Becoming Love Pt. 1 | Pastor Dwain Wolfe | April 12th 2026

Last week we celebrated, you know, resurrection and we had

eighteen baptized and water. That was amazing. Yes, let's give

them a hand. Some of them might be in the

building right now. So that was exciting. And you know,

the focus was with baptism is death and resurrection. The

focus with baptism is that we are putting. We're deciding

it's an act of the will, and it's an active faith, right,

and we're deciding to put the old life to death.

And this is a biblical thing that the only way

out of Adam and Adam's lineage and the power of Satan.

Satan has power over all of Adam's sons, all of

Adam's lineage, all of Adam's daughters. Satan has power over

that realm. And the heart is hard, So all of

us in first atom before we come to the Lord,

our heart is hard. We don't care about one another.

We we step on people to climb up our ladder,

right uh. And we we have this unregenerate inner man,

this this heart of ours. It's so hard that we

drive people off the road. We abuse one another sexually.

We we abuse our own children sexually. Incest is massive, right,

We we bring harm everywhere we go when our heart

is hard and when we are still under the influence

of first atom. And so the baptismal tank is an

indication that number one, I've accepted Jesus as my Lord

and savior. I'm going to allow him to leave me,

and I welcome and accept what He's done for me,

paying the price for my sin. So Jesus now his

sacrifice is now gone before us to present us before

Father Righteous, because we're hidden in Jesus and we're hidden

in his sacrifice. So that's being born of the spirit,

being born again over here. Maybe that was happening a

little bit this morning and with some of you others

as well. Being born again is welcoming Holy Spirit to

be your life, and welcoming Holy Spirit to live on

the inside of you and to lead you. And that's

the spiritual experience where our spirit man, the Bible says,

our spirit man, though it's the candle of the Lord,

before we come to him, it's darkened. There's no communion,

there's no influence or impartation of Righteous, and we don't

have communion with God until we come to Jesus. Jesus

is the way, the Truth in life, we have communion

with Him. Then we get water baptized. Water baptized is

where we say goodbye to the old life, right, we

say goodbye to our life under first atom. And when

we come out of the baptismal tank, the Bible says,

we enter into resurrection. We enter into the life of

the second Atom. We enter into the life of Jesus,

who is the second atom or the last atom. The

Bible says, he's the fountain head of all of those

who've come into the New creation. And we begin to

live this new creation life. The problem is we don't

know a thing about it. Now, we have Holy spiritishing

us on the inside, because he's the Spirit of truth

and heed dwells on the inside. And initially that's what

conviction feels like. By the way, initially what conviction feels

like is when you don't really know who you are

in Christ yet, and you don't know much about the

Word yet, and you don't know what it is, how

it is you're supposed to live. Then that's the living

Word on the inside of you. The Bible says that

all scripture or all of the Word is God breathed,

and it is profitable for teaching, for training, for correction

and reproof, second time of the three sixteen. So not only,

not only is scripture profitable for teaching, training, correction, and reproof.

So is the word of the Lord over your life,

the word of the Lord over your life, the word

of so the conviction of Holy Spirit on the inside

of you, right have you? You know, I don't know,

Like there's times where I've been spoken to by the

Word of the Lord in such a way that it

was training or correction. Right. So, one time I was

being a goofball with a bunch of US staff members

in a conference. I had a bunch of US staff

members in a conference, and I was being the comic

on row number five, and once the Holy Spirit spoke

to me and said, he quoted First Strengthens Chapter thirteen

to me, and he said, when I was a child,

I spoke like a child, but when I became a man,

I put away childish things. He just spoke that scripture

to me on the inside. I had my whole staff

cracking up, because I used to be quite a comic,

you know. But the comedy that I was so caught

up with was cynicism. It was mockerby and it wasn't

of God, it wasn't edifying, right, so therefore it wasn't loving,

and I wasn't being loving to the people on the platform.

I was being a mocker. But I was so good

at this that I had everybody, you know, all of

my staff members, they were all cracking up over what

I was doing and what I was. Then the Holy

Spirit smote me, because all of God's word it's God breathed.

If it's God breathed, then it's good for teaching, trading, correction,

and reproof or rebuke. The Holy Spirit rebuked me, and

I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, and I'm sure that the

staff and they're like, oh, what in the world happened

to him? But I just calmed right down, you know.

And then afterwards I gathered them all together and I apologized.

