Righteous boldness
Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Holy Boldness:
In Acts 4:31 Luke tells us that the believers spoke with “boldness” the word of God. The word for bold is perrisia and carries the idea of not only “courage” in speaking, but also “freedom, confidence, plainness and without fear”. Before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit these same men trembled before the leaders, but now they were able to speak boldly for God. There are at least four reasons why they were able to do this.
Their association with Jesus:
In Acts 4:13 after the healing of the impotent man, the leaders brought Peter and John before them, to question them concerning the healing. After they examined them and Peter and John spoke to them, testifying about Christ, their attention was drawn to the fact that they had been with Jesus. When we spend time with God whether it be in times of prayer or fellowship we will have a certain boldness that we did not have before.
The presence of the Holy Spirit:
In Acts 4:8 it tells us that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and answered the questions, proclaiming that it was by His (God’s Spirit) power and not by the apostles’ power that the man was healed. The Holy Spirit came upon and filled them on different occasions when the need was for bold speaking/actions. In Eph 5:18 Paul instructs us to be filled with the Holy Spirit – this is in the continuing tense, so it means that we are to be continually be filled with God’s Spirit. It is not that we have a -- leak that He leaks out of us -- but we are surrendered to God and in those needed moments we are ready vessels for His working thru us.
The words of God’s word:
The believers prayed “that with all boldness they may speak thy word,” and they were enabled to speak “the word of God with all boldness.” (Acts 4:29-31). When Paul was in Ephesus he spoke boldly for three months (Acts 19:8) concerning the kingdom of God. This means he spoke confidently, freely and without fear the word of God. It says he disputed (dialogued, reasoned, open discussion) with the people and thru this he persuaded (convinced, proved) what he preached. This means we must read, study and consume God’s word for use by the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26).
The assurance of righteous life:
In order to be filled with the Spirit and be able to speak without fear and with courage we must have the assurance that we are right before God. In Phil 1:20 Paul speaks of his life magnifying the Lord and that he may boldly proclaim Him and connects this with his life in Christ. In Heb 13:1-7 it speaks of several Godly traits for believers so that we may say, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”