They didn't. The Bible teaches that God regenerates a person and then they come to repentance toward God and faith in Christ. Read Ephesians 2:1-10.
Seeking God
Discussion in 'Baptist Theology & Bible Study' started by Van, Jan 20, 2022.
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Reformed1689 Well-Known Member
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I thought it was, and to that end I desired you to present a single OT example.
There are some 4000 or more years from which to document a single incident in which some human of their own volition with no first impulse from God did indeed seek God.
There maybe something mentioned, that I don’t recall, but it does seem strange that when you stated the OT was full of examples, you cannot give one.
As typical you bring up the Calvinist view.
I don’t know why, perhaps it is your only defense, but this is not the forum to discuss views of either Calvin or Arminius. It is to present the Scriptures and the study of those Scriptures.
Perhaps the scriptures are wrong when presenting “no one seeks God.” You add “at any time,” and I would modify you add by merely inserting “unless God first calls them by name.” -
Reformed1689 Well-Known Member
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Van. Are you just saying that while it's true that God will always have to reveal himself to us or we cannot respond to him but that Calvinists go too far when we insist that a "regeneration" as a prior thing, independent of hearing God's word or preaching is essential, and we are especially wrong when we equate regeneration with salvation because we then make everything else involved in salvation like faith and repentance a moot point?
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All I ask for was one example from the OT.
Maybe there is one, not saying there may not be, but I don’t find the examples leaping off the pages in great numbers, or even one. I was hopeful that you could find some. -
1) I said the lost have limited spiritual ability, thus they can at times seek God.
2) I said the OT Saints were not regenerated (made live together with Christ) until after Christ died.
3) I said the OT prayers demonstrate people seeking God. -
2 Chronicles 15:4
“But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.
2 Chronicles 30:18-20
For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon
everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”
So the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. -
Ok, so, present an OT example of a person that without any previous contact or worship of God sought God.
Perhaps, the man with leprosy coming to the prophet for healing?
Nope, he came to the prophet because a servant girl spoke to the man’s wife. -
Why do you think the usual Calvinists are posting nonsense. Did I refer to God's revelation. Yes. Did a Calvinist claim I did not acknowledge this truth? Yes. On and on folks, falsehood after falsehood.
What is all their fuss about? Calvinism claims no one ever seeks God until "regenerated." But they have redefined "regenerated" to mean the "enablement of Irresistible Grace" such that a person having "Total Spiritual Inability" could after "Calvinism's bogus Regeneration" seek God and trust in Christ. However regeneration refers to being made alive together with Christ. No one was actually biblically "regenerated" until after Christ arose, thus He is the first born, and we are actually "regenerated" when we are made alive as a new creation when God places us spiritually into Christ, for all in Christ will be made alive.
So biblically, none of the OT Saints were "regenerated" (made alive) until after Christ arose as the first born from the dead. So how did they seek God without being "regenerated?" Because they could because "Total Spiritual Inability" is a Calvinist fiction.
Thus the stream of posts to claim the OT Saints that sought God had been "regenerated" according to their bogus redefinition.
For example how could Christ be the first born from the dead, if spiritually dead OT saints were made live before they obtained approval by faith? Thus the Calvinist claim is bogus. -
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Iconoclast Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
It looks as if every thread the only person who believes the dubious ideas that Van offers , is Van himself!
Why is that?
He posits himself as a victim:Sick
It looks as if everyone notices this spectacle :Cautious.
Van....how come the "folks" you appeal to never seem to come to any of your ideas?:Sick -
@Van, do you not look at the context? 2 Chronicles 30 doesn’t support your thinking either.
13In the second month, a very great assembly gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 14They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley. 15And on the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.16They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood, which they received from the hand of the Levites. 17Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD. 18A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, provide atonement for everyone 19who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” 20And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
At no point did the people seek God. -
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The OT scripture speaks for itself and means what it says. Claiming the "context" (Calvinist misinterpretation) alters the text is utter nonsense.
The OT is full of examples of OT saints seeking God. Full Stop
The OT saints were not regenerated before Christ became the first born from the dead. Full Stop
Sought God means, drum roll please, sought God!!! -
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