Questions & Answers
With Dr. Bob Burrelli, Grace Bible Church
Paul's anathema in this passage is reminiscent of imprecations scattered throughout the Psalter, such as Psalm 58:6-8, "Break their (the wicked) teeth, O God, in their mouth... when they draw their bow, let their arrows be blunted..." They shock us until we understand that they were an exaggerated way for pious Hebrews to express their zeal for God and His kingdom, hatred for sin, and longing for vindication of God's righteousness. Paul expresses similar feelings the same way Galatians 1.
Anathema is a Greek word some Bibles bring over into their translation, while others translate it, "accursed". It means to deliver or dedicate something to the judicial wrath of God, which Paul prays for anyone who willfully denies the message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and tries to subvert it.
Dedicating hostile, false teachers to God's judgment also means avoiding them, an element well-founded in the New Testament with regardto handling both hostile unbelievers and unrepentant believers. In the context of church discipline, Paul instructs the church to abandon an unrepentant member to Satan by removing him from membership (1 Corinthians 5:5). In evangelistic contexts, Jesus instructs us not to cast our pearls-the truths of the gospel-before swine-hostile unbelievers who reject the message out-of-hand. Rather, leave them alone and witness to others who will listen, for the harvest is ripe and there is no time to waste. Jesus told His disciples that the best way to respond to religious leaders, who are offended by and hostile toward His message, is to "leave them alone; they are blind guides." They were to shake dust from their feet (Matthew 10:14) when met with such asperity. Paul did the same, declaring "Your blood be upon your own heads", and left them alone (Acts 18:6).
Imprecations do not contradict the idea of loving enemies. Remember, they were uttered in prayer to God, not verbalized to an enemy, and expressed the desire for God's vindication of His justice (see Revelation 6:9-10). Furthermore, the most loving way to treat someone hardened and hostile to the gospel is not to badger him with it, but to leave him to God's justice dealings, for God knows best. Should Christian prayer contain imprecations? You may find leaving those hardened and hostile to the gospel in the care of a sovereign and good God the most comforting thing you can do and what is best to pray is that they fail miserably in their plans and find nothing but dead ends in life, with the hope that they see how utterly futile life is without a relationship with the living God.