Expert: Eric Christy - 5/18/2009

Question
can a person speak in tongues and not be saved?

Answer
Sure, if they're speaking by the influence of demonic beings. It has been my experience that most people who claim to speak in tongues are deceived. I was. I used to believe that I was given the gift of speaking in tongues (it is one of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit), only later to realize that I was not speaking in tongues at all. I was deceived by the Devil.

Too many Christians are deceived by the Devil. Once I realized that the Devil had deceived me, I took action to eliminate his presence by choosing not to speak in tongues any more. I am glad I did. That's one less foothold the Devil had in my life. Now I use intelligence coupled with speaking in English when I pray. While speaking in tongues is one of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit, I believe that most people who claim to speak in tongues, don't. They are deceived, just as I was.

I came to regard tongues-speakers as idiots. They have nothing I want, but I have everything they need. Now I value the pursuit of truth as superior to the pursuit of gifts that God has not given me. If God wants me to speak in tongues, then He knows where I live. He can give me that gift, which by the way, the apostle Paul calls the least of gifts. Why go after the least? The stupid ones do. I choose to seek after what the apostle Paul calls "the better gifts".

Fools seek emotional gratification from God. Saints seek the truth.