“What you say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded” (Prov 18:21 NCV ).
Christianity from beginning to end involves confession, that is, saying. The Christian faith does not merely involve what we believe, but also what we say or confess (Rom 10:10). In fact, Jesus is described in Hebrews 3:1 as the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. The predominant Greek word for the English verb “confess” in the New Testament is “homologeo”. Its noun form, which corresponds to “confession” in English, is “homologia”. “homologeo” means the following: to confess, acknowledge, agree, admit, declare etc. In short, it is to say the same thing as another says. Therefore, whichever way we look at it, confession involves saying something, and you have to use your tongue and words in the process.
It is important to know that there is power in what you say. This is evident from what Proverbs 18:21 says. Depending on how the tongue is used in speech, it has the ability to produce life or death. In fact, the Message Bible puts it this way: “Words kill, words give life, they are either poison or fruit—you choose” (Prov 18:21). In other words, your confession can aid satan in his threefold mission of stealing, killing and destroying. Conversely, what you say can aid Jesus in His mission to give life in abundance to mankind (Jn 10:10).
You see, just as a positive confession which is consistent with God’s word will produce blessing and victory, so also a negative confession which contradicts God’s word will result in fear, sicknesses, defeat, adversity, failure and even death. The Bible says, “You are snared with the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth (Prov 6:2 AMP ). The following Scripture verses: (Matt 12:37, James 3:2-6), further buttress the assertion above and portray the tremendous power of spoken words.
The Israelites’ exploration of Canaan as recorded in Numbers 13:1-3, 21, 26-33 is an interesting read and illustrates our point. Moses at God’s instruction had selected twelve men from each of the tribes of Israel to go and spy out the land of Canaan and bring back report. The exploration lasted for forty days, at the end of which they got back to Moses and Israel. Their testimonies unanimously substantiated God’s claims concerning the land: it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey.
However, the excitement their testimony of the land of Canaan brought the Israelites initially, was shortlived, resulting from the subsequent report ten out of the twelve spies gave on Canaan when Caleb and Joshua suggested an immediate invasion of Canaan—since God had given it to them. In response, other spies swiftly pointed out that there were giants in the land and in their own words, “….we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Num13:33).
There is something worthy of note about the report the ten spies had brought back. They reported what they had seen in Canaan. Where there giants in the land? You bet there were. Where the inhabitants strong and their cities fortified? You can be sure of that. Since they had been factual in their information concerning Canaan, why then did God consider their report a bad one? It was because, unlike Caleb and Joshua—who had equally witnessed the factual circumstances of the land, they had conditioned the integrity and efficacy of God’s word and promises to Israel, on how their senses interpreted the situation. They trusted in their human understanding rather than in the Lord.
Just as in the case of the spies, our spoken words express our faith in God or the lack thereof. We are either like Joshua and Caleb, who resisted the temptation to subject the integrity of God’s word to human and circumstantial evaluation and validation, or like the other ten spies whose disposition to God’s promises exemplifies unbelief. Either way, our confession reflects our agreement or disagreement with God. So outraged was God that He declared the evil report of the ten spies as the climax of a series of ten tests Israel had subjected Him to, in the course of their journey from Egypt. The result was the immediate death of the ten spies and a forty-year rigmarole for the rest of Israel in the wilderness.
The question on your mind at this point may be: why are spoken words powerful? It is clear already to us that words are powerful, whether in constructive or destructive ways. Spoken human words are powerful for the following reasons:
God gave Adam (man) dominion over the earth (Gen 1:26-28) and the dominion was and still is to be exercised through spoken words. We see in the Bible that God created man in His own image and likeness. God gave mankind creative ability at his creation so that he or she could speak things into existence.
Words are the channel through which conviction or faith is expressed (Matt 12:34, Rom 10:10). Even God’s faith was expressed through words, while He created the earth (Gen 1:1-24). Convictions are powerful because they are formed by the thoughts that are predominant on the mind (Prov 23:7).
Spoken words indicate an agreement with God or with the devil (Amos 3:3). Whoever you agree with, you empower over your life. Neither God nor satan has the legal right to interfere in the affairs of man without his cooperation. This is because when God in Genesis said, “…let them have dominion…over the earth…”(Gen 1:26), in reference to mankind, He made it illegal for either He or any other spirit without a body to operate on earth without mankind’s permission. We should, therefore, say only what God says about our lives and circumstances. Doing this, will make a huge positive difference in our lives. Shalom.
