NOBODY SEEKS AFTER GOD?
Apr 1, 2019
READ TIME — 2-3 MINUTES
What does Paul mean in Romans 3:11 when he says that nobody seeks after God? If that’s the case, how would anybody become a believer? Doesn’t this prove Calvinism which teaches an unbeliever’s total inability?
SHORT ANSWER:
Clearly the passage says none seeks, but it does not say that no one may respond because of an inherent inability (Calvinism falsely teaches this).
As a rule, man left to himself does not seek God, but when Christ seeks Him, intervening in his life through the Spirit’s conviction and drawing ministries, all may and many have believed. So, an unbeliever can’t seek God of their initiative.
LONGER ANSWER:
An unbeliever can’t seek God of their initiative, but thankfully He does take the initiative (John 12:32; 16:7-11; Acts 17:27), gives natural revelation to all (Rom 1:19-20), and convicts all of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-11). I like to use the term “wooing.” God woos an unbeliever like a man would woo his lover.
Cornelius sought God with alms and prayers before he became a believer (Acts 10:4 with 43-44).
Some don’t think an unbeliever can seek God, then what would you do with Is 55:6? “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near” (NASB).
If you look at a concordance, you’ll find 50 other passages (contradictory to inability) that command unbelievers to “seek” God. Why would God command unbelievers to seek after Him if they cannot do it?
There are many other case studies in the NT which supply examples of unbelievers who sought after God.
- Andrew and John who sought the Lord after hearing the Baptizer’s witness and Nathaniel came to check out Jesus (John 1:35-51).
- Nicodemus sought Jesus out and ultimately came to faith (Jn 3:1-21; 19:39-40).
- The Ethiopian eunuch, though an excluded Gentile, traveled to Jerusalem to worship and found Christ through Philip’s ministry (Acts 8:26-38).
How about the noble-minded Bereans who examined the Scriptures daily to verify Paul’s message and “therefore” believed (Acts 17:10-12)?
The difference between seeking and responding is huge. Paul categorically states that unbelievers do not seek God. They are not the initiators of reconciliation toward God. God seeks and God initiates. The fact that man does not initiate seeking toward God does not negate the idea of unbelievers responding to God’s seeking of them. Cornelius in Acts 10 may look like one seeking God, but ultimately it was a response to a God whose grace was beginning to dawn upon him.
Calvinists may counter-assert that dead people cannot respond, but this is a misinterpretation of Eph 2:1ff. When Paul says unbelievers are “dead,” he doesn’t mean “inability to mean,” but he means unbelievers are alienated and separated from God.
SOURCES USED(the listing of sources does not constitute a total endorsement of the content).
Hodges, Zane. Romans: Deliverance from Wrath. Grace Evangelical Society.
Meisinger, George E. “The Issue of One’s Ability to Believe: Total Depravity/ Inability.” Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 11.1 (2005): 65-96.
Olson, C. Gordon. Beyond Calvinism & Arminianism: An Inductive Mediate Theology of Salvation. 3rd Edition Expanded, Revised, & Updated, page 278.