This Humiliating Doctrine By
Thomas Reid Romans Chapter 9 Verses 13-16 Jacob I loved, but Esau
I hated. What then shall we say? Is God
unjust? Not at all. For he says to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend
on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. Are any saved? It is only through the sovereign
grace of God, the sovereign love of the sin-atoning Savior, the
sovereign operation of the Holy Spirit, producing faith in their
hearts to lay hold of and delight in the ever-precious Jesus. Have you received this gift of
salvation? Why should the sovereign of the
universe condescend to save you? Why should God pour this oil
of grace, this unction from the Holy One, on you? Why should
He convert you into a vessel of mercy fitted for the Master's
use, while thousands around you are vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction? Oh, why is this? Because God
will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, I must resolve all
into the sovereign will, the electing love, and the free grace
of the great Jehovah. I have loved you, my people,
with an everlasting love, with unfailing love I have drawn you
to myself. Jeremiah 31 verse 3 Amazement
seizes on my mind. Love and praise should fill my
heart. Then cease not, O my soul, to
extol the giver of such sovereign mercy. Many professors reject
this blessed truth. The pride of man cannot bear
this humiliating doctrine, which is so subversive to human boasting. But what are its genuine effects?
It humbles the sinner, exalts the Savior, and promotes holiness
of heart and life. Any teaching which places Christ
on His throne and the creature in the dust, which opposes the
evil of sin and delights in holiness, must be true. Therefore God has
mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he
wants to harden. Romans 9, verse 18. What if God,
choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with
great patience the vessels of his wrath, prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the
riches of his glory known to the vessels of his mercy, whom
he prepared in advance for glory? Romans 9, verses 22-23.