Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the Gospel.”
It is God alone who grants repentance to His elect. God gives the commandment to repent, but only His elect can do so.
The others are in violation of it. True repentance is to cease from a trust in the works of man for salvation, unto a trust
in Christ alone as Savior. To go from one to the other is only given by God and is the result of salvation.
[Act 11:18 KJV] 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying,
Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
[Rom 2:4 KJV] 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that
the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
[2Ti 2:25 KJV] 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
[Heb 6:1 KJV] 1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
We do not suddenly get zapped by God into salvation, without us hearing and responding to the gospel.
Yes, we do get suddenly zapped by God. Jesus met ALL conditions on the behalf of those He chose unto salvation. That it why
He is the Savior and it is a free gift. The hearing and responding are the result of salvation, not cause. When it is given to someone
it is binary - from unsaved to saved, from death to life, instantaneously - taken from the law of sin and death and placed under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus - no one is made alive in phases - they are either completely dead or completely are alive, never in between,
[Eph 2:1, 5 KJV]
1
And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins; ...
5
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
Ephesians 2:8,
9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The "through faith" is Christ's faith, not man's faith, otherwise it would be of ourselves and not a gift of God
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith must first be placed into the spiritual heart of man by God. From that, when the gospel is preached and heard (spiritually heard, that it), faith and understanding results. Only those saved - those who have had faith placed into their hearts - can hear spiritually. Otherwise, all who hear the gospel would believe, yet they don't.
[Rom 10:10 KJV] 10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
[Rom 10:18 KJV] 18 But I say,
Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
