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Would you be willing to give your soul (be lost eternally) if it meant that your friends would be saved?  Only twice in the Scriptures do we have examples of men that said that they would be willing to be accursed from God in behalf of their brethren.
The First Example Is Moses
In Exodus 32:32, Moses is speaking to God and says, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.”  Moses expresses a desire for God to be merciful to His people.  Moses had compassion for the people of Israel even though they had committed a great sin–idolatry–against God.  Why intercede for them?  Why agonize over their sinful condition?  Why seek God’s mercy in their behalf instead of God’s judgment?  Moses was merciful.  Moses was in fact reflecting the heart of God.  God reveals Himself to Moses as a merciful God.  In Exodus 34:6-7, the Bible says, “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the four generation.”  With this revelation, God imparts a new understanding of His heart to His people.  The lovingkindness of God is a golden thread that runs throughout the Old Testament and culminates in the sacrifice of Jesus for the sin of the world (John 1:29; John 3:16).  While God will punish the evildoer, He first extends mercy that leads to transformation of life.  If the people will repent of their sins, God will forgive them.  God plagued the people (Ex. 32:35) and three thousand died (Ex. 32:28).  God would not blot Moses out of His book of life in order to preserve the people.  He declares, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Ex. 32:33). Moses’ intercession for the people was successful.  However, even Moses’ soul was not sufficient to redeem Israel.
The Second Example Is Paul
In Romans 9:3, Paul declares, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”  Paul expresses his love for his people.  His love for them produces an anguish in his heart for their salvation.  If Paul was accursed from Christ, would that save his people?  No.  Every person is individually accountable to God for his/her sin.  Paul’s love was not more potent than Christ’s.  Paul invokes a wish or desire.  He speaks a hyperbole to make a point.  His love for his people is real.  If one could sacrifice himself for the saving of his people Paul seems willing to do so, but even Paul knows that his sacrifice would not secure their salvation.  The exaggeration Paul made points to an even greater love already demonstrated.
The Greatest Example Is Jesus
In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  The greatest love known to man is the sacrifice of self in behalf of others.  Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).  Jesus died for those who were His enemies as well as His friends.  “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom. 5:8-9).  Divine love transcends human love and so attains to the greatest love that the world has ever known!  Christ’s love is superlative love! It is unsurpassable love!  It is incomprehensible love!  “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:19).  Moses’ offer and Paul’s desire pale in significance to the act of selflessness and sacrifice that Jesus demonstrated on the cross.  Moses’ offer to God was refused by God because it was not sufficient.  Paul’s offer expresses his ardent desire for the salvation of his people, but it, too, would not secure salvation.  Jesus’ sacrificial act is the only means sufficient to save men and women from the wrath of God.  The reason for this is that He is the Son of God and His blood is the only means of redemption.  Whenever we proclaim “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” we declare the love of God to all people. If you are waiting for a greater love than what Jesus has already shown, I’m afraid you will be disappointed and lost eternally.  Awake, thou that sleepest and open your eyes to the greatest love of all.