For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Romans 9:3
Our text appears to make a shocking statement on the part of the apostle Paul, in which he seems to be willing to come under a curse that would separate him from Christ if it would mean that his fellow Israelites would receive the Gospel. Many have taken this verse to mean that, and they are all wrong. I am sure that Paul would have been willing to pay any price if he could so reach his own people. And so should we be so willing. We should examine our hearts to see what we have been willing to endure in order to reach our families, both immediate and extended, with the Gospel. But there is no way that any Christian – apostle or otherwise – could ever wish to be placed under a curse from Christ. Our salvation is so precious, as is our appreciation of the Lord Jesus and His love to us. So what is Paul referring to in our text?
The key to this portion is to place in parenthesis the words ‘For I could wish myself were accursed from Christ’. If we omit this section, we find Paul expressing his great sorrow over his brethren after the flesh, that is to say, the Jews. He longs to see them saved and grieves that they do not accept their Messiah. Now, let’s examine the section that we have placed in parenthesis, and fix a grammatical error that the translators made. The words ‘I could wish’ are actually in the past tense in the original Greek. Paul is actually saying that he had wished, or he used to wish that he were accursed from Christ. He is actually referring to his days before the Lord reached and saved him on the Damascus road. He refers to a time when he hated the Name of Christ and despised His Gospel. What he is saying, in essence, is that he understands how the Jews feel because he used to be exactly like them. This is a good thing for us to consider when we seek to reach our families with the Gospel.
Paul never forgot the environment that God saved him from. He often spoke of his former days and the manner in which the Judaic religion held a grip on the Jews. In particular, he remembered their attitude toward Christ and the things that hindered them from listening to the Gospel. What about us, as we consider those to whom we desire to take the Gospel? Do we remember how we were once bound by ideas and prejudices that blocked us from accepting the Gospel? Do we remember the attitudes we had toward sin and life, attitudes that were a hindrance to our recognition of our need of a Saviour? While we would never seek to return to those days, it is well to remember them, so we can understand how people feel when we witness to them or invite them to a Gospel meeting.
We used to be just like those around us who have little or no interest in the Gospel. Let us remember that as we pray for them and speak to them. – Jim MacIntosh