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And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear. (Philippians 1:14)

Paul shares that one of the results of his imprisonment was that it appears that more of the believers were moved to spread the gospel – since they knew that Paul was imprisoned. They were able to find their confidence in Jesus, and this gave them the boldness to go forward themselves proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ.

Some of the manuscripts do not include the words “of God” (ton Theos) and only have the phrase ton logos (the word). We understand that they proclaimed the message fearlessly. However, the inclusion or exclusion of the phrase “of God” does not change the meaning of this sentence.^[1]

The intent and import of this sentence are that many others responded to Jesus and boldly declared the truth of the message because of being imprisoned.

A third result of the imprisonment of Paul is not directly stated here. Still, during the Apostle’s term in prison, he wrote four of our New Testament books – the Books of Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon. What a wealth of material that God has provided for us through Paul as he was in prison – we would have missed much of the truth that God wanted us to receive if Paul was not free to pen these messages from God.

More in-depth Insights

And most of the brothers. Here we see that many Christians were already professing Christ in Rome.

In the Lord. This phrase means to profess an unitedness in him with others, a oneness. This has long been a shared phrase that specifies us as Christians.

Having become confident by my imprisonment. The phrase “having become confident” (πείθω peithō) is from the same Greek word that means to be persuaded, convinced. Here it means to have faith, Paul putting his trust in his imprisonment will be beneficial. Paul has become more and more bold and zealous in the value of his being imprisoned. This is brought on for a number of reasons. The apostle Paul was a well-known and highly respected person within Christianity, valiant for the truth, now imprisoned, which moved many to rethink the need to do more in the Lord. In addition, it was now becoming known that Paul was wrongly imprisoned on false charges, and this has somehow brought favor to Christians and Christianity because no one likes to see injustice. Also, many were able to come to where Paul was held to be encouraged by him to put more effort into the Lord. Many were now emboldened to promote or make widely known the good news of the kingdom becoming evangelists themselves, whereas if it were not for Paul, they may have never taken such bold steps. (See 1:16) It was through the boldness of Paul as he bravely faced hunger, being almost stoned to death, captivity, and many other hardships for the faith, which enabled the people to see the power of God first hand, which reinforced the truth that they knew to be true. This moved them to proclaim the good news, teach, and make disciples.

Are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear. Bold; Boldness: This Greek word (τολμάω tolmaō) rendered “bold” means to be courageous enough to face persecution and hardships for the faith, to do more in the Lord. It means to dare, be bold, be courageous (Mt 22:46; Mk 15:43; Jn 21:12; Ac 7:32; Ro 5:7; 15:18; 1Co 6:1; Php 1:14; Jude 9) At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the believers praying for boldness. “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31) The Greek word (παρρησία parrēsia) translated “boldness” means to be outspoken, frank, and plain. However, boldness does not mean to be blunt or rude to those that are being evangelized. (Col. 4:6) Boldness is a quality or characteristic that Christians need to acquire through prayer and the Holy Spirit. (Luke 11:13; 1 Thess. 5:17) Jesus explicitly says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” (Acts 1:8) The imprisoned apostle Paul wrote from his incarceration: “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear.” Paul spoke of his ministry in Thessalonica, “but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much conflict.” (1 Thess. 2:2) Paul closes out the book of Acts preaching in Rome, “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” – Acts 28:31.

[1] Refer to the Bible Difficulties at the end of this chapter.