Does man naturally have ability to Seek God ?

[Brightfame52]

No shadow of turning with God, no variableness, all is equal, nothing is different.

All are begotten with the word of truth, so the command ( to hear and stop ignoring) is to be swift to hear, and to stop talking, ( until then nobody will hear, will they ?)



James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.



Lay aside all of that naughtiness to receive the engrafted word ( this is able to save our souls and how they are saved then)

Do not be deceived, or deceive ourselves ( definately stop deceiving anyone else too) to be a doer of the word.

Look into perfect liberty ( freedom from being slave for all) and to be blessed as Peter, they shall be, being a doer of the work ( stopping the vain talk in forums) blessed then, in their DEED..


James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

You have lost me.

 

[Brightfame52]

All mature adults’ sin and at least until they harden their hearts, they are naturally burdened by their actions which hurt others (sins).

Humans will try many means to overcome this hurt including: Drugs, alcohol, work, worshipping other gods, sex, counselling and other stuff, but the only real help comes with humbly turning to the creator of the universe for undeserving help/ forgiveness.

God/ Christ is wanting to forgive and help everyone, but humans have to accept that forgiveness as pure undeserved charity for the transaction of forgiveness to take place.

Huh ? The natural man doesnt seek the True God, and cant.

 

[fhansen]

Once God draws an individual its outside of the natural mans ability. Gods drawing is inward, spiritual, and the new birth.

And yet man can resist and refuse that grace at any point. We can't turn ourselve to God but we can remain turned away from Him-or turn back away later on down the road.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

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[Maria Billingsley]

Not the natural man.

I belive you are conflaiting the natural man with the man who has been regenerated with His Holy Spirit. I am speaking of the man who chooses to believe then receives His Holy Spirit. In other words, from natural to supernatural. Paul makes this clear:
1 Corinthians 15
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural then the spiritual.
Blessings.

 

[Francis Drake]

Believing in Jesus in our heart, is believing that God raised Him up from the dead.

Millions in the OT period believed the God of Abraham who was Jesus Christ prior to his incarnation.
The disciples believed and confessed Jesus whilst denying his impending death.

Confession is made unto salvation, neither can you believe in your heart without confession, as to be baptized into His death is to believe and it is confession.

Of course you can believe in your heart without speaking it out, millions have done so, and that's why Paul separates the two actions, a)belief and b)confession.

 

[eleos1954]

No man naturally can believe on Christ nor even believe in the True God, for what saith the scripture Lk 10:21-22

21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

Now to call upon the name of Jesus for Salvation as per Rom 10, the person must know who the Son is to believe Him Rom 10:14

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

There can be no true calling upon Christ without Faith and the knowledge of who He is and what He accomplished and for whom. Yet Jesus reveals that naturally "no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father"

So who Christ is in His True Glorious Person must be revealed to a man as it was to Peter here Matt 16:16-17

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

See Peter was Blessed, he didnt know who Jesus Christ really was by natural man ability but by Divine revelation.

God's inspired word is designed to draw sinners to God and to the salvation in His Son.

 

[Brightfame52]

And yet man can resist and refuse that grace at any point. We can't turn ourselve to God but we can remain turned away from Him-or turn back away later on down the road.

Lol, You elevate mans power over Gods.

 

[Brightfame52]

I belive you are conflaiting the natural man with the man who has been regenerated with His Holy Spirit. I am speaking of the man who chooses to believe then receives His Holy Spirit. In other words, from natural to supernatural. Paul makes this clear:
1 Corinthians 15
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural then the spiritual.
Blessings.

You dont know the natural man, he has no ability to seek after God, even no desire for God, the True God that is.

 

[Brightfame52]

God's inspired word is designed to draw sinners to God and to the salvation in His Son.

Not the natural man.

 

[Francis Drake]

No man naturally can believe on Christ nor even believe in the True God,

Read again and you will see I never said that.
The parable of the sower puts responsibility on the field (man's heart) to receive and grow the seed.
Whether a man's hard heart leaves the seed untouched and ready for the birds to snatch away is his choice.
Alternatively, man can give that seed sufficient space and moisture to sprout, all to varying degrees of growth.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

You dont know the natural man, he has no ability to seek after God, even no desire for God, the True God that is.

Yes, I am very familiar with Calvinism. Thanks for engaging !
Happy New Year!

 

[Francis Drake]

Once God draws an individual its outside of the natural mans ability. Gods drawing is inward, spiritual, and the new birth.

Yes, but God speaks conviction directly into the heart of all men, leaving the response entirely down to them.

 

[Francis Drake]

You dont know the natural man, he has no ability to seek after God, even no desire for God, the True God that is.

God is no respecter of persons, but the Spirit speaks into the heart of every man on earth, calling to him.

Romans1v18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
For man to suppress the truth, he must first have been given that truth.

19because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
There it is plainly stated, God has revealed himself within the heart of every man.

20a.For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
And again, from the very start, the attributes of God are seen and known by every man.

20b. being understood by the things that are made,
Not just seen, but clearly understood!

20c. Even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Without excuse means what it says. Every man knows the eternal power of God deep in his heart, acceptance or rejection is entirely down to his own freewill choice.
There is no other way to interpret these verses.

If God had never revealed himself, then that man would legally have an excuse.

 

[Francis Drake]

God's inspired word is designed to draw sinners to God and to the salvation in His Son.

I met the Lord and was born again a good 10 years before I heard the gospel or read about what Jesus did on the cross.

 

[fhansen]

Lol, You elevate mans power over Gods.

Oh. And yet God wants none to perish...

And He didn't want Adam to sin. And He wants His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. But...

 

[eleos1954]

Not the natural man.

we are all natural until we become spiritual

The supernatural work of God is to change the natural man into a spiritual one. When a person trusts Christ, God exchanges what is natural (received from Adam) for what is spiritual (received from Christ). “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). The Christian life is, therefore, a supernatural one. We do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1).

 

[eleos1954]

I met the Lord and was born again a good 10 years before I heard the gospel or read about what Jesus did on the cross.

so before you were born again .... you had never heard the gospel? .... in order for one to become born again they need to accept Jesus ..... you may not have understood everything about that .... but had some info (verbal from His Word) about it or else you would not have been born again.

I understand what you are saying .... because happened same way with me .... but I did have some knowledge about Jesus and then several years later started really studying His Word and now continue to do so.

 

[Tolworth John]

Then to not be with Jesus is to be against Him and they scatter abroad also..

If the Spirit is not with them they are not with Jesus.
All Christians are saved through God's choosing them.

 

[Francis Drake]

so before you were born again .... you had never heard the gospel?

Yes, I was born again before hearing the gospel.
My parents took me to an Anglican Church, but they never preached the gospel and what they did preach was complete nonsense which I recall completely rejecting.
I did not hear the message of the cross till my mid 20s.

.... in order for one to become born again they need to accept Jesus

Not true, I simply believed in God. But then Jesus is God!

.... you may not have understood everything about that .... but had some info (verbal from His Word) about it or else you would not have been born again.

Again, that's not true.
I know I was born again because God told me he lived in my heart, but I still hadn't a clue who Jesus was or what he did on the cross.

I understand what you are saying .... because happened same way with me .... but I did have some knowledge about Jesus and then several years later started really studying His Word and now continue to do so.

You don't get born again by studying!