I say [the] truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in [the] Holy Spirit,
Paul has just closed a chapter on God's unbreakable love. Now he opens with an oath, calling his conscience and the Holy Spirit as witnesses that he tells the truth. Why would a man swear so heavily about his own feelings?
This verse opens a clearly marked new section of the letter. Writers tie the oath to the argument Paul has just finished: God makes no difference between Jew and Gentile.
Chapter nine opens another section of the letter, a very clearly marked one. In Romans 1–8 the apostle had unfolded his gospel, and in it every distinction between Jew and Gentile disappears. He knew, however, that many might take his teaching to mean that he had no love for his nation and no regard for the word God had pledged to them.
The oath answers a charge. Paul's own people saw his mission to the nations as betrayal, and his "I am not lying" meets that suspicion head on.
Because he preached salvation to the Gentiles, the Jews saw him as an enemy of their nation and a traitor... In Jerusalem the Jewish crowd cried, "Away with such a fellow from the earth." They hated him, but he loved his brothers, his own people by birth.
There is a second edge to it. Paul had once stood on the other side himself.
Before his conversion he had done the same. He had justified the murder of the Son of God by the Jews... But now Christ had been revealed to him, and he lay face down at His feet. So his heart carried constant heaviness and sorrow for his brothers, his own people by birth. He states this in the most solemn way. He is speaking the truth in Christ. He is not lying, as they thought.
Paul does not just say his conscience is clear. He names the Holy Spirit as witness too, so this is not how a man of the world defends himself.
Paul's statement in verse 3 — "For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers" — was a most solemn one. To stress that he did not make it lightly, the Apostle writes, "I am speaking the truth in Christ — I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit." He is not speaking as a man of the world speaks. He speaks knowing that the Holy Spirit, who lived in him and was the power for his ministry, knew that his conscience was perfectly clear on this matter.
The place of this verse is striking. Deep sorrow follows straight after the triumph that closes chapter 8, and one writer finds real comfort in that.
Is it not strange that we are told of his "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" right after the grand outburst that closes the eighth chapter?... Paul had just been saying that nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." At once he speaks of wishing to be not only "separated" but "accursed from Christ"! Even so, do not our hearts understand it? Do we not remember times in our own lives when deep trial followed close after seasons of high and holy joy in the truth? At the same time it is worth remembering that the apostle's anguish was completely unselfish, which is more than can always be said of ours.
This love is not only Paul's private feeling. It is set before the reader as something to want, and one writer asks for the same fire, guided by wisdom.
The love of his heart is a wonderful example for us. Our souls too should be genuinely stirred with longing for these ancient people of God... It is true he had wished for what was impossible, but burning love does not stop to reason first. Godly understanding corrected this wish later on, but it did not lessen his love for them: his sorrow never stopped. May our love burn as warmly and as brightly as his.
- The charge — Paul's gospel put Jew and Gentile on the same footing, so his own people called him a traitor. The oath in verse 1 is his answer.
- The oath — Three statements stack up: he speaks the truth, he is not lying, his conscience agrees. He swore like this because he expected to be doubted.
- The witness — He points not to his own sincerity alone but to the Holy Spirit living in him. The claim rests on more than a man's word about himself.
- The timing — This grief comes straight after the triumph of chapter 8. Deep trial can follow high joy, so it need not unsettle us.
- The pattern — His sorrow was completely unselfish. That love, joined with wisdom, is the example set before every reader.
that I have great grief and uninterrupted pain in my heart,
Romans 8 ends in triumph: nothing can separate believers from God's love. In the next breath Paul turns to his own nation and speaks of a grief that never stops. Why does the letter drop from that height into pain, and what was breaking his heart?
One writer draws comfort from where these words stand.
Is it not strange that we hear of his "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" straight after the great outburst that closes the eighth chapter?... Paul had just been saying that nothing could separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Straight afterwards he speaks of wishing to be not just "separated" but "accursed from Christ!" Even so, do not our hearts understand it? Do we not remember times in our own history when deep trial followed close on seasons of special lifting up and holy joy in the truth?... At the same time it is worth remembering that the apostle's anguish was completely unselfish. We cannot always say that of ours.
Chapters 1 to 8 had put Jew and Gentile on the same footing before God. That teaching invited a charge, and this verse begins Paul's reply.
In Romans 1–8 the apostle had unfolded his gospel, which shows that no distinction between Jew and Gentile exists. He knew, however, that many might regard his teaching as showing that he had no love for his nation and no regard for God's pledged word about them. So we now have three chapters that explain the mystery of God's ways with Israel.
There was reason to wonder. His own people had turned on him for that very gospel.
Malice had worked in many a Jew's heart against Paul. The reason was that he proclaimed and defended the freedom of divine grace to flow out to Gentiles as much as to Jews... Had he become on that account alienated in heart from them? Far from it... He had not forgotten his nationality, and he would not disown it. Yet he was glad to confess a spiritual relationship with every true Christian.
Paul's sorrow was continual, and it had one clear cause.
