HEARING THE GOSPEL LEADS TO REPENTANCE

The word "repentance" appears 25 times in 25 New Testament verses of the King James Version of the Bible [Mt. 3:8, 11; 9:13; Mk. 1:4; 2:17; Lk. 3:3, 8; 5:32; 15:7; 24:47; Acts 5:31; 11:08; 13:24; 19:4; 20:21; 26:20; Rom. 2:4; 11:29; 2 Cor. 7:9, 10; 2 Tim. 2:25; Heb. 6:1, 6; 12:17; 2 Pet. 3:9].  It is translated from the Greek μετάνοια (metanoia), which, according to the Blue Letter Bible which uses Strong's Concordance, means "a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done."  Young's Concordance defines it as "penitent."  Easton's Bible Dictionary defines it as:  "true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised."

Perhaps the most important verse where μετάνοια appears is Luke 24:47; in context it reads:
[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.
[48] And ye are witnesses of these things.

Repentance occurs when one believes the message of Remission; that is, the Gospel; it is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 and reads:  "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures...."  

The Gospel of Mark seems to say that his entire book is the Gospel; he wrote in Mk. 1:1:  "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God...."

The Gospel of John tells us that "...when He (the Holy Spirit) is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  Of sin, because they believe not on Me; Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (Jn. 16:8-11).

So how does this all work?  The Holy Spirit moves believers to share the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with unbelievers.  Some of them believe and repent.  The message is powerful:  "it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom. 1:16).  Paul explained exactly how it works in Romans 10:9-14, 17: 

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.  For there is no difference between the Jew and the (Gentile):  for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard....So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."