Vivid Christianity
Teaching Christians how to live a "vivid" Christian life.


Cheat Sheet #07
for conversations with Christians


by Dave Root, VividChristianity.com, last modified on 07/16/2024.


Introduction

This is a printer-friendly version of section #07 in my article called Cheat Sheet.

Don't just speed-read or skim through this because then you won't notice God prompting you. If you see something that causes you to feel a slight jolt or nudge inside, or if you catch yourself slightly squirming (physically or mentally), this is God's way of saying that He wants you to learn something or be obedient in that area.

Easton's Bible Dictionary Offsite Link and the Holman Bible Dictionary Offsite Link define sin as disobedience to God's commands, laws, or wishes. It's a rebellion against God caused by self-centered thoughts, desires, or motives, leading to outward acts that are the manifestations of sin. All of the individual sins listed in the Bible (e.g., murder, adultery, lying, stealing) are different manifestations of our disobedience to God, whether we do them intentionally or not.

If the title of section #07 begins with the word "Obedience" then it describes something that God commands all Christians to obey.

Our beliefs and actions need to properly line up with the New Testament. Otherwise, we'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven. God is not playing games, so we need to take the New Testament seriously and learn what He expects of us, and then make sure we're obeying Him in all things (even when we don't want to).

The painful consequences for our wrong beliefs or lack of obedience are no one's fault but our own.

If everything at my website (VividChristianity.com), including this article, says what God wants it to say then He will confirm that for you by doing a miracle. See my home page for the details.


*07 Obedience: We Need to Be Praying in Tongues a Little Bit Every Day

As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him.


The following passages tell us to pray in the Spirit, and therefore this is a command from God that all Christians need to obey:
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (Ephesians 6:18)

"But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 1:20)
When I studied every New Testament passage on speaking in tongues, trying to be thorough, objective, and unbiased in order to see the full picture, I discovered that "praying in the Spirit" and "praying in tongues" are simply two ways of saying the same thing. To help you study the Bible more thoroughly in order to see the full picture of a topic or a doctrine, see my article called How to Study the Bible.

Based on Ephesians 6:18 (above) and Jude 1:20 (above), all Christians should be praying in tongues every day in obedience to God, even today (no matter what denomination you're a member of). As my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today shows, none of the gifts of the Spirit or activities of the Spirit have ever ceased or died out, including the gift of tongues and praying in the Spirit.

My article called Praying in the Spirit Means Speaking in Tongues examines every New Testament passage on speaking in tongues, and it shows that every passage on tongues in the entire New Testament describes one or both of these scenarios:

  1. A person delivers a public message in tongues from God to a church congregation or other group, which is then interpreted through the Holy Spirit either by the speaker or by someone else in the group. The Bible refers to this as the spiritual gift of tongues, and it's used in combination with the spiritual gift of interpretation. People sometimes refer to this as the "public" use of tongues.

  2. A person prays in the Spirit (in tongues) to God, which does not need to be interpreted into the local language because God always understands what the Holy Spirit is saying. The Bible refers to this with expressions such as "pray in a tongue" (1 Corinthians 14:14), "pray with my spirit" (1 Corinthians 14:15), "pray in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18), and "praying in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 1:20). People sometimes refer to this as the "private" use of tongues or a "prayer language."


After a Christian chooses to receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in obedience to God (see my article called Cheat Sheet #06) then he or she might or might not have the gift of tongues (#1 above), but he or she will be able to pray in tongues (#2 above). Since we're commanded to pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18 and Jude 1:20, above), this means that every Christian should be praying in tongues every day in obedience to God.

So there are two purposes for tongues in the New Testament, which is something that many Christians don't seem to realize. One form of tongues is for delivering a message from God to a group of people (which must then be interpreted into the local language using the spiritual gift of interpretation), and the other form of tongues is for speaking to God (praying to Him in tongues). Each form of tongues has a different purpose and a different audience, and there's no form of tongues for communicating with foreigners in their native languages. There's not a shred of scriptural evidence that speaking in tongues is for communicating with foreigners, and there's not a single example in the entire New Testament of anyone speaking in tongues in order to communicate with foreigners (see my article above).

Praying in tongues (even for just a few moments) several times a day enables us to be open to the filling of the Spirit (see my article called Cheat Sheet #08), enables us to discern God's guidance within us (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance), and enables the Holy Spirit to work through us (see chapter 5 in the free PDF of my book called Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today).


Are you praying in tongues every day in obedience to God?



For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification.

Dave Root
home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com

"Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)

"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23)

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3)

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7)

"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25)
 
 
Modification History

  • 07/16/2024 - New page.