God in giving commands to Repent or to Believe does not suppose that men dead in sin or that men in and of themselves can Repent unto Life, but instead the command is given that it might impel those who have been given Repentance when they were given a New Heart, so then are they as New Creatures made manifest, and that becomes a Joy to the ones God used as instruments to Preach Christ to them.
For how can any by Nature, obey a command of God, such as repentance is
Acts 17:30
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men every where to repent:
Now, God already knows that any in the flesh cannot be subject to the Law or command of God Per
Rom 8:7
Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be.
Carnal means merely man by Nature !
The word Law means:
anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law
, a command
a) of any law whatsoever
1) a law or rule producing a state approved of God
a) by the observance of which is approved of God
2) a precept or injunction
3) the rule of action prescribed by reason
The Natural Man of the Flesh is not subject to any precept or command of God. The word
subject means:
to arrange under, to subordinate
2) to subject, put in subjection
3) to subject one's self, obey
4) to submit to one's control
5) to yield to one's admonition or advice
6)
to obey, be subject
The Natural man is not subject to obedience to anything God commands or prescribes and cannot be , does not have the ability to obey God !
But it is more feasible that one would obey a Law of God or a command of God in their mind after God puts His law into their minds as Per
Heb 8:10
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord;
I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Now if God is commanding those who God has put His laws into their Mind and has written them in their Hearts By New Birth, then these will do what God commands as Per
Ezk 36:26-27
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
So it is these, that God has Given a New Heart, has put His laws into their Minds, and written them in their Hearts, that God gives the command to Repent as Per
Acts 17:30
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth
all men every where to repent:
Yes, God's Covenant people after the Death of Christ and the coming of the Spirit are located every where, not just as it had been in the past, just among the jews !
So Repentance now must be preached among all Nations for that Purpose
Lk 24:46-47
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Thats the reason for the everywhere in
Acts 17:30 !