What Is The Meaning Of Romans 9:1-3?
Whatever the proper interpretation of Romans 9:1-3 is, let it be clearly understood that Paul’s language in these verses is an expression of his intense love and concern for his people, the Jews, and his great desire that they might be saved. (See Romans 10:1.) He could not bear the thought of his kinsmen perishing under the wrath of God.
Some say that Paul is here reflecting upon his unregenerate state, when he was a persecutor of Christ and his church. But I doubt the Apostle would have called for Christ, his own conscience, and the Spirit of God to bear witness to that. Besides, all who knew him knew these things. Everyone knew that Saul of Tarsus hated Christ, his gospel, and his people. I am certain that Paul is not describing his former hatred of Christ. Though, I am sure, that was a matter of great heaviness and continual sorrow to him, it had nothing to do with his love for his kinsmen and his great desire to see them saved.
The most common interpretation of Paul’s
words here is that they are an expression of a willingness
on his part to be cut off from Christ and eternally damned, that the people he
so dearly loved might be saved. Though in some ways appealling, this
interpretation must also be rejected because it is totally contrary to revealed
truth. What Paul wrote in Romans 9:1-3, he wrote by divine inspiration. His
language here must not be interpreted in a manner inconsistent with any other
part of the inspired writings. Paul knew that it was impossible for him to be
separated from Christ and cursed of God (Rom.
Some even suggest that Paul’s words in this text are a hyperbole, an overstatement, an exaggeration. That cannot be so. There are no exaggerations in the Word of God! Had Paul been lying, he would not have taken an oath in God’s name to swear to it!
The
problem in interpreting Romans 9:1-3 is the translation of verse three. A
better translation of that verse, one that is both textually accurate and
consistent with the context, would be - “For
I could wish that myself were cut off (or slain) by
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” The only
reasonable interpretation of Romans 9:1-3 is this - Paul so loved his kinsmen that he was willing and ready to lay down his
life for them, to see them saved from the (Continued on page 3.)
(Continued from page 2.)
wrath of God. That is why he was determined to carry the gospel to
Don Fortner