In The Power of Words – Part 1 we established that words spoken and unspoken can have a powerful effect . We saw that Proverbs 18:21 tells us our speech determines the direction of our lives. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. If we speak death, the fruit of our speech will be death. If we speak life, we will reap life.

Now, let’s look at the principle of confession. Confession is one of the most powerful principles in the Word of God. The Greek word for “confess” is the Greek word homolegeo, which literally means to, “speak the same thing.” When we speak the same thing as God that is called “confession”.

Our words are a very powerful force, but the creative force of our words is limited. In recent years we have had a lot of teaching, both for and against, what some people call “name it, claim it.” Some would say that our words alone are a creative force. The answer to that statement is yes and no!

Our words are not a creative force in and of themselves. But our words are a creative force if we come into agreement with God’s Word. “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?” (Lamentations 3:37) Notice that this passage tells us we cannot speak something into existence unless God has already spoken it. But the reality is that when we speak what God has spoken or what God is speaking, we can cause awesome things to occur. When we come into agreement with God with our speech we are employing the principle of confession. When we confess or speak what God has declared things will happen.

When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal he did not act unilaterally. Elijah acted and spoke what God told him to say and do.

“At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word…‘ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (1 Kings 18:36-38).

Like Elijah, when we speak in agreement with God miracles can occur in and around us.

There is no greater miracle than the miracle of salvation. Confession plays a crucial role in releasing the salvation of God into our lives. Romans 10:9-10 tells us of the power of confessing the truth of God when it says, “…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

Notice that verse 9 tells us that the transforming power of being saved begins with the principle of confession. Confession works because God the Father spoke over the resurrected Jesus Christ that Jesus is Lord. God the Father declared that Jesus was Lord over every created thing, every knee was and is to bow, and every tongue was and is to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

The salvation of God is released into our lives when we speak the same thing as God the Father regarding the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God has declared it, we come into agreement with Him and the resources of Heaven are released into our lives to establish His Lordship over us. When His Lordship is established we are taken out of the authority of the devil (Colossians 1:13; Acts 26:18) and we are given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). Where the Lordship of Jesus Christ is there is love and life and all of the provisions of the Kingdom of Heaven.

If we simply believe, but do not come into agreement with God through the principle of confession, the resources of Heaven for salvation will not be released into our lives. Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue” (John 12:42). We see in this passage that people believed, but they did not confess Jesus. As a result of the people believing and not confessing the life of God was not released into their lives for salvation.

Words are very powerful and we must use them with care, especially concerning the things of God.  Next time we’ll look at some of the other ways confession impacts our lives.

In what ways do you believe you’ve let words, either spoken or unspoken, impact your life?

A donation helps us provide teaching for little to no cost. Please consider sowing into the ministry.