Can Men Seek God?

RESPONSE

Thank you for taking the time to provide your thoughts. You make a number of statements that I’d like to address…

Is it possible for men to seek God?

It is possible for regenerate men to seek God. It is impossible for unregenerate men to seek God because the bible teaches that in their fallen, Adamic state, they are utterly unwilling and incapable of seeking God (Psalm 10:4, Romans 3:11).

If those of the “grace only” persuasion are correct in that God selects a few to be saved and the majority of mankind, through no fault of their own, will be sent to hell for all eternity, then of course man’s attempt to seek God would be futile. Are they right?

You cover a lot of ground in that statement so let me break it down and address each part individually…

God selects a few to be saved.

While there are some who claim the moniker of “sovereign grace” (or “grace only” as you put it) who affirm that “few” are saved, this is not what he bible teaches. Some of those who suggest that few are saved base their belief on a misinterpretation of passages like Matthew 7:14. In contrast, the bible’s testimony is that “a great multitude which no man could number” (Revelation 7:9) shall be eternally saved by the work of Christ. As a result, I certainly do not believe that only a few are saved and there is no reason that the “grace only” position requires such a belief.

the majority of mankind, through no fault of their own, will be sent to hell for all eternity

With regard to “the majority of mankind”, I refer you to my previous answer. With respect to “no fault of their own” – this is certainly NOT the bible’s testimony. The bible places the responsibility for sin in the domain of humanity, squarely in the lap of man himself through an act of disobedience. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”(Romans 5:12) and again saying, “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19) Man is responsible for the entrance of sin into humanity and we are individually responsible for the practice of sin which we have all committed (Romans 3:23). It is for this reason that we stand in need of a Savior. What’s more, men have added their own sins to the mix by their own rebellion and practice. Some might say, “Yes, but I inherited Adam’s sin nature as a result of his error, not my own,” the implication being that had they been in the garden, they would have fared better. To this it is important to remember that Adam was created BETTER than we are and that he failed. It is the height of folly to believe that we would have done any better.

Can men seek God?

Unregenerate men cannot seek God. This is affirmed by King David who said, “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:2-3) as well as by the apostle Paul who said, “there is none that seeketh after God.” (Romans 3:11). If all men in their fallen state CAN seek God, and some of them do, as your position insists, then both Paul and David should have rather said, “The are SOME that doeth good, yea, some” and “there are SOME that seeketh after God.” To draw that out more clearly, if one accepts your assertion that all men are capable of seeking God and some men do, who are “none” to whom Paul and David make reference? They simply do not exist under that schema and their comments collapse into a pile of nonsense. Their words are properly understood when applied to ALL of humanity in their natural, fallen, depraved, and unregenerate state. It follows that those who do seek God are no longer in that state but have been born again and are a new creature in Christ by God’s sovereign mercy (Ephesians 2:1, II Corinthians 5:17).

Why would Jesus say, seek God's kingdom (Matthew 6:25-33)? Men can seek God. Seeking God is not an impossibility.

Primitive Baptists do not insist that seeking God is an impossibility. Rather, we insist that man in his natural or unregenerate state cannot seek God (Romans 3:11) because he is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), enmity against God (Romans 8:7), and incapable of regarding spiritual truth as anything other than foolishness (I Corinthians 2:14). That is an incredibly important distinction apart from which one is misrepresenting the bible’s testimony and Primitive Baptist doctrine.

“After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” (Acts 15:16-18)

This text merely affirms that there are those who will seek God, the regenerate sheep of God’s chosen fold (the residue, upon whom my name is called). It does not establish that all of humanity is capable of seeking God because this would contradict both the Psalmist and the apostle Paul who taught that unregenerate men do not seek God (Psalm 14:2, Romans 3:11).

James answered, Simeon has related, and the Prophets have agreed that mankind may seek the Lord, however, those "grace only” advocates who believe in the doctrine of predestination, without qualifications, disagree.

That passage does not affirm that all of mankind is capable of seeking God. Paul clearly states that they are not (Romans 3:11), because “the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Corinthians 2:14) King David said, “The wicked [that’s the unregenerate in this context] through the pride of his countenance WILL NOT SEEK AFTER GOD, God is not in all his thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4)

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

True enough, it is also true that, “all men have NOT faith.” (II Thessalonians 3:2). If you admit that “seeking God” is something that would be pleasing to God, and it undeniably is, and that without faith it is impossible to please Him, and it undeniably is (Hebrews 11:6), and you admit that “all men have not faith” as Paul taught, then it follows that not all men have the ability to seek God, because seeking God is a pleasing act and if it is pleasing it must be done in faith, an attribute which not all men possess.

