{"id":225366,"date":"2024-04-29T14:25:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T21:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vayhub.us\/rdpt22\/?p=225366"},"modified":"2024-04-29T14:25:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T21:25:52","slug":"ra5c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vayhub.us\/rdpt22\/ra5c","title":{"rendered":"RA5c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why No One Truly Seeks God?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"\"><sup>10<\/sup>As it is written: \u201cThere is no one righteous, not even one; <sup>11<\/sup>there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.<\/p>\n<cite>Romans 3:10\u201311 (NIV)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In Romans 3:11, Paul makes the startling claim that &#8220;no one seeks God.&#8221; This statement may seem controversial, as many people appear to be searching for spiritual truth, praying, or engaging in religious practices. However, Paul is not suggesting that people don&#8217;t seek God <em>for spiritual blessings<\/em>, seek God <em>to answer their prayers<\/em>, or seek God <em>for spiritual experiences<\/em>. Instead, he is asserting that <em>no one, acting on their own volition and ability, genuinely desires to find and know the true God<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It&#8217;s possible to have an intellectual interest in the concept of God or a philosophical conviction that God exists, but these do not necessarily equate to a genuine passion for meeting with God. In fact, these pursuits can even serve as a means of avoiding a real encounter with the living God by keeping Him confined to the realm of intellectual discourse or abstract constructs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Similarly, people may seek God for the benefits He can provide, such as forgiveness for guilt, spiritual peace, power, wisdom, or mystical experiences. However, this is not the same as <em>authentically seeking to know and be known by the holy, sovereign, and relational God<\/em>. Sinful self-centeredness (&#8220;<em>felt need<\/em>&#8220;) often drives our spiritual searching, causing us to seek God&#8217;s blessings while maintaining control over our lives and expecting God to serve our needs. We may be reluctant to submit to the living God, surrendering control and allowing Him to shape us as we serve Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Paul&#8217;s statement implies that <em><strong>anyone who is genuinely seeking God has already been sought by God<\/strong><\/em>. If no one is capable of seeking God on their own, then any person who is sincerely searching for Him must have undergone an internal change caused by God&#8217;s Spirit. Jesus Himself affirmed this, saying, &#8220;<em>No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him<\/em>&#8221; (John 6:44, see also John 6:65).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Recognizing that we did not initiate our search for God, but rather He drew us to Himself, should lead us to rejoice in His willingness to reveal Himself to us. It should also humble us, as we acknowledge that our faith is a gift from God and not the result of our own merits. This understanding brings comfort and confidence, knowing that you have nothing that you weren\u2019t given (1 Corinthians 4:7) and that God will complete the good work He began in us (Philippians 1:6). Ultimately, it should inspire us to praise God with greater gratitude, recognizing that every aspect of our salvation, from beginning to end, comes from Him by His grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Reflect on your own spiritual search. How does it align with the truth that God first sought you? How can you cultivate a more authentic relationship with God?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">[The ideas for this week&#8217;s materials on Romans 3:1-20 were drawn from Tim Keller&#8217;s book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Romans-1-7-You-reading-feeding-ebook\/dp\/B00I5VAUQA\/\">Romans 1-7 for You<\/a>&#8220;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">&#8220;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why No One Truly Seeks God? 10As it is written: \u201cThere is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. Romans 3:10\u201311 (NIV) In Romans 3:11, Paul makes the startling claim that &#8220;no one seeks God.&#8221; This statement may seem controversial, as many people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devo","category-romans"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>RA5c - Redemption Point<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RA5c - Redemption Point\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why No One Truly Seeks God? 10As it is written: \u201cThere is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 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