The doctrine of the tongue

1. Seven blessings from God include protection from the sins of the tongue — Job 5:17-21.

2. Three of the seven worst sins are sins of the tongue — Proverbs 6:16-19.

a) Sins of the tongue emanate from the old sin nature — Psalm 34:13.

b) Sins of the tongue are sponsored or motivated by mental attitude sins — Psalm 5:9.

c) The perpetuation of the sins of the tongue indicates verbal reversionism — James 5:9,12. Verbal reversionism can result in the sin unto death — Psalm 12:3.

d) Sins of the tongue produce triple compound discipline — Psalm 64:8; Matthew 7:1,2.

e) God protects the believer victimised by the sins of the tongue — Job 5:19-21. God turns cursing into blessing when you are the victim of sins of the tongue — James 3:9;5:16.

f) Control of the tongue or absence of the sins of the tongue is a sign of maturity. As a sign of possessing the ECS — James 3:2; as a sign being in supergrace — James 4:11,12.

g) Sins of the tongue are the sign of reversionism — James 4:11; 5:9,12.

h) Verbal reversionism produces enough gossip, slander, judging, maligning and criticism to destroy an entire congregation — James 3:5,6.

i) Since the sins of the tongue can destroy an entire congregation it is the duty of the pastor-teacher to warn against them — 2 Timothy 2:14-17.

j) Troublemakers are characterised by sins of the tongue by which they produce their trouble — Psalm 52:2. Believers in the royal family are commanded to separate themselves from such troublemakers — Romans 16:17,18.

k) By avoiding sins of the tongue the believer can find great happiness and add years to his life — Psalm 34:12,13.

3. Control of the tongue is the sign of a supergrace believer — James 1:26; 4:11,12; Colossians 4:6.

4. The power of the tongue to express thought is found in 1 Corinthians 2:4; Ephesians 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:4.

5. The power of the tongue to communicate doctrine on the part of the pastor-teacher is emphasised in Ephesians 4:15,29.