Speaking the Language of Canaan: The Speech of the Redeemed

Converting grace, by changing the heart, changeth the language; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (Matthew 12:34)

To speak the language of Canaan is to discourse on sacred subjects in the manner peculiar to those who enjoy Divine revelation and are taught of Elohim. It means treating spiritual matters in that dialect best suited to their nature and importance—the dialect employed by patriarchs and prophets, by Jesus Christ Himself, His apostles and disciples across all ages.

This language of the people of God possesses a distinctiveness whereby it may be distinguished from all other kinds of speech. It remains quite free from vanity, detraction, falsehood, impurity, and folly with which all other conversation is more or less tainted. Instead, much is said concerning the only true God, the great Messiah, the promises, ordinances, and commandments of Jehovah, with many other such delightful topics.

When the heart is transformed by redemptive grace, the tongue inevitably follows. The regenerate speak differently—not from affected piety, but from genuine alteration of affections. Their words reflect the vocabulary of eternity: covenant faithfulness, substitutionary atonement, justification, sanctification. Even ordinary discourse becomes sanctified when it flows from a heart fixed upon Adonai's majesty and truth.