Covenant of Words
Proverbs 18:20 A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
This verse says that the words we speak produce fruit. They bring a harvest, a crop of increase back to us. This verse says that we will eat every word we speak, but multiplied and increased. It says our belly shall be filled to the full, or satisfied, satiated, with what our mouth produces.
If that’s true, then we shouldn’t say anything we wouldn’t want to eat a large helping of.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
This verse gives us only two options, death or life, for the words we speak as well as the words we hear spoken. There is no such thing as insignificant words.
The power to kill and the power to give life are controlled by the tongue. And they that love to exercise the tongue shall eat whatever fruit it produces. The tongue does produce fruit and we are required to eat it.
The tongue affects others, but it exercises its primary power upon the one who does the speaking. It doesn’t say that others shall eat the fruit thereof, but the one speaking shall eat its fruit.
Why do the words we speak have an impact upon our lives?
The Power of Covenant
Psalm 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
God will not alter the words He has spoken. Words have power in our lives because words are the basis for all covenants. Our relationship with God is based upon covenant. And from the beginning of the world, covenants have been based on words.
In the Oxford Languages Dictionary the word covenant means an agreement. That’s all a covenant is, nothing more, nothing less. Merriam-Webster defines a covenant as a formal, solemn, and binding agreement.
How is a covenant formed? It’s formed by the agreement of two or more parties. Without the agreement of words, there is no covenant. Every covenant ever created from the beginning of time consists of words. Words ARE covenant. Covenant consists of words. So then, what we agree with by our words is what we make covenant with.
The Salvation Covenant
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt CONFESS WITH THY MOUTH the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Notice that it says that IF you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. The confession of the mouth is not optional, it’s required. Why? Because we must agree with the covenant to seal it. We must confess with our mouth, not just believe in our heart, but agree with our words, that Jesus is our Lord.
Every promise of God is a covenant of promise. God says, in effect, I promise this. This is my promise to you. And we have it in writing. It becomes my promise when my words agree with it, or, that is, when I covenant with it.
The Promises of God
2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us EXCEEDING GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
It is by God’s promises that we partake of the things of the kingdom. And there are nearly 9,000 promises for us in the Bible. And every promise of God is a covenant promise.
Consummate the Covenant
No covenant exists without the verbal or written agreement of a second party.
The verb consummate means to complete, to finish. Merriam-Webster defines consummate as an adjective, which means “complete in every detail.”
When our words agree with the promises of God, those words consummate or complete the covenant of that promise. Our words have in them the power of covenant. Again, covenants exist because of words. Words represent our contractual agreement with what God says in His covenant.
The Wiles of the Devil
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
According to the Bible, there is a devil, and, as human beings, we wrestle with the wiles, the cunning strategies, of the devil and his demonic forces. This is often referred to as spiritual warfare.
The Battle of the Mind
Where does this spiritual battle take place? It takes place in the mind. Both God and the devil speak to us through our thoughts. Not every thought we have is our own thought. We have thoughts of fear, we have thoughts of depression, we have thoughts of anxiety, and many of those thoughts are inspired by the devil.
And the Bible tells us to put on our spiritual armor and stand against the cunning strategies of the devil. The devil endeavors to get us to say the wrong words, words that are against the knowledge of God, the knowledge of the truth, the knowledge of what He promises us in His word.
Agreeing with the Devil
When we speak the lies the devil tells us, when we agree with things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and His promises, then we contractually agree with those words. We consummate or complete a covenant with something other than the truth of God.
Proverbs 18:7 A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his mouth preserves his life; but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
That’s why the devil speaks to us in our thoughts, especially when we’re under pressure. He puts in our minds the worst possible scenario as an outcome of the situation we’re in. And we start talking about it. We start agreeing with it. The devil says something. We agree with our words. The covenant is complete.
The devil doesn’t care if you’re a saint or sinner. The strategy works the same with either. The only way to break his strategy is to agree with the promise of God, and take into captivity every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Who are we in Covenant with?
Are we in covenant with God or with the devil? Which is it? If we are speaking all the things the devil puts into our minds, then we are in agreement with him. We are essentially in covenant with him. Our words and his words agree. He has spoken something into our mind and instead of casting it down and refusing it as we should, the words of our mouth begin to agree with it instead. And covenants are binding, they carry power.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth [as a witness] this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Choose to speak the words of life, the promises of God. Without the verbal agreement of our mouth, no covenant exists. No covenant is a covenant of one party, but of two.
Speak the Word of God
This is the way it is with the promises of God. If God has made an offer, a promise, in His word, and we do not accept it with our verbal agreement, then there is no covenant with us concerning that promise.
Yes, but I was reading it on the page, and I believed it in my heart. True, but you didn’t agree with the words of your mouth. It is therefore not a covenant, not your promise.
It’s also true with the devil. If he speaks something to us in our mind concerning whatever we’re going through, and we do not agree with it through our words, but instead speak God’s truth, God’s promises, then the devil has no right to touch us at all.
1 John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.