Speaking boldly in “the name”

In Authentic conversion and proclamation in “the name” yesterday, we talked about an authentic conversion could only happen in the name of Jesus as it is He who calls us just as he did with Saul.  When he called Saul, He gave him a new name, Paul.  Christ then sent Paul on his new mission of proclaiming Him to the Gentiles and Jews.  What we did not discuss was how Christ sent Paul and sends us.

Acts 9:28-30 tells us how Christ sent Paul to proclaim Him to the Gentiles and Jews.

So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,^[a] but they tried to kill him. ³⁰ When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

I used to get this all wrong.  I thought that I had license to be bold with anyone about anything.  This was more or less my freedom to say anything to anyone should I not like them or what they said. For those of you who really knew the old me, this is nothing new to you, but I was quite wrong in my approach.  The Greek word for bold in this passage is parrēsiazomai (pär-rā-sē-ä’-zo-mī). According to blueletterbible.com It means 1) to use freedom in speaking, be free spoken a) to speak freely 2) to grow confident, have boldness, show assurance, assume a bold bearing.  Dictionary.com defines bold as not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff; courageous and daring.  Parrēsiazomai is used 9 times in the new testament.  The world bold or boldly is used in 8 of those instances.  In all of the cases, it is only used in conjunction with proclaiming Christ or the gospel which is the term used to comprise also the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ as having suffered death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for the men in the kingdom of God, but as restored to life and exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, thence to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of God.

The Word is clear.  We should be bold as we proclaim Christ.  We should speak freely, confidently and assuredly in the fact that Jesus is the Son of God who was born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, died on the cross as a payment for the sins of those called to the kingdom of God, rose from the dead and exalted to be seated at the right hand of God.  We don’t have to make apologies for God being God, for Him having provided freedom from sin’s hold on us.

Be bold.  Hebrews 13:6 says, “So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”  Yes, we can lose life, limb and freedom but in doing so we gain eternal life with a new body and freedom unparalleled.  BE BOLD in proclaiming Christ.