Verse By Verse Devotional On 2 Corinthians By Pastor Jack #76

The Boldness of Hope

3:12 "Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech."

One of the struggles almost every one of us has is boldness in evangelism. This verse tells us that Christian boldness comes from Christian hope.

In the Bible, the concept of hope is somewhat different than our common secular notion of hope. Biblical hope is always focused on the great and final day when Christ returns to the earth to deliver His people and regenerate earth and heaven and men. Biblical hope is never based merely on a wish or even an expectation that some good thing will happen or some better day will come during this life here on earth. Biblical hope is always eternity-based.

That’s why hope produces boldness. When we face the danger of rejection and the fear of disapproval, the cure to timidity is to remember the last day. When we remember eternity, we realize that any earthly rejection or opposition is very small and short-lived. One day every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus. When we imagine our persecutors bowing before Jesus, a large part of the intimidation factor disappears.

Hope also inspires boldness because it helps us remember that any rejection we experience -- indeed all of our troubles -- are but a divine curriculum to prepare us for the day of Christ. When we examine our intimidators in the light of our awesome eternity, they don’t look so awesome anymore. In fact, their apparent strength is actually to be understood as part of God’s counter-intuitive strategy for the displaying of His power in our lives: "His power is made perfect in our weakness" (2Cor.12:9).

Remembering the victorious revelation of Christ’s power which will occur at His second coming also inspires us to remember that this same power -- though largely hidden now -- is still very real and mighty within us (Col.1:29). This also produces boldness in the believer.

If you feel a lack of boldness in your Christian witness -- whether it be timidity in evangelism or confrontation or whatever -- the real problem is a failure to take hold of the Christian hope of the glorious end to which all things are moving. When our eyes are on the Lord and His coming victory, what do we have to fear?

"The Lord is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" (Psalm 118:5)

"Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there . But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees his day is coming." (Psalm 37:8-11)

Forgive me for my cowardice, O Lord. Forgive me for my unbelief. Fill me with the hopeful expectation of my Lord’s victorious return that Your bond-servant may speak Your word with all confidence, in season and out of season, when it leads to success and when it leads to rejection. May utterance be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.