He had continual sorrow on their behalf, for they were guilty of unbelief and the rejection of Christ.
Paul had been zealous for Israel long before this. That was not the same thing.
He is not referring to the days when he was a Pharisee. His zeal then was great, but his love as a Christian and an apostle was far deeper, and it was completely unselfish. In his old unenlightened state he could not have felt this for them. He had no true sense of their danger, or of his own.
One writer sets Paul's sorrow beside Christ's tears and Moses' prayer for Israel.
Sorrow filled his heart at their rejection... Christ Himself looked out over Jerusalem from the top of the Mount of Olives and wept over it, because the people were so hard of heart. Moses once pleaded for the people who had turned to idols (Exodus 32:32). Here we see the apostle expressing those same feelings of love and sorrow.
The same writer presses it into a question about Christ Himself.
I see how Paul expresses himself at the beginning of Romans 9. It was Christ's Spirit that stirred the apostle to these feelings. Shall I then say that Christ remained indifferent Himself to the unbelief of the beloved people?
One writer turns this straight on the reader.
The love of his heart is a blessed example for us, who ought also to have our hearts truly stirred in longing for these ancient people of God... his sorrow was continual. Oh that our love would burn as warmly and brightly as his, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding! Do we not have as much reason for it now as the beloved apostle had then?
Another writer makes it a question about the people around us.
But how he grieved over the mass of deceived Jews. Are we as grieved for the mass around us? Can we say that our heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved?
- After triumph. The unceasing anguish follows straight after the promise that nothing separates us from God's love. Joy and grief sit side by side.
- Prompted by a charge. Paul's gospel erased the Jew–Gentile distinction. He opens with sorrow to show he had not abandoned his nation or God's word to them.
- Grounded in their peril. The grief has one cause: their unbelief and rejection of Christ. As a Pharisee he had no sense of that danger.
- Sourced in Christ. One writer traces the feeling back to the Spirit of Christ, who wept over Jerusalem. Paul's tears echo his Master's.
- Meant to spread. The verse ends as a question to the reader: is our sorrow for the unsaved around us as continual as his was?
for I have wished, I myself, to be a curse from the Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to flesh;
Paul has just said that nothing can separate believers from the love of God. Now he wishes himself cut off from Christ for the sake of Israel — words so extreme that we have to ask what he means, and what love can and cannot do for others.
Paul teaches that God is sovereign. Some heard contempt for Israel in that, and this verse is his answer.
The assertion of God's sovereignty does not affect the apostle's love to Israel... This is the force of verse 3. Instead of despising his brothers — a charge the Jews were always bringing against him — the real impulse of his heart had led him to express a feeling that could never be carried out, though he spoke it in earnest. It was not cool reflection, for the thing was impossible. It was the earnestness of his soul in love to them. And it proved that Paul loved them quite as much as Moses ever loved them. He was willing, as far as affection went, to be like Christ, a curse for his brothers, his kinsmen according to the flesh.
The English wording is stronger than the original, and the difference matters.
The English versions, Authorised and Revised alike, put it a little more strongly than the original warrants. The Greek says only, "I was wishing, or praying." It was doubtless only an impossible wish of love, such as Moses had felt and expressed before. Paul was the last man to wish himself "accursed from Christ" on purpose. He knew and valued what it is to be "in Christ" more than anyone. So he must have had the sharpest sense of the infinite misery of losing Christ — if that were possible. Indeed it could not be. No one the Father has given Him can be taken out of the Saviour's gracious hand.
So when did Paul feel this, and how firmly did it hold him?
It was a wish that had passed through his soul. He does not mean the days when he was a Pharisee. His zeal then was great, but his love as a Christian and an apostle was far deeper, and wholly unselfish. Before his eyes were opened there was no question of such a feeling for them, since he had no true sense of their danger any more than of his own. On the other hand, he does not state it as the settled wish of his present mind. It was a passionate, self-sacrificing desire that had been in his heart. It was impossible, no doubt. Yet it showed the strength of his burning love for Israel, and his sense of their extreme danger and utter ruin.
Commentators differ here. Some read the words as a look back:
I take the clause, "I could wish myself accursed from Christ," to be a parenthesis... It was in the past... He was then with them in their rejection of Christ.
The wish has a precedent. Moses, pleading for a people who had just made the golden calf, asked God to blot him out of His book instead.
He had so completely made himself one with the people — the source of all strength in intercession when the Spirit of God produces it — that if they were unforgiven he wanted to perish with them. It was the overflow of his intense love for guilty Israel, as in the not dissimilar case of the apostle Paul... God did not grant His servant's request. Moses had no finished atonement to stand on, and nothing with which to make atonement — the only basis on which a holy God could justly forgive His people.
But love like this saves no one:
The self-sacrificing prayer of Moses in Exodus 32:32, and the passing wish of Paul in Romans 9:3, were doubtless acceptable to God; but no self-sacrifice by a preacher can ever save a sinner.
Now read it beside the end of chapter 8.
