What happens at the cross and when we believe?
Central to the gospel is of course Jesus – his death, burial and resurrection (1 Cor 15:1-8). The good news is that Jesus is the way to the Father (John 14:6). God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us so that the world might be saved (John 3:17).
Only by the shedding of blood is remission, cleansing or forgiveness of sin (Heb 9:22, Mt 26:28, 1 John 1:7). So forgiveness is only possible because of what Jesus did on the cross and faith in that shed blood (Rom 3:25). The Old Testament sacrifices all foreshadowed the complete and final sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for sin (Heb 9:26-28). All this was done for us so that, if we believe, we won’t perish and are saved from condemnation and have eternal life (John 3:16 and 18).
Salvation is by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus on the cross and not by works (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 3:25).
Through His death on the cross, Jesus has justified us and made us righteous (Rom 3:22-24, 4:6, 5:9, 6:18, Gal 2:16), without works.
Salvation is by grace through the blood of Jesus on the cross and not by works (Eph 2:8-9).
Through the death of Jesus on the cross, our sins have been made whiter than snow (Rev 7:14, Isa 1:18).
This is a list of many of the things that Jesus provided for us when He died on the cross:
Forgiveness of sins
Salvation
Justification
Sanctification
Born again
Made righteous
Made a new creature
In Christ
Redeemed
Regenerated
Receive eternal life
Who is all this for?
Universalists believe all the following happened when Jesus died on the cross, and they believe all these happened to everyone in the world (see http://spiritbodysoul.com/gci-errors/). So the universalists believe everyone is saved, justified, born again, sanctified, forgiven, etc. The truth is that Jesus provided all this for everyone on the cross, that aspect is all completed, but until a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, none of these are received by that person. Only when we believe are we saved, justified, sanctified, forgiven, redeemed, in Christ etc.
Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2), but that does not mean that everyone is saved. Titus 2:14, Heb 9:12, 1 Peter 1:18, Rev 5:9, Rev 14:4 are all clearly written to believers, who are said to be redeemed by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Jesus is the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14), but only those who believe in Jesus Christ are saved.