The forgiveness of sins is not an excuse for sinning, it does not mean that we can sin and it does not matter. Yet this is how the gospel is sometimes caricatured. This letter, along with the whole Bible, makes it clear that we cannot treat sin lightly. Sin is bad for us and bad for other people, and we need to be set free from sin. There are two components to this: (i) we need to be forgiven, to be set free from the judgement on sin that we deserve; and (ii) we need to be set free to live life as we should, to be set free from the enslaving nature of sin. Both of these are achieved through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
The being set free does not take full effect immediately. Hopefully we sin less than we used to, but we still sin from time to time. We have an advocate, Jesus Christ. His death on the cross turned away God's wrath. Now God's wrath is not rage, but His righteous, considered, and just judgement upon our sin. Hell is what we deserve. Christ took the punishment upon Himself in our place. So we are no longer under judgement.
This death was for the whole world. Now this is not universalism in the sense that everyone is automatically forgiven. We have to appropriate that forgiveness for ourselves by putting our faith in Christ. What it does mean is that the atheist, the Muslim, the Hindu, the humanist, the nominal Christian, or whoever you might care to mention, if that person turns to Christ he or she will receive full forgiveness.
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