with tongues is for every Believer. For example, here is how 1 Corinthians 14:2 is translated in The Living Bible:

But if your gift is that of being able to "speak in tongues"....

The way this verse is translated is incorrect, because when you are filled with the Spirit and speak with other tongues, it is not the gift of tongues. The translator is injecting a theological point of view to show that since not everyone has the same gift, not everyone has to speak with tongues. It can seem like a very clever argument to people who are not well-versed in the Word of God.

Let me show you where all the confusion has come from on this point. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Paul writes:

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.


Paul is talking here about the gift of different or divers kinds of tongues. The gift of tongues is for public assembly, and should always be accompanied by the companion gift of interpretation of tongues. The rare exception to this is when God speaks to an individual through the person doing the speaking. In other words, one person will speak with the gift of tongues, but to the person to whom the message is addressed, it will be in a language he or she will understand.

Notice also that Paul says, "To one is given the word of wisdom." That means the word of wisdom is not given to everyone. Neither is any of the other gifts of the Spirit, including the gift of divers kinds of tongues.

Now read 1 Corinthians 12:28:

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

What Paul is describing in this verse are the ministry gifts. There is another rendering of these gifts in the fourth chapter of Ephesians, and if you compare the lists in both of these scriptures, you will find they are the same, with one notable exception.

Notice, Paul starts out by saying apostles. Apostles are people, and they are a ministry gift. Then he says prophets. Prophets are people. Next, he says teachers, and teachers are people. But then Paul says miracles, gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. These are not people. However, they are tools that equip the people to stand in the offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher.

The gifts of the Spirit are not for everyone in the Body of Christ. They are actually for the ministry gifts God places in the Church. Nevertheless, every person in the Body of Christ who is filled with the Spirit may on occasion be used by the Spirit in any one of the manifestations of these nine gifts.

Speaking with tongues, on the other hand, is for your personal spiritual enrichment. It does not need an interpretation like the gift of tongues does, because it is simply you speaking to God. An easy way to remember the difference between speaking with tongues and the gift of tongues is that speaking with tongues is man talking to God; it goes from earth to heaven. The gift of tongues, on the other hand, comes from heaven to earth, because it is God speaking through man to other men.