³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh …

What passion and love Paul has for his ethnic people, the Jews! He would gladly come under God’s complete and absolute condemnation, to be separated from Christ and His love, if that would mean the Jews would be saved. As we noted previously, he tells us clearly that he is not making this up for dramatic effect: “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit …” If this were not true, then Paul’s belief in Christ and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit is void of any reality. That is akin to the OT phrase, “As the Lord lives …”—a favorite phrase of King David and others in the Old Testament (Judges 8:19, Ruth 3:13, 1 Sam 20:3, 21, 1 Kings 18:15, etc.). It means, “If what I say is not true, then I deny the existence of God.”

What would possess a man to wish such a thing, to be willing to give up his life so that others could be saved? Moses was of similar mind when he tried to deflect God’s anger against Israel: “‘If You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book …’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book’” (Ex 32:32-33). Living with the knowledge that God would wipe out His people, whom He delivered out of Egypt, was unthinkable to Moses. Whether he was offering himself as an atonement may be debated, but one cannot question his sincerity.

But is such devotion to God’s people any different from the devotion the Lord Jesus had in offering Himself as the atonement, the sacrificial lamb? He considered it a “joy set before Him” as He “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb 12:2). We are invited to “[c]onsider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself” (Heb 12:3a). Further, His suffering involved taking on the wrath of God against all sinners. He willingly and joyfully did that for us. We are to “have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5).

While we cannot atone for others, as Moses found out, we can imitate the attitude and mind of Christ, who lived and died sacrificially. Paul in this passage gives us an example to follow. In another letter he said, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). That means having such an intense love for others that we would be willing to give up our own relationship with God so they could enjoy eternal life with Christ. Of course, Paul was secure in his salvation, but his desire for his people’s salvation was intense.

Lord, help me to love other people the way You love them—sacrificially.