Regeneration always preceeds faith. Just as with Adam and Eve after their sin - God had to search them out because they were hiding from him. God always makes the first move.
Faith come by hearing....!
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:16-18
Can’t have regeneration unless you first hear.
The gospel saves us. Rom. 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,[a] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”[b]
“Regeneration always preceeds faith.”
No. Regeneration, by definition, means being reborn. It is when we receive life - and that is something that happens WHEN we believe. It is NOT something that makes belief possible.
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...”
Those who believe BECOME. They do not BECOME children of God that they might believe. “...these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
“14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
“God always makes the first move.”
True. On THAT, we totally agree.