“Receiving a gift is not a self-intiated act.”
I never claimed salvation is a self- initiated act. On the contrary, I have posted many times that it is God’s initiative, and his alone. And salvation is explicitly said to be a gift.
However, receiving is not passive. When I worked military test, contractors could provide cookies at meetings, but we could not receive a sandwich - we had to pay for anything beyond a cookie.
I have had a contractor offer me goodies, and had to tell them no.
We receive by believing. Believing is a verb we actively do. When we do, we receive - but we could reject as well by not believing.
“11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
God initiates, and we choose to believe or not. If we believe, we will be born again. If not, we condemn ourselves.
So, you initiated having the gift of a sandwich made, and then offered, and then you refused? Do I have that correct?
Or did someone offer and then you resisted?
Did you receive or did you resist?