Is it not remarkable that Scripture tells us of his "great sorrow and unceasing pain" right after the great outburst that closes the eighth chapter?... Paul had just been saying that nothing could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. At once he speaks of wishing to be not merely separated but accursed from Christ! Even so, do not our hearts understand it?... It is worth remembering, too, that the apostle's anguish was wholly unselfish, which is more than we can always say of ours.
What should this leave with us?
The love of his heart is a blessed example for us. We too should long from the heart for these ancient people of God. It is true he had wished what was impossible... but burning love does not stop to reason first. Later, godly wisdom corrected the wish, though it did not cool his love for them. His sorrow never stopped.
- Cause. The Jews charged Paul with despising his own nation. This verse is his denial, and it comes from love, not cool reflection.
- Wording. The Greek reads "I was wishing" — a wish that passed through him, not a settled purpose he could ever hold.
- Precedent. Moses asked God to blot him out for Israel. God refused, because Moses had no finished atonement to stand on.
- Limit. The wish was impossible. Love may offer itself, but no one's self-sacrifice can save another.
- Result. Chapter 8 says nothing can separate us. Chapter 9 shows a man who would give up even that for others — love that costs, yet held within the truth.
who are Israelites; whose [is] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law-giving, and the service, and the promises;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
whose [are] the fathers; and of whom, as according to flesh, [is] the Christ, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Paul is listing the gifts God gave Israel, and the list ends with the greatest of them: the Messiah came from their line. The verse then lifts that Messiah above the nation He came from and calls Him God over all.
Some had doubted Paul's love for his nation. His list of their privileges answers them.
People who hate others take every chance to belittle them. They deny that the ones they hate have any favours from God that are specially their own. Love makes the most of what belongs to the one it loves. Judged by that test, the love of the apostle is beyond doubt. He sets out the marks of God's goodness to Israel as no one had ever done before.
The phrase points to a real birth into a real family line.
The eternal God had become incarnate, taking flesh from that nation. All this is fully allowed. He who is over all, God blessed for ever — as to the flesh, the body, He was born of Mary, of the royal line of that nation.
The patriarchs come just before the Messiah in Paul's list. Israel's claim on Him is real, but it has a limit.
"The fathers" are the well-known figures of Old Testament history. Christ too, as concerning the flesh, belongs to Israel; that is, He came from them. Israel could have, in this sense, no exclusive title to Him, and in fact not even a special title. He is, of course, much more than Man — One over all, "God blessed for ever." … The words as we have them in our version perfectly express the original. They state in the strongest way that Christ is God in the highest sense, the God who is over all.
Writing to someone who denied that Scripture ever calls Christ God, one commentator singled out this verse above others he could have used.
How you can say the Scriptures do not say He is God, I do not understand: they do so over and over again, directly and indirectly, in equivalent terms. … This last one, however (Rom. 9:5), is as plain a testimony as could well be imagined, and the language is such that it is impossible to apply it to anyone but Christ.
The Greek has no punctuation, so it has been proposed that the last clause is a separate burst of praise to God rather than a description of Christ. One writer weighed that proposal against the oldest evidence.
It is easy to say that the proposed rendering ("he who is over all, God be blessed for ever. Amen.") is at least as good as the one in the Authorised Version. But I am convinced that the claim is rash and groundless. … The most ancient versions of East and West — the Syriac, the Itala, the Vulgate, and others — leave no doubt as to how the words were then understood and applied. So do the early Greek and Latin writers.
He also argued that the sentence itself settles the matter. Its two halves answer one another.
Their highest mercy naturally forms the climax, though sadly they despised it. That mercy is the Messiah. He came from their fathers according to the flesh, but in reality He is Emmanuel, God over all, blessed for ever. His being God over all is the opposite pole to His springing from the fathers according to the flesh.
The crowning item on Paul's list was the one his nation refused.
In their blind unbelief they stumbled at the stumbling-stone. That stone was the infinite grace of His humiliation, and His obedience to death, the death of the cross. It shut out from the eyes of their heart the height of His glory, which reached far beyond the glory of the Messiah.
Paul ends the sentence not with an argument but with a seal.
We can understand something of what Paul felt when he added the Amen here. Nothing could be added to this. No nation could receive a greater privilege or honour than to be linked, according to the flesh, with Him who is God over all, blessed for ever.
- Love lists. Some doubted Paul's love for his nation. He answers by naming their privileges more fully than anyone before him. Love makes the most of what belongs to the one it loves.
- Lineage. "According to the flesh" means a real birth in a real family. The eternal God took flesh, born of Mary, of the royal line of that nation.
- Limit. The same phrase draws the boundary. Israel's claim reaches only as far as His flesh. He is much more than Man, and no nation holds an exclusive title to Him.
- Lordship. "God over all, blessed forever" stands as the opposite pole to His descent from the fathers. The oldest versions and the earliest writers applied the words to Christ, and the balance of the sentence points the same way.
- Last word. The nation stumbled over the very glory that crowned their list. Paul could add nothing further, so he sealed the list with worship.