“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” – Luke 19:10
“The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.” – Psalm 14:2-3
“as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.” – Rom 3:10-11
Any Questions?
The Battle Cry 
Um..nope.
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But Dan, That certainly can’t mean what it says.
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Some folks do seem to have issues b balancing the passages that talk about seeking and the above verses, and opt for passages that tell men to seek God meaning that the natural man can and does seek the one true God. Perhaps this is an occasion of allowing that which seems to be crystal cleat aid in interpreting other passages. I intentionally didn’t include any other passages describing the condition of fallen men, probably because one day some years ago I had to ask “What’s with all these ‘seeker friendly’ churches?”
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Dan,
There is no question that sinners in a state of nature are called on to seek the Lord and that all are responsible to do so. As you very well know, that is not the issue. The faulty assumption is that responsibility and ability always go together. If that were the case, no one would be responsible to obey God’s law since Paul clearly tells us in Rom. 8:7 that “the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God and is not subject to God’s law nor IS IT ABLE TO BE.” That inablility can be remedied by nothing less than a heart transplant and God’s work in which he puts a new disposition within us and CAUSES us to obey his laws. I like Packer’s observation that God’s grace is “irresistible” only in that it removes the disposition to resist. If God makes men and women “seekers,” we will have no need to water down the message or dumb down what goes on in “churches” to make carnal men and women comfortable.
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Exactly, my friend! That’s the whole point! Thanks!
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Sinners do seek God out of their own free will…
1 Cor 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Now, in regards to Romans 8:7
Romans 8:7
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Conclusion:
But no where does it state that man cannot seek God on his own will.
1 Chronicles 28:9 (WILLING MIND)
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
Ed
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Ed, I edited out all of the old/new covenant material you offered. It is Jesus who came to seek and save the lost. Saved sinners, like David, seek after God out of the new nature God has given them (See Phil 2:13). the natural man does not seek the God of the Bible, His mind is yet carnal and the carnal mind is set against God. So says Rom 8:7. The carnal mind is set on the flesh and those who are in the flesh (ALL unbelievers) cannot please God. Rom 8:8. Is seeking God pleasing to Him? Nothing further need be said.
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He seeks the Lost!
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Philippians 2:13
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Dan,
That verse is for those already saved. It’s the Holy Spirit that works in us. This is not discussing God imputing a new nature to unbelievers before they can believe.
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Ed,
Did Jesus tell Nicodemus that unless a man is born again he cannot even see the Kingdom of God? Did not Paul tell the Ephesians that God had made them alive in Christ while they were dead in sin? Just questions that speak to your comments about free will. I don’t want to debate it it, no will I. We’ve been there. This post was simply about who seeks whom.
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