Who is Seeking Whom?

Rom 3:10-12  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 become worthless; no one does good, not even one."  ESV

Have you heard the term "seeker-sensitve" referring to how Christians should be sensitive to people who don't believe in Jesus as their Savior and Lord? Whenever I hear words or phrases that are being used by a growing number of Christians I can't help but want to understand what God has to say about it in Scripture.

If becoming "seeker-sensitve" means to become more like the world so worldly people will find us more attractive then I would reject the concept since we are told to "not be conformed to this world." Romans 12:2 ESV.

Indeed, the verse I opened this blog post with says "no one seeks for God" (Roman 3:10-12). Does that mean there are no seekers out there? To get the answer to that I did some Scripture searching, which I believe is the best way to find answers from God's perspective.

I found a place in the book of Acts which does use the phrase "seek God." The passage tells of when Paul was in Athens and spoke to them about how religious they were with all their idols, including one to to the unknown God. He told those people that the God who was unknown to them was indeed the God who had made the world and everything in it, and that from the one man He had made all mankind that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Paul also told them that He is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:27-28)

Those in Athens and elsewhere in the world often wanted to be religious so they invented their own gods, and imagined what those gods were like. But none of their imaginary gods was like the one true God who made everything that was made including mankind.

For those in Athens it wasn't until Paul spoke to them that they heard about the one true God. Regarding the true God, he told them:  "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,  because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."   Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this." Acts 17:30-32 ESV

God had revealed some things about Himself in the things He made.(Romans 1:18-32) But men chose to reject that and worship what they wanted to worship and do the foolish and ungodly things they wanted to do.

So it seems from Scripture that people on their own are not apt to seek to know the one true God, even with seeing all that He has made in Creation.. But that does not stop God from having people come to Him. He sent His only begotten Son to come in the flesh, as Son of God and Son of Man.

And what was His Son, Jesus, sent to do? Jesus answered that when He said: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10) ESV

Jesus also declared, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." (John 6:44) ESV amd "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.(John 14:6) ESV

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The ones who came to Him and were saved were those whom the Father drew to Jesus. That was true then and it is true today. No one comes to the Father except through His Son, Jesus.

But Jesus in the flesh is in Heaven now, not here walking on the earth. So how does the Father draw them to Jesus to be saved today? When Jesus was here on earth He knew whom the Father was drawing and Jesus called them to follow Him.

Reading through the New Testament I found that again and again Christians are referred to as the "you who are called," "those who are called," and "you have been called."

 And in Paul's letter to the Thessalonians he wrote: "To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thes 2:14)


When the people in Athens heard Paul tell them about the one true God and the need to repent because of the coming judgement by the Man who was raised from the dead, there were some who mocked, but others who were interested in hearing more. The same is true today. There are some who mock Jesus, and there are others who are willing to hear more about Him.

What is the difference between those who mock and those who are open to hear more? I believe Jesus answered that question when He said that no one comes to Him unless the Father draws Him. I believe that among the people in Athens who wanted to hear more were those who were being drawn to Jesus.

When Jesus was here in the flesh He called people to come and follow Him. Those who followed Him heard Him tell about who He was, and that He would suffer, die, and be raised again.

On the day of Pentecost when Peter spoke about who Jesus really was, including how He been crucified, died, raised from the dead, and was now exalted at the right hand of God. The people heard the truth about Jesus, whom they had crucified, and they were shaken to the core.

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"  And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.   For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."  (Acts 2:37-39) ESV

Notice the forgiveness of sins and gift of the Holy Spirit was for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.


On the day of Pentacost Peter told the crowd about Jesus and the need to repent and be baptized for forgiveness of their sins. Those who believed were the ones God had called. They heard the truth about Jesus, they believed what they heard, and they therefore repented of their sins and turned to Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Sharing of the gospel, the news of who Jesus is and what He has done, is our part in how God brings people to salvation. God does the drawing. But He uses the gospel to bring people to turn from their sin and to Jesus and His death on the Cross as their only means of forgiveness and redemption.

Paul. knew how essential it was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1 Cor 1:17-18 he wrote:  "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.  For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." ESV

Do you know the gospel? Do you know how different it is from everything else that calls itself a religion? The gospel is not about what you can do to win the favor of some supernatural entity. That is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The gospel is that Jesus Christ is and always was God. He chose to become a man, being born as a baby with a real flesh and bone body like you and me. He grew up and told us who He was. People rejected that, condemned Him to die even though He was perfectly sinless. He was crucified, suffering and dying for our sins. Then He rose from the dead with a resurrection body that can never die again. He is in Heaven now and He will return, and He will judge all who reject Him.

The gospel is who Jesus the only begotten Son of God is and what He has done. Believe in Jesus as the only Savior and Lord, and your own Savior and Lord, and you have forgiveness of your sins and everlasting life with Him. Those who are called will know and believe that the gospel is true, and they will accept the free gift of salvation.

Who is seeking whom? God is seeking those whom He has called. How is He calling people?: He is using the gospel. That's what Jesus did. That's what Peter did. That's what Paul did. That is what we should be prepared to do. We can't save anybody, but we can share the gospel and God can use that as He calls people to Himself.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. If you are already a Christian I hope this post will encourage you to be prepared to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. If you are not a Christian I hope you will pray to God that He shows you that the gospel is true and that He wants you to believe in His Son Jesus as your Savior and Lord. You will be eternally thankful if you do that, and you will eternally regret it if you reject it. I hope and pray you will come to know that God is calling you to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ.