INTRODUCTION
Paul's greeting to the churches of Galatia (v.3 ) contains words of grace and peace...
From God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ...
As an illustration of such grace and peace, Paul continues in v.4... "who gave Himself for our sins" (grace!)
"that He might deliver us from this present evil age" (peace!)

INTRODUCTION
Undoubtedly we have heard much about Jesus dying for our sins..
But what of this idea of delivering us from an evil age?
The word "age" (aion) as used here means "period of time"...
Paul has in mind the present period of time...
He views this time as being evil
Ephesians 5:16 ...redeeming the time, because the days are evil...
Ephesians 6:13 ...Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

THE EVIL OF THIS PRESENT AGE...
Do we take seriously the evil of this age?
Do we appreciate the deliverance that Jesus provides?
Consider for a few moments...
EVIL IN PAUL'S DAY...
Paul described the sins of those in his day (Romans 1:18-32)...

THE EVIL OF THIS PRESENT AGE...
Against whom the wrath of God was coming...
For denying the Creator and suppressing the truth...
Given up to their own vile passions, they fell into depravity...
They were filled with all sorts of unrighteousness...

THE EVIL OF THIS PRESENT AGE...
He called such sins 'the works of the flesh' (Galatians 5:19-21)...
Sins that are evident (to those not blinded by them)...
All unrepented sins will keep one out of heaven...
1 Corinthians 6:9 ...Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

THE EVIL OF THIS PRESENT AGE...
Paul and the early Christians found themselves living in an evil time...
 EVIL IN OUR DAY...
Today, many think lightly of such things as: fornication, adultery, divorce, etc...
One is considered enlightened when they support: abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage...
More and more our culture is accepting: lasciviousness, pornography, drug abuse...
All of which reflect a world view impacted by: humanism, evolution, selfishness...
Today we find ourselves living in a very evil time!

THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD PROVIDES...
DELIVERANCE FROM THE GUILT OF SIN...
Sin is a transgression of God's law...
1 John 3:4 ...Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
All have sinned, for which the punishment is death...
Romans 3:23 ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...
Romans 6:23 ...For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD PROVIDES...
Jesus' blood frees us from the guilt of sin...
Ephesians 1:7 ...In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace...
We receive remission of sins when we are baptized...
Acts 2:38 ...Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit....
Acts 22:16 ...'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'
In Jesus, there is no condemnation for sin...
Romans 8:1 ...There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit....
Romans 3:24 ...being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD PROVIDES...
DELIVERANCE FROM THE POWER OF SIN...
Sin enslaves, but Jesus provides freedom from the dominion of sin...
John 8:31 ...Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."....34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
This He does by giving us the Spirit...
John 7:37 ...On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD PROVIDES...
We receive the Spirit when we are baptized...
Acts 2:38 ...Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
With the Spirit's aid, we can put to death the deeds of the flesh...
Romans 8:12 ...Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Ephesians 3:16 ...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,... 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
In Jesus, we are set free from the law of sin and death...
Romans 8:2 ...For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD PROVIDES...
DELIVERANCE FROM THE TEMPTATION OF SIN...
We may logically assume that Satan will never stop tempting us by fleshly desires...
1 Peter 2:11 ...Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul....
1 Peter 5:8 ...Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Jesus teaches us to watch and pray that we might avoid temptation...
Matthew 26:41 ...Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD PROVIDES...
Our Heavenly Father will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear...
1 Corinthians 10:13 ...No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
In every temptation God will always provide a way of escape...
In Jesus, the godly can find deliverance out of temptations...
2 Peter 3:9 ...The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

DELIVERANCE FROM THE MORAL DARKNESS OF OUR WORLD...
Those enslaved to sin are darkened in their understanding...
Ephesians 4:17 ...This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
2 Corinthians 4:3 ...But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
DELIVERANCE FROM THE MORAL DARKNESS OF OUR WORLD...
Which explains their lewdness and greediness...
Ephesians 4:19 ...who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
But Jesus reveals moral truth, and how we are to be renewed in true righteousness and holiness...
Ephesians 4:20 ...But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
In Jesus, light shines in the moral morass that plagues our world...
John 8:12 ...Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.“
John 12:46 "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

DELIVERANCE FROM THE WORLD THAT IS PASSING AWAY...
This present age with its lusts is passing away...
1 John 2:17 ...And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The day is coming when this world and its works will be burned up...
2 Peter 3:10 ...But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Even if we live out our lives, they are as momentary vapor...
James 4:14 ...For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

DELIVERANCE FROM THE WORLD THAT IS PASSING AWAY...
Our deliverance from this evil world may come in the form of our own death...
Isaiah 57:1 ...The righteous perishes, And no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away, While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil. 2 He shall enter into peace; They shall rest in their beds, Each one walking in his uprightness.
It will eventually come at the return of Christ...
1 Thessalonians 4:15 ...For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
In Jesus, we have the promise of deliverance from every evil work...
2 Timothy 4:18 ...And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

SUMMARY
Even though we live in a morally confused and spiritual dark world, in Jesus we find...
Deliverance from the guilt of sin...
Deliverance from the power of sin...
Deliverance from the temptation of sin...
Deliverance from the moral darkness of our world...
Deliverance from the world that is passing away...
We note that such deliverance is "according to the will of our God and Father" (v.4)...

CONCLUSION
Deliverance was His plan from the very beginning...
Ephesians 1:3 ...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
It was His love that offered His Son for our sins...
1 John 4:9 ...In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
How shall we respond to such deliverance...?
Shall we not glorify God by accepting His graceful deliverance from this evil age that He makes possible through His Son Jesus Christ?
We do so through obedience to the gospel...
How about you?

By Carey Scott from an outline by Ron Lehde