1. No one will have faith UNLESS they repent. And john came teaching about repentance. What do you think Jesus was telling Nicodemus in John 3. That he had to change his thinking, and understand what it meant to be born again. By defenition, he was telling him he had to repent.
Amen! In regards to faith, there are those who fail to understand that there is a deeper, more substantive aspect of faith which is believing exclusively in Jesus Christ for salvation and such people cannot distinguish between mere intellectual belief or assent from a personal faith that is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
Such people may even cite that "even the devils believe" (from James 2:19) and will contend that even the "faith of devils" is the same as any other faith except that the faith of devils lacks any good works.
Thus, their understanding gives rise to the reversal of the scriptural order of repentance and faith. To the contrary, we find that repentance actually precedes believe him/believe the gospel/faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 21:32 - For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you
did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not
repent and believe him. *Notice the order.
Mark 1:15 -
Repent, and believe the gospel. *Notice the order.
Acts 20:21 - testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of
repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus. *Notice the order.
So repentance actually precedes saving belief/faith in Christ. Those who believe in Him/believe the gospel/believe on the Lord Jesus Christ have already repented in the process of changing their mind and choosing to believe. *Also see Acts 11:17,18. To say that I truly repented but I don’t believe the gospel is an oxymoron and to say that I believe the gospel but I never repented is also an oxymoron.