I
tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh,
Romans 9:1-3
Romans 8 [35.] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 9 [1.] I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh, who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises; of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 9 [6.] But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel. Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs. For this is a word of promise, “At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” [10.] Not only so, but Rebekah also conceived by one, by our father Isaac. For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls, it was said to her, “The elder will serve the younger.” Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Meaning:
Romans 8 ends in triumph: nothing can separate believers from the love of God in Christ. Romans 9 opens with grief. Paul turns to a question that weighed on him deeply: why had most of his own people, Israel, not believed in Jesus as the Messiah?
- “I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying”
Paul piles up assurances: he speaks “in Christ”, he is not lying, and his conscience, guided by the Holy Spirit, confirms it. He wants his readers to know that his sorrow is real.
- “I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart”
This is not a passing sadness but a constant ache. Paul shared the feelings of Jesus, who wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). The same love appears when Paul writes, “my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1).
- “I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake”
“Accursed” translates a word for something devoted to destruction. Paul says he could wish, if it were possible, to be cut off from Christ himself if that would bring his people to salvation. He knew it was not possible, for nothing can separate believers from Christ’s love, but the wish shows the depth of his love. Moses prayed in a similar way after the golden calf: “if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written” (Exodus 32:32).
- “My relatives according to the flesh”
Paul still calls the Jewish people his brothers and relatives. Years later, as a prisoner in Rome, he told the Jewish leaders that he had not come with “anything about which to accuse my nation” (Acts 28:19). Christians understand the future of Israel described in Romans 9 to 11 in different ways, but all can see Paul’s hope that God has not rejected his people (Romans 11:1).
The Significance of Romans 9:1-3
- Love for those who reject the message
Paul did not respond to rejection with bitterness but with sorrow and prayer. Believers are called to love those who do not share their faith.
- Grief that prays
Paul turned his sorrow into prayer. Grief for others can be a form of faithful love.
Cross-References:
Romans 10:1: "my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved." Paul’s prayer for his people.
Exodus 32:32: "please blot me out of your book which you have written." Moses’ similar plea.
Luke 19:41: "he saw the city and wept over it," Jesus’ grief for his people.
Conclusion: Paul solemnly declares his great and constant sorrow for his fellow Israelites, so great that he could wish himself cut off from Christ for their sake. Like Moses and like Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, he loved his people deeply. That love shaped how he spoke to them to the end of Acts.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible