at that same cross. The cross of Christ in the midst of history was the centerpiece of God’s plan before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20). As such, Christ’s death is the ground of God’s forgiveness both retroactively and proactively. “Christ … died for sins once for all” (1 Pet. 3:18). Nobody, from Adam and Eve to the person sitting in church next to you, was ever forgiven apart from the mercy of God made possible by the death of Christ. This is why the Bible teaches that we are saved by
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