Borrowed Breath

Recently, both online and in my personal interaction with brothers and sisters in Christ, the issue of Spiritual gifts, primarily the gift of tongues, has been coming up.  So I did a study of the scriptures on this issue.  I am going to have to post it in sections, since it is too long to post just once.  So bear with me.  I welcome and encourage feedback on these few thoughts. 

“In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.”
Augustine (354-430 AD) 

The above quote is from a well-known saint who lived only a few hundred years after Christ. Even in his day, he saw divisions caused by different factions of Jesus’ followers. And he clearly articulated, in almost poetic form, the importance of unifying around the “essentials”—those biblical truths that cannot be compromised.

The simplicity of the Nicene Creed is a good place to start to understand these essentials: 

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God;
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men, for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;
and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen. 

This creed is pretty basic theology. However, there are issues within Christendom that are not covered in this creed. Over the years, these issues have caused division within the church; within Christ’s body; within the Redeemed, who Jesus calls His pure and spotless Bride. One of the more obvious ones is the sign gifts, particularly tongues. In my opinion, this is a non-essential, and therefore, demands “liberty,” and so I have no desire to make a huge issue out of it. 

However, out of necessity, I have been compelled to study this matter. It has been thoroughly edifying and encouraging to delve into the Scriptures to seek out what the Word says. Tomorrow, before I get into what I found within Scripture, I’d like to recount a bit of my own history.