Pursuing God

"Before a sinful man can think right thoughts of God, there must have
been a work of enlightenment done within him; imperfect it may be, but a true work
nonetheless, and the secret cause of all desiring and seeking and praying which
may follow.

We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge
within us that spurs us to the pursuit. 'No man can come to Me,' said our Lord,
'except the Father which hath sent me draw him,' and it is by this [very
prevenient coming before another thing] drawing that God takes from us every
vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates
with God, but the impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we
are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: 'Thy right hand upholdeth
me.'

In this divine 'upholding' and human 'following' there is no
contradiction. All is of God, for as von Hugel teaches, God is always
previous. In practice, however, (that is, here God's previous working
meets man's response) man must pursue God."

(Tozer, A.W. The Pursuit of God. [Harrusburg: Christian Pub., Inc., 1948] 11-12.)



I've been reading, for school, The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. It's a really good book. I've thought hard on this quote. Man is utterly helpless and dependant on God. Man cannot come to God, unless God reveals Himself ... "unless the Father draws him." But yet, man must pursue God in order to come to Him. That pursuing comes from God. As stated, "God is always previous," or He is always the reason for the seeking.

Just as a dead man cannot make himself live, so a spiritually dead man cannot make himself live. We must respond to His calling, but even that ability comes from Him. A dead man cannot awaken himself nor can he even wish to waken himself; he's dead. A spiritually dead person is the same. Just as Lazarus had no ability or even a thought of living, because he was dead. But, when Christ said to him, "Lazarus, come forth," Lazarus responded, but only because Christ told him to come forth.

Yes, humanity is helpless without our Savior. No, it doesn't mean we have no responsibility. In fact, Christ calls us to repent. "Unless you repent, you will perish." We have to respond to the Christ's calling, just as Lazarus responded to Him. But, we couldn't respond, just as Lazarus wouldn't have, if Christ had not called us.

This is a reality that boggles my mind. I think about it constantly and start to realize the greatness of our Sovereign God! This truth, taught in Scripture, gives us a literal "no works" salvation. We can't do anything to earn salvation. It's a complete, total free gift from God. If we could do even the slightest thing, then we would get credit or glory. But, God gets all the glory! He gets all the praise and worship for salvation! We are dependant on His grace, and I would want it no other way. In fact, if humanity had even a small part in salvation, then we would be proud and arrogant with no reason for humility. If salvation could be earned by human effort or work, humanity would be lost because they would see no need for Christ at all. Why would Christ have to die and then say "grace alone," or, in other words, "unmerited favor," if we could somehow get salvation through something we do.

No, may it never be! "No man can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." We are drawn by Him! He is so loving to draw us to Him in our filthy wretched state! May God receive all the glory for His great salvation that cannot be attained by human efforts!

In Christ,
Kirsten