Repentance in Christianity is the act of turning away from one's sins to seek atonement and forgiveness. In the Bible, repentance is part of the Gospel message as well as putting one's faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. However, for a person to truly repent of their sins, they must realize their own sinful state before God and that nothing they can do outside of putting their faith in Jesus Christ can atone for their sins.
Metanoia is the Greek word that corresponds to the Christian conception of repentance. Etymologically, "meta" means "after" or "beyond", and "nous" means mind. Thus, one can conceptualize repentance as a conversion or change in one's mind and mentality. Jesus' exhortation to "repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" in Matthew 4:17 uses the same root in Greek.
In the Left Behind series, the flier for The Place read: “Jesus loves pimps, whores, crack heads, drunks, players, hustlers, mothers with no husbands, and children with no fathers.” When Pastor Enoch Dumas, the leader of The Place, handed Chloe Williams the flier in the Dramatic Audio of Desecration, Chloe was hesitant to read the aforementioned "rough parts" of the flier. Enoch Dumas then read the rough part asking his congregation if they were once the people described by the flier. Each one raised their hand at least once. To illustrate their repentance, Enoch concluded the litany by quoting 1 Corinthians 6:11 (which is also preceded by a similar list of types of sinners): "and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God".
People who realized that they were sinners before God repented of their sins and turned to God for salvation both before the Rapture and also during the Tribulation. However, for those who have taken the "mark of loyalty" and worshiped the image of Carpathia during the latter half of the Tribulation and later regretted their decision, the opportunity for salvation was denied them, as Scripture says that whoever takes the "mark of the beast" and worships his image are doomed to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. In the Millennial Kingdom, the opportunity for salvation was denied when a "natural" in their state of unbelief and unrepentance reaches their 100th birthday, at which point they die instantly.
The Antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia, does not easily accept people's repentance. He had Suhail Akbar beaten to death with a rattan rod after he mentioned the name "New Babylon" when Akbar was giving a report about the condition of the One World Unity Army for the Battle of Armageddon and after Akbar apologized. Nicolae did not want to hear the name "New Babylon" after his beloved city was destroyed. When Carpathia found out that Viv Ivins sat on Carpathia's throne in the desecrated Temple, Carpathia did not forgive her and verbally abused her for approximately two years until the end of the heat plague. That is despite Viv Ivins offering an abject and supplicating apology personally to Carpathia after she give a dishonest answer on a lie detector to the question about her sitting on the throne.
Theology of Repentance
Reformed (Calvinist) theologians argue that the process of repentance and the renewal of one's mind necessitates the action of the Holy Spirit because man is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) that he is rendered incapable of choosing things of the Spirit (Romans 8:6-8). In contrast, Arminian theologians believe that Jesus' death on the cross provides the "prevenient grace" to enable sinners to realize their state before God and to ask for forgiveness on their own volition. In The Remnant, in a speech to the inhabitants of Petra, Tsion Ben-Judah said that Jesus would establish the Millennial Kingdom "exclusively for those who have made the right decision" (as those who have taken Nicolae Carpathia's mark of loyalty have made the wrong decision, even if they did not know what taking the mark entailed when they took it). He then addressed the objection that that would make God sound exclusive, but Tsion Ben-Judah cites 2 Peter 3:9, saying that God is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance. The context in which Tsion Ben-Judah cites 2 Peter 3:9 makes it sound that the authors probably do not subscribe to the Reformed view. Later on in the speech, Tsion Ben-Judah says that "salvation is a personal decision" where one needs to realize that they had to admit to God and themselves that they are a sinner.
In the Left Behind series, salvation is synergistic, as it involves and requires the beneficiary of God's grace to work with God in order to attain personal salvation. Repentance and having faith in God are personal acts that one has to do in order to be saved. If one does not have faith and repent, then one would not be saved and be condemned for damnation in the Lake of Fire even if it is asserted that Jesus had died for the sins of the entire world. In other words, Jesus' atonement on the cross is not sufficient for an individual's salvation, since if it was, then even those without faith can also be saved. One must respond through repentance once they have heard the gospel.
In contrast, Calvinistic monergism asserts that Jesus' death is sufficient for the salvation of those whom God had elected and that an individual does not contribute to the attainment of their salvation since salvation is entirely the result of God's grace for those whom God had elected. Thus, Jesus' death does not cover those whom God has not elected, and therefore, Jesus really did not die for everyone. According to this theological perspective, repentance and other righteous deeds are merely signs of one being the beneficiary of God's grace, and due to the depravity of man, the performance of those deeds is only possible through the mediation of the Holy Spirit. Repentance is best seen as a demonstration of the transformative power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the depravity of man and God's sovereign will and determination to save those whom He chooses.
Nevertheless, in both the synergistic and monergistic cases, faith cometh by hearing (Leviathan, chapter XLIII; Romans 10:17). The gospel and faith are spread and presented through preaching; either the call of the gospel evokes a personal response of repentance or the Holy Spirit grants one faith and moves one to repentance after a member of the elect hears the preaching. In the Left Behind series and especially the Kids Series, the protagonists often preach to those who are not yet believers and have not received the Carpathia's mark of loyalty. During the Tribulation, these people can be identified through either absence of the mark of loyalty or the mark of the believer. Those who do realize their status as sinners before God and repent (or have a sincere intention of repenting) become believers, usually after saying the sinner's prayer. The status of their salvation is visible to other believers as, after the Wrath Of The Lamb earthquake, they instantaneously acquire the supernatural mark of the believer on their foreheads after they come to faith. They can be recognized as fellow believers by other believers as the mark of the believer is only visible to believers.