“For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’” — Romans 9:15
In these words the
Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or to withhold his
mercy according to his own sovereign will. As the prerogative of life
and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all the earth has a
right to spare or condemn the guilty, as may seem best in his sight. Men
by their sins have forfeited all claim upon God; they deserve to perish
for their sins—and if they all do so, they have no ground for
complaint. If the Lord steps in to save any, he may do so if the ends of
justice are not thwarted; but if he judges it best to leave the
condemned to suffer the righteous sentence, none may arraign him at
their bar. Foolish and impudent are all those discourses about the
rights of men to be all placed on the same footing; ignorant, if not
worse, are those contentions against discriminating grace, which are but
the rebellions of proud human nature against the crown and sceptre of
Jehovah. When we are brought to see our own utter ruin and ill desert,
and the justice of the divine verdict against sin, we no longer cavil at
the truth that the Lord is not bound to save us; we do not murmur if he
chooses to save others, as though he were doing us an injury, but feel
that if he deigns to look upon us, it will be his own free act of
undeserved goodness, for which we shall forever bless his name.
How shall those who
are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore the grace of
God? They have no room for boasting, for sovereignty most effectually
excludes it. The Lord’s will alone is glorified, and the very notion of
human merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no more
humbling doctrine in Scripture than that of election, none more
promotive of gratitude, and, consequently, none more sanctifying.
Believers should not be afraid of it, but adoringly rejoice in it.
- Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
taken from: Morning and Evening, Morning devotion for November 25.
• Click here to purchase a copy of Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon at Monergism Books.
HT: Eric T. Young
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