The Greek word in between penance. And remission of sins is not ‘‘and’’ Kai but ‘‘for’’ which is for.
If that doesn’t help acts 3 peter says repent and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out
Sorry, I trust the Douay Rheims interpretation.
Acts 3
But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
[19] Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.
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Yes, so? Be penitent, yes, indeed. . .
But again, you do not know the heart of an individual. Suppose he never ‘appears’ penitent to you, but repents in his last moment on earth? You never ‘heard’ him, you never ‘saw’ him do it, but he did, and God knows it and saved him. . .
Now IF you were to say, “Any person who knows the truth of who Jesus is, and knows it is truth, and who rejects it and dies without repenting, will be eternally condemned”, you know, I would agree with you. I really would.
But if you say, “The Catholic Church teaches that even nonChristians MAY be saved through the grace of God, but since I never ‘saw’ the person repent and choose Christ before death, I want the Church to publish a decree that states flat out that no person who rejects Christ and follows false gods COULD be saved”. . .I disagree. Yes, non Christians MAY be saved through Christ because they might have believed in Him if they had been told the truth about Him (but they were not told the truth and never had a chance to know Him even if they heard the words “Jesus Christ”), or they might believe at death, through God’s grace, and be saved.
Because you simply cannot know that such a person truly knew Christ (he might have rejected a ‘false Christ’ because he was taught that Christ was a fraud, and people usually do not believe in those they have been assured are frauds!), or that the person did not repent at the moment of death, and thus been saved.