OUTLINE:

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is NEVER to be confused with merely FACTS about Him or His activities.

Ps 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

“strive”
from agonizomai - to contend for a prize, struggle: —competes in the games, fight, labor earnestly, strive; to struggle, like engaged in an intense athletic contest or warfare; where the English “agonize” comes from

Context Is Key!
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:1). <— this is a “Positional Sanctification” issue, not an “Experiential Sanctification” one. We are “[set] free from the law of sin and of death” (Ro 8:2), that is, from the PENALTY of sin, but not the POWER of it (yet).

Context Is Key!
Repentance is not founded on sin being an inconvenience to man (e.g. incurs punishment); rather, it is remorse, as David so intimately shared from his heart, “…my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned” (Ps 51:3-4).

David’s Example
David understood what Paul wrote in Ro 8:1 and was elated to know that God saves/delivers man, by grace, from the penalty of sin (Ps 32:1-2).

David’s Example
A humble heart confesses sin. A repentant heart turns away from it. (Ps 32:3-5)

David’s Example
A repentant heart is a remorseful one. It is the same heart that seeks salvation/deliverance by the hand of God, namely, by His grace!

“he must deny himself”
Repentance involves the mind, heart, and will of man. A person unwilling to “deny himself” cannot follow Jesus, precluding them from His salvation.

The Whole Man
When a man surrenders in this way, counting the cost of the situation and accepting Jesus as his only hope, then God rushes in like a flood and saves this person from himself.

Salvation
GOD does all the work in salvation, quickening a humble person to true repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ. Unbelievers represent those unwilling to BE saved - as Jesus clearly stated, their issue is their attachment to the self-life (ref: Mt 8:34).

Turning from Sin/Self
Religion has trapped many a man in his own righteousness, buying the lie that his self is  "good enough", and that his sins "aren't that bad".

How does man suppose he can simultaneously cling to the self-life (e.g. maintain an unrepentant heart) and cling to the Cross?

“Then who can be saved?” (Mt 19:25)
How does an unbeliever, whose only faculty is the human flesh, go about repenting or even believing? Easy: God gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6). “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mt 19:26).

God Demands AND Solves
While God will indeed WAIT PATIENTLY for a man’s “soil” to be prepared, His demand for repentance never wanes. In a sense, He says, “I’d like to save you, are you willing to let Me? Are you done trying yourself? Let me show you My grace. Let me introduce you to My Son…”

Mk 1:14-15
Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."