Originally Posted by Kevin

We have been instructed from the beginning of time to seek God. Jesus Himself said that we are to seek the kingdom of God.

What Ben is touching on is the theory of predestination, which has already been discussed at length on this forum. I have already stated what my beliefs are in regard to predestination in other threads, so I will not discuss it further here. Great news is that is actually does not matter if we believe in predestination or not, as long as we believe in Jesus as our saviour and Lord is what counts!

To say no one seeks God based on one scripture in psalms, is insufficient evidence to support this claim. Paul used this as an illustration to reveal the sinfull nature in man.

There are numerous cases in the OT of what happened when people sought after God, Abraham, Enoch, David, Joshua, Moses and all the prophets, and there are cases of what happened when people stopped seeking God.

Instead of sitting back waiting for God to bang us into the wall to wake us up, we should just be obedient christians and do what God has already told us to do in His word.

People often come to Christ, and although Jesus instructs us to get baptised and recieve the Holy Spirit, some immediately disobey Gods word and say baptism isn't for them. I always ask, How serious where they to begin with? Is Jesus a reality to them or is He another cultural belief?

How can we come to Jesus and at the first corner disobey Him?

There are numerous teachings today that try and lead christians, old and new, into a state of apathy, where they say they are waiting for God to intervene and do the next step. HELLO! God has given us His word which clearly states what we are to do.

All I can say is, if you have not been baptised or feel you have not recieved the Holy Spirit, go and get it done. Jesus has instructed us to do so. Gods word does not lie. You will see differences in your life.

As christians we are told that we must live by faith. This means we take Gods word for what it is and apply it to our lives. To take a step of faith is at first scary but the reward is incredible and so your faith will grow.

As christians we need to stop worrying about our own salvation. If we believe in Jesus and follow His commands then we are saved. To believe in somebody means we do what they command. We need to remember why we have been saved. We have been saved so we can be conformed into the image of Christ and to spread the gospel to unbelievers. To spread the Gospel and to be conformed into the image of Christ, we need the Holy Spirit, we cannot do these things without Him.

Whether we believe that the infilling of the Holy Spirit is a secondary salvation experience or not, if we do not have the Holy Spirit we will not see the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we should actively ask God for the Holy Spirit. The bible says that the Holy Spirit was given many times by the laying on of hands by believers. If we feel that we do not have the Holy Spirit then what have we got to lose by first praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit and then asking a Holy Spirit filled believer to lay hands on us and pray for us. After all that is what the bible promotes!