If I understand you, I disagree. God forgives and from and by that do those who have been forgiven, repent: a byproduct.
It should be, as our Savior taught,
Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; Mt.18:32
Repentance is a gift from God, but the repentance is from dead works unto a complete trust in the efficacy of Christ.
[Heb 6:1 KJV] 1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
To not lay again the foundation of repentance from "dead works", that is, to stop straddling the fence,
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does the same abominable things that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered...Eze.18:23-24
His works are dead and so is his faith,
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Jas.2:17
[Heb 9:14 KJV] 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Exactly! If the blood of innocent animals which remained dead convinced people that their sins were forgiven, how much more would the blood of Christ!
Where He took upon Himself the sin of only those He came to save, not all mankind or all mankind would be saved
which they're not.
No they wouldn't all be saved. The unsaved would be damned for what they did to him and not repenting of it,
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. Jn.3:36
rogerg:
It is impossible for the unsaved to have faith in Christ: natural man cannot believe in Him. Belief in Christ is given only as a fruit of the Spirit upon becoming born again.
I've cited many passages showing people having faith in God before being born again. Here's how becoming born again goes,
Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Jn.14:23
Humility toward God comes first. Then the Spirit isgiven.And so,
he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No Act.19:2
And I took no offense to what you posted.
Nope. Read it again. It does not say what you say. "by him" means that those who believe do so only BY God: it is God who gives belief. Were it to be as you say, then the verse couldn't truthfully say "by God" because belief wouldn't/couldn't be by God but of themselves.
See my reply immediately above.
[1Pe 1:21 KJV] 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
[Gal 2:16 KJV] 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
I'm going to tell you a secret.....Jesus is God.