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Host: Larsen Plyler
Episode 126: Speaking in Tongues
Date: October 5, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Larsen Plyler addresses a pressing theological question: Is speaking in tongues necessary for salvation? Motivated by a recent viral video and listener inquiry, Larsen examines the claim—vocalized by a Pentecostal preacher—that "If you are not speaking in tongues, then you are not going to heaven." Larsen explores the biblical roots of speaking in tongues, particularly in Acts and First Corinthians, and challenges the idea that this spiritual gift is required for entry into heaven.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Controversy around Speaking in Tongues

• Larsen recounts a video featuring a Pentecostal preacher equating tongues with salvation ([03:10]).
  • Quote: “If you are not speaking in tongues, you are not going to heaven.” —Pentecostal Preacher (paraphrased by Larsen [01:55])
• He frames the episode as a deep-dive into New Testament passages relevant to tongues, promising “to shut down the idea that speaking in tongues is necessary in order to be going to heaven.” ([05:20])

2. Acts 2: The Origin of Tongues on Pentecost

• Textual Clarification: The "they" who spoke in tongues on Pentecost refers to the apostles, not the 120 disciples ([07:20]).
  • Quote: “The last group that is being referenced in chapter one is the they of the apostles. The apostles.” ([08:15])
• Only the apostles received Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit’s power, to become “witnesses” in the New Testament sense—eyewitnesses, not just those who share personal spiritual experiences ([09:45]).
  • Quote: “These are going to be people who can give firsthand testimony...That is not the way the word is being used here in the New Testament.” ([11:00])
• Nature of the Gift: Speaking in tongues in Acts 2 was the miraculous ability to speak human languages previously unstudied, not ecstatic utterances ([15:30]).
  • Quote: “Are you hearing that when they spoke in tongues, they were not speaking some unintelligible language?” ([15:55])
• Purpose: The gift was for communication and a sign of the Holy Spirit’s action, never simply as proof of salvation ([17:24]).

3. Defining Tongues Biblically vs. Modern Charismatic Practice

• Larsen distinguishes biblical tongues (real languages) from modern Pentecostal "jibber jabbering" ([17:56]).
  • Quote: “But if they are just jibber jabbering in a language that is not communicating anything, I am not listening. I’m not paying attention.” ([18:25])
• If one claims to be "Pentecostal" in the apostolic sense, their tongues should be natural human languages as understood by a diverse audience ([19:12]).

4. Acts 8: Tongues & the Holy Spirit among the Samaritans

• Larsen addresses a key Pentecostal argument from Acts 8, where Samaritans are baptized but do not receive the Holy Spirit (in the miraculous, gifts sense) until the apostles lay hands on them ([21:15]).
  • Quote: “Philip goes, works miracles, preaches to them, baptizes them, they're saved, but they don't have the Holy Spirit yet. Now somebody...asked...well, how did they know that they hadn't received the Holy Spirit? That's a great question.” ([24:58])
• The spiritual gifts, like tongues, were imparted only through the apostles' hands—not automatically after baptism, even in the first-century church ([23:40]).
• Salvation vs. Gifts: The Samaritans were considered saved after baptism in Jesus’ name, despite not immediately receiving tongues or gifts ([22:56]).
  • Quote: “...when they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but they had not begun speaking in tongues, were they going to heaven? Yes, they were.” ([24:25])
• The “Holy Spirit” here is not indwelling but miraculous gifting, distinguishable in the narrative ([25:41]).

5. Acts 10 & 15: The Case of Cornelius & Gentile Inclusion

• In Acts 10, Cornelius and the Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit (with tongues) before baptism, directly contradicting Pentecostal order of events ([27:03]).
  • Quote: “...in Acts 10 they are given the ability to speak in tongues before they are baptized. Before they are baptized.” ([28:16])
• Peter interprets this outpouring as God’s evidence of acceptance of Gentiles, not as a model for salvation by tongues ([29:03]).
• Support from Acts 15:8—Peter reiterates that the Spirit’s outpouring (evidenced by tongues) was a sign for inclusion, not a criterion for salvation ([30:45]).
  • Quote: “What was the purpose of that baptism in the Holy Spirit? It was to be God's testimony, his evidence in the case that they could be saved just like the Gentiles.” ([31:00])

Notable Quotes and Moments

• “[If] you are not speaking in tongues, you are not going to heaven.”
  —Pentecostal Preacher, cited by Larsen ([01:55])
• “The focus of the apostles that's being focused on here...”
  —Larsen Plyler ([15:20])
• “They spoke naturally, they spoke from birth. And so I think it's very important that when somebody says I want to be a Pentecostal, great. If you think that includes speaking in tongues, then it must be a language that people from some of these 17 nations could have understood their native tongues.”
  —Larsen ([19:00])
• “Even in the first century...the only way that the gift of the Holy Spirit in this sense, the gifting, the spiritual gifting...was passed on to an ordinary disciple was through the laying on of the apostles hands.”
  —Larsen ([23:45])
• “In Acts 10 they are given the ability to speak in tongues before they are baptized. Before they are baptized.”
  —Larsen ([28:16])
• “What was the purpose of that baptism in the Holy Spirit? It was to be God's testimony, his evidence in the case that they could be saved just like the Gentiles.”
  —Larsen ([31:00])

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• [01:55] – The claim: “If you are not speaking in tongues, you are not going to heaven.”
• [07:20] – Identification of “they” in Acts 2; Apostles vs. 120
• [15:55] – Explanation that tongues in Acts 2 are real, human languages
• [19:00] – Differentiating biblical tongues from modern Pentecostal practice
• [22:56] – Salvation and baptism of the Samaritans in Acts 8 (without tongues)
• [23:45] – Spiritual gifts only imparted by apostles’ hands
• [24:25] – Direct refutation of tongues as a salvation requirement
• [28:16] – Cornelius’ household spoke in tongues before baptism
• [31:00] – The real purpose of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring as a testimony

Conclusion

Larsen Plyler methodically addresses the theological and textual arguments surrounding speaking in tongues, consistently returning to biblical context and narrative order. He firmly concludes that speaking in tongues is neither a requirement for salvation nor practiced in the same way today as described in the New Testament. Instead, biblical tongues served as miraculous, intelligible signs performed by apostles and a select few to authenticate the gospel and demonstrate divine acceptance—never as the exclusive proof of salvation.

Listeners seeking clarity on the issue, especially those from Pentecostal or charismatic backgrounds, will find this episode a thorough and thoughtful resource, filled with scriptural references and careful reasoning.