The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1)
The Bible speaks often about being bold for God. When you do a word study in the Greek and Hebrew, you see that the words rendered in English as bold, boldly, or boldness carry the common themes of freedom, confidence, or trust. The question is this: Is our relationship with Jesus characterized by a growing freedom, confidence, and trust in God as we deliver a clear, compelling, candid witness to the good news of the Gospel?
Can the same thing that was said about Peter and John can be said of us? “When [the rulers and elders and teachers of the law] saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 ESV). No matter whether you have earned a doctorate in a certain course of study or never finished high school, boldness is a by-product of being with Jesus.
Later in in the same chapter of Acts we read, “After [the believers] prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31). The more we are with Jesus, the more our lives will be marked by boldness. The shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ has paved the way for confidence and courage in the life of the believer. By His blood we are saved, by His blood we are sanctified, and it is His blood that empowers believers to come boldly before the throne of grace to ask and to seek and to knock.
Remember, bold believer, come not with guilt to the throne room of heaven, for all your sins have been forgiven. The blood of the Lamb of God has forever eliminated all your condemnation and empowers all your boldness. When the Jewish religious leaders were astonished by Peter and John, it had nothing to do with who they were; rather, it was because of Who they were with. Their demeanor was marked by boldness—confidence and trust in God—because they had been with Jesus.
Regardless of where this message finds you today, God is calling you and has equipped you to be a bold believer, not ashamed of the Gospel. To the degree which our lives are marked by being in the presence of our Lord we shall live lives as bold as lions, with Paul’s prayer on our lips, “Pray for me that I would speak boldly as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19).
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 