Men come to God.

That is true of regenerate men - those who have already been born again of God’s mercy. They have faith in the true and living God, irrespective of how much gospel information they may or may not encounter during their natural lives. “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” (John 6:45) Now consider what the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching in this verse. If every man has heard and learned of the father, then every man is going to be eternally saved. Clearly, NOT all men come to God in the sense he has in mind (Matthew 25:41). It follows that not all men have heard or learned of the Father. This is a strong affirmation of both election and immediate Holy Spirit regeneration.

What’s more, if one considers the levels of spiritual “learning” possessed by the saints of God in the bible, which varies from explicit gospel knowledge (I Corinthians 15:3-4), to merely types and shadows (Hebrews 10:1), to virtuallly nothing at all (Jeremiah 31:15-17, Matthew 2:16-18), then it becomes apparent that “taught of God” does not mean that all of God’s elect come to a cognitive understanding of explicit, New Testament, gospel mechanics during their natural lives. This is one of the strongest evidences for why the gospel is not instrumental in regeneration. But I digress…

Men seek God.

Regenerate men are able to seek God, but not the unregenerate: “The wicked through the pride of his countenance, WILL NOT SEEK AFTER GOD.” (Psalm 10:4) Do these “wicked men” seek God? Or do they have to be drawn of the father to ever be able to seek God? “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44) Correct answers to those questions are an important step toward understanding why salvation is by sovereign grace.

God does not force men into salvation.

Really? Regeneration is described as being “born from above” (John 3:3), being “translated” (Colossians 1:13), and being “quickened” (Ephesians 2:1). There is no way for something that is dead to participate in its own conception, translation, or quickening. Indeed, were you consulted in the matter of whether or not you would have natural life? Was your will involved in that matter? Or was natural life FORCED upon you apart from any involvement from you whatsoever? The suggestion that life is not forced upon those who possess it is ludicrous and warrants no further consideration among reasonable people. While the bible does not explicitly refer to our salvation as taking place by “force,” it does describe it as taking place by “the working of his mighty power.” (Ephesians 1:19) Do you believe that man can resist the quickening work of God? If he can, then the “mighty power” of God is easily defeated by the will of man, and is thus no “mighty power” at all.

God does not force men to have faith.

God gives faith to some men as a gift. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” (Philippians 1:29) What’s more, He does not give it to all men, for “all men have not faith” (II Thessalonians 3:2). Let me tell you something – if God gives you faith – you HAVE faith whether you like it or not. If that’s not FORCING you to be in possession of faith, I don’t know what is. It is true that men do not always exercise this God-given faith as they ought, but the possession of faith is not beholden to the use thereof. A man may choose not to walk but this is no proof that he doesn’t have god-given legs. So it is with faith. When God gives it, a man has it, irrespective of the degree to which he calls it into practice.

God does not compel men to repent.

Nevertheless, He does grant repentance to some as a gift of his grace. “When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” (Acts 11:18)

God does not overpower men and then force them to be baptized in water for the forgiveness of their sins.

Baptism is an act of obedience, not a requirement for eternal salvation (Luke 23:43). It has nothing to do with one’s righteous standing before the throne of God, because we are made righteous by “the obedience of ONE” (Romans 5:19) not by the obedience of TWO.

God does not force men to confess Jesus as the Christ the Son of God.

He quickens them so that they are both desirous and capable of such, and until such quickening, they are incapable of making this confession in sincerity, because they are enmity with God (Romans 8:7) and their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness (Romans 3:14).

God is a rewarder of those who seek him!

That is true. We do not claim that it is impossible for men to seek God. Rather, we insist that it is impossible for unregenerate men to seek God (Romans 3:11). What does this tell us? That those who seek God in sincerity do so because they already have eternal life. They do not do so in order to obtain eternal life. That’s because seeking is an act of faith and those who have faith have already passed from death unto life through regeneration, else they would lack the faith required to believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6).

Seek God! It is possible!

It is possible for those who have already been touched by the regenerating mercy and grace of God and for no one else. It is those who have a hunger and thirst for righteousness, implanted in regeneration, who shall be filled and none other (Matthew 5:6).

- Elder Daniel Samons

Daniel SamonsAugust 24, 2023

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