Bold as a Lion Part I

“The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions”.    Prov. 28:1 NLT

Apostle Paul said in Phil. 1:27-28 that Christians are called to live a life that shows the worth of the gospel.

Then Paul said that one of the effects that the gospel has on the life of those who believe it is fearlessness.  “Lead a life worthy of the gospel so that when I come I may find that you stand firm, unafraid of any of your opponents” (Phil 1:27-28). 

In other words, one of the ways that our lives show the worth of the gospel is when the gospel makes us bold and courageous and unafraid.

Proverbs 28:1 is a powerful confirmation to that truth.  There is a correlation between the wickedness and fear on the one hand, and righteousness and courage on the other hand.   The gospel is a message about how wicked people can get right with God through Jesus Christ so that they have a righteousness that makes them as bold as a lion.

When Proverbs says that the “wicked flee when no one is pursuing,” and “the righteous are bold as a lion,” it does not mean that there are no bold wicked people, and no times when the righteous become timid.   It means that in general there is something about wickedness that leads to fear and something about righteousness that leads to boldness.

The reason we know this is because, for example, in Prov. 14:16 it says that the fool “rages and is bold”.    So the point of Prov. 28:1 is not that the wicked cannot ever act in bold and reckless ways.  In fact for the sake of more wickedness there is often an utterly foolish willingness to take crazy risks.

What is it about the wicked that makes them so often flee when no one is pursuing?  We can answer that question from our own experience and from biblical examples. 

The answer is: a bad conscience.   

We flee when we are not even being pursued because we have a bad conscience.  There are enough bad things we have done in our memory, that a voice inside tells us someone is after us even when they are not.  

Guilt is the parent of fear.   Our conscience creates the pursuer that ought to be there when he is not there.