I guess today is a day where I will be stepping on some religious toes. I really don’t go out of my way to step on religious toes, but anyone who actually reads the Bible will not be able to help it.

There is quite a bit of popular, deeply entrenched material that exists in the church world that simply isn’t in the Bible. And the problem with believing religious traditions which are not in the Bible is that they will kill you, or at the very least, cause you to be defeated by Satan.

Most Christians believe that Jesus came to deliver people from hell. And here is where I am about to step on some toes. Are you ready? I am about to make a statement that will blow up your mind and likely make you angry if you don’t read through to the end.

Jesus did NOT come to deliver people from hell! That was not the purpose of His ministry. And that was not the result of His completed work on the cross.

Now nearly every Christian believes that Jesus came to deliver them from hell. And because they are taught to believe this, they end up living defeated lives where the devil is keeping them sick, depressed, anxious, struggling with lack, and unable to have much of an effect on their culture.

I’ll say it again because this is such a huge deal. Jesus did not come to deliver you from hell!

Our passage clearly tells us that Jesus came to “deliver us from THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE.” And this is radically different from being delivered from hell.

Keep reading and you will understand why not understanding this critical difference is keeping so many Christians defeated.

The word, “deliver,” means “to pluck out, draw out, root out, choose out, and select out one person from many.” But it also means “to RESCUE.”

Now nearly every Christian admits to the fact that they need to be rescued. Jesus is our Savior who has rescued us. We all agree that Jesus has rescued us. No Christian will disagree with this statement.

But what has He rescued us from? And if your answer is “hell,” then here is where your short-circuit begins.

If you believe that Jesus has rescued you from hell, then you have your eyes on an eternity that is still in the future for you. You are expecting to go to heaven (rightly so), but this belief system has taken your eyes off of the here and now.

But Jesus came to deliver (rescue) us from this PRESENT evil age. His deliverance is meant to affect your life starting right NOW. And yet if you only believe that you have been delivered from hell, then you think that you won’t be experiencing the benefits of heaven until you leave this present life.

This is why so many Christians do not experience physical healing or so many of the other benefits that belong to them. They think that they have been delivered from hell instead of understanding the truth that they have been delivered from this present evil age.

If the benefits of your salvation are only for your future, then you won’t be able to access them in your present. But we have been rescued from this PRESENT evil age! And so the benefits of our salvation are for our present lives while we are still on the earth!

So many Christians are unable to receive what Jesus purchased for them because they have been taught that heaven is only for their future. This is not the truth!

Everything Jesus purchased for you on the cross is for your present.

If you could ever get the full impact of this concept, you would never put up with another day of sickness in your life. Why? Because you have ALREADY been delivered and rescued from this present evil age. And your rescue is not only for your future.