Once we are quickened to life via the regenerative power of God, and gifted faith & repentance, we exercise them, and not before. Dead ppl can't exercise anything, their will, their faith, &c. We were dead in transgressions & sins, but God made us alive in Christ, even whilst we were dead.
God moves unilaterally upon those He saves.
Look at it like this. You see someone drowned, dead floating on the water. They can't reach out and grab any floatation device you throw their way, seeing they are dead. You swim out and drag them to shore and administer CPR and they come back to life. They come to life because of what you did to them and not anything they did. They couldn't exercise their will to restart their heart, to take a deep breath and breathe again. It was solely because you unilaterally moved upon them.
That's how God works. He gives life to whoever He wills(John 5:21) and they exercise faith & repentance and are saved. But faith & repentance that is exercised by them is solely because God unilaterally moved upon them and brought them to life.