Boldness

Boldness in scripture is not bravado but a settled confidence — confidence in approaching Yahweh, in interceding before him, in standing firm under threat, and in expecting his presence at the day of judgment. It belongs to the righteous, rests on the work of Christ, and shows itself in prayer, in witness, and in courage before kings and armies.

The Bold Righteous

Boldness is grounded in the fear of Yahweh. "In the fear of Yahweh is strong confidence; And his sons will have a place of refuge" (Pr 14:26). The same righteousness that makes the wicked flee gives the righteous their nerve: "The wicked flee when no man pursues; But the righteous are bold as a lion" (Pr 28:1). The same confidence carries into the New Testament: "So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; and I will not fear: What will man do to me?" (Heb 13:6).

Bold Approach to God

Under the new covenant, boldness becomes the posture of those who come near to God through Christ. In him "we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him" (Eph 3:12). The exhortation of Hebrews is to act on it: "Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help [us] in time of need" (Heb 4:16). The basis is named explicitly — "Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus" (Heb 10:19). The veil is past; the approach is the worshiper's by right of the blood.

Bold Intercession in Prayer

The pattern of bold approach to God appears in narrative form in Abraham and Moses. Abraham, knowing Sodom's fate, "drew near, and said, Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?" (Gen 18:23) — and pressed Yahweh from fifty righteous down to ten, all the while confessing himself "but dust and ashes" (Gen 18:27). The boldness coexists with creaturely humility; he asks again and again, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak" (Gen 18:30, 32). He receives at every step the answer he sought.

Moses presses Yahweh in the same key. After the golden calf he refuses to move from Sinai without the divine presence: "If your presence doesn't go [with me], don't carry us up from here" (Ex 33:15). Yahweh assents — "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name" — and Moses immediately asks for more: "Show me, I pray you, your glory" (Ex 33:17-18). Bold intercession in scripture is not insolence but the kind of asking the Lord himself rewards.

Boldness in the Faith

Service in the church grows boldness. Of the deacons Paul writes that "they having served well gain to themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus" (1Ti 3:13). The same posture shows itself at the cross, where a man with much to lose acted openly: "there came Joseph of Arimathaea, a councilor of honorable estate, who also himself was looking for the kingdom of God; and he boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus" (Mr 15:43). Boldness here is the willingness to be visibly identified with Christ at cost.

Boldness on the Day of Judgment

Boldness has an eschatological face. "In this love has been made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world" (1Jn 4:17). The settled confidence of the present is meant to carry through to Christ's appearing: "And now, [my] little children, stay in him; that, when he is manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming" (1Jn 2:28). To stay in him now is to stand unashamed then.

Boldness under Threat

Boldness can also describe the temper of a people fighting for their lives. When Lysias' army was routed, "Lysias saw that his men were put to flight, and how bold the Jews were, and that they were ready either to live, or to die manfully" (1Ma 4:35). Such boldness — readiness to live or die — is the outward face of the inward confidence the rest of the umbrella names: those who fear Yahweh do not flee.