All men are born to seek God. Some choose to do otherwise due to their free will."
No, they are not. And, the Scriptures know nothing of a man's "free will". This is another error promulgated by Rome. The very well-documented Good News of the Scripture is that man is enslaved to his darkened, broken nature. He does not seek God; he is at war with God (whether it appears to him as such, or not).
God, before the foundation of the world, elected some for whom He would provide a sacrifice and rescue in Jesus. At a moment of His choosing, He draws them, adopts them, breaks their hearts and grants them faith. They begin to wake up to the fact that they were blind, but now they see. This is the unmerited favor of grace so clearly taught in the Bible. If you would like all of the citations that support this message, let me know.
The requirement of joining the RCC is a doctrine from the pit of hell. God has already joined every chosen believer to the true spiritual "assembly of the first-born", what many have come to call a "church". But, there is no "Church" as in a Roman organization. There is no pope, no sacerdotalism, no purgatory, there are no indulgences, no sacraments, no absolutions done by men. There is no transubstantiation, no mary adoration, no canonization of men/women. These are all trappings of Rome.
We entreat you, if God permits it, to let go of the baggage added by Rome and embrace Jesus, alone. In Him is the, "once and for all" sacrifice for you (if you are among the elect), the giving of His body for all the chosen. But, no man is born with a hunger for Him or the capacity to decide to seek Him on their own. That is a myth.
Answer me this. If man doesn’t have free will then what are we say about these passages:
Luke 10:16 He that hears you hears me; and he that rejects you rejects me; and he that rejects me rejects him that sent me.
Jeremiah 21:8-9 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
Tell me, if man were evil, why would man always seek the good or intrinsicly know to seek the good?
IS MAN BASICALLY EVIL?
WHERE THE BIBLE SAYS NO:
Gen 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
Gen 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
Gen 6:9
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
Gen 18:25
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked!
Job 1:8
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
Jer 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Psalm 139:13-15
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Proverbs 11:4-5
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.
Proverbs 12:2
A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns.
Proverbs 12:5
The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are treacherous.
Matt 12:35
The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. (Also see Luke 6:45)
Luke 1:6 (ref. to Zacahariah & Elizabeth)
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Luke 23:50
Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
Mark 6:20
for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man,
Acts 7:20
At this time Moses was born, and was beautiful before God.
Acts 11:24 (ref. to Barnabas)
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
1 Tim 4:4
For everything created by God is good,
WHERE DOES THE BIBLE SAY THAT MAN IS BASICALLY EVIL?
The proposition that man is basically evil is normally defended by quoting the following verses:
Romans 3:9-12
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all; for I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one.”
Romans 3:22-23
For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 11:32
For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.
The book of Romans as quoted above is the chief source for defending the idea that man is basically evil. Such an interpretation of these verses is clearly problematic for the following reasons:
1. In Romans 3:9-12, Paul says that all are under the power of sin. This is a reference to the “Fall” and the burden of original sin. Paul is speaking of Jews and gentiles as equal in their damaged state of inheritance, and that the Jews need grace and redemption just as much as the gentiles. All of mankind needs redemption, and man is prone to sin, but this fact does not mean that man is basically evil.
2. In Romans 3:9-12, Paul is quoting from Psalm 14:1-5. Paul makes reference to the Psalm by saying, “as it is written,” and he would not have made that remark or quoted so much of the passage word for word, if he did not intend for us to look to the psalm in order to place his own statements within the Old Testament context. The context of Psalm 14 is made clear in the first verse which states, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good.” Then in verse four and five the psalm reads, “Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord? There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.” Psalm 14 clearly distinguishes between the evil doers (i.e. the fool that says there is no God) and “my people”….”the generation of the righteous.” This is in harmony with all of the above scriptures that state that man is basically good.
3. Romans 3:22-23 and Romans 11:32 merely reiterate what Paul speaks of in reference to Psalm 14. While these verses clearly show that men are under the burden of original sin and that men commit personal sin, they do not state either explicitly or implicitly that man is basically evil.
4. Scripture does not contradict itself. If the Book of Romans or any other book of scripture actually indicated that man was basically evil, then those passages would “clearly” and “directly” contradict Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:31, Psalm 139:13-15, Proverbs 12:2, Matt 12:35, Luke 1:6, Luke 23:50, Mark 6:20, Acts 7:20, and 1 Tim 4:4.
I thought you can’t see the face of God and live?
Your posts indicate you don’t believe you have free will.
If so... well, that’s your choice.
:)
If all men were born to seek God, one has to wonder why Adam didn't seek God's help about Eve. I am reminded of the following case where God pointed this out:
Jdg 10:12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand.
Jdg 10:13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.
Jdg 10:14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."
Jdg 10:15 And the people of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day."
This is "free will" in action. (not that there is such a thing)