I'm like, I have to repent. And it literally shifted

my whole life. It shifted my life from then on.

This is how we learn sometimes, this is how we

learn who Jesus is. When we come out of the

water baptismal tank, we are raised up in new life

into Jesus, and from that moment on, we share his identity,

we share his image. We share his character, we share

his nature, we share who he is from the moment

we come out of the water baptismal tank. And because

we put Adam to death, we put the power of

Satan to death. We no longer have to listen to

the voices, the thoughts, the arguments of that old life

telling us how to think and what to do. And

if we do, if we still listen, that's the beautiful

thing about the God breathed the voice of Holy Spirit

on the inside. He will teach us, train us, correct us,

and even rebuke us. So we're growing. We're growing, We're

growing into the image of Christ. So this is a

big deal. It's so big for you to realize, every

one of us, to realize you are not just born again,

You're not just forgiven, not just on your way to heaven.

You are currently the image of God in the earth.

You are currently you are currently those born in His likeness.

To be born at the spirit is be born in

His likeness. You literally are those who are being transformed.

So you're instantly, instantly transformed through salvation and water baptisms,

instantly transformed, but progressively transformed as well, because your mind

is being renewed constantly as you learn who he is,

and Jesus is perfect theology, the nature of Jesus, the

lifestyle of Jesus, everything you see Jesus doing, everything, you

see Jesus saying everything in scripture. That's why the New

Testament has so much about Jesus in it. Like one

half of the New Testament is all about Jesus. Five

books all about Jesus. The other half of the New

Testament is explaining the perfect law of liberty or the

law of Christ. That's the other half of the New Testament,

all except for revelation. The revelation is how it's going

to wrap up. It's the revelation of Jesus, how he's triumphing. Right,

But you have all about Jesus, then you have the Torah. Essentially,

you have the Torah. The other half in the New

Testament is the Torah of the New Testament, because it's

all about how we should live. In the First Testament,

they had six hundred and thirteen laws or commandments, plus

the ten Commandments, right, six hundred and thirteen commandments in

because they had hearts of stone. As the prophets look forward,

Jeremiah Ezekiel as the prophets look forward from the old

tes forward, they saw that there was a day coming

when God would take out the heart of stone and

he would put in a heart of flesh. Ezekiel thirty

six twenty six is one of those says, He's going

to take out a heart of stone and put in

a heart of flesh. Well, the Torah, everybody say, Torah.

You learn a new word. Torah. The Torah, that's Hebrew

for the first five books of the Bible. The Torah,

the first five books of the Bible, are God's laws.

Torah is synonymous for the laws, and those books. Those

first books contain all of these laws on how to live. Now,

they had to have all of these laws. They had

to have all of these laws because men had hard hearts.

People had hard hearts, So the laws were meant to

govern people with hard hearts, because the time had not

come where Ezekiel thirty six twenty six could be fulfilled. Right,

I will give you a new heart and put a

new spirit within you. I will take out the heart

of stone out of your flesh and give you a

heart of flesh. So God replaces our heart of stone

with a soft heart. But until that happens. We have

to have all these laws to govern us. Otherwise we

would devour one another and devour ourselves. So we have

to have these laws. I'll give you an example of

one of these laws. Can I give you an example.

Here's these examples. I'll give you an example of one

of these laws. Because it's not just the Ten commandments.

There's all these laws. This is Deuteronomy twenty two one

through four. If you see your fellow Israelites ox or

sheep straying away, do not ignore it, but be sure

and take it back to its owner. If they do

not live near you, or if you do not know

who owns it, take it home with you and keep

it until they come looking for it. Then give it back.

One of our church members one day, he was driving

down the road, and he was driving down the road

behind one of these Omaha Omaha steak trucks you know

I'm talking about, And all at once, the Omaha steak

truck the back door opened up and like one hundred

pounds of steaks flew out on the road, and he's like,

glory to God. He pulled over and grabbed the steak

through him in the car. Thank you Jesus and drove away.

That wasn't from God, that wasn't love. It said, Omaha,

steaks right on the back of the truck. God had

all these commandments in the Bible so we wouldn't bite

and devour one another as long as we had hard hearts.

But now he's put these soft hearts in us. And

the soft hearts, you know what the soft hearts are,

They are hearts of love. So he's telling us. He

had to tell us all this intricate stuff. If they

don't live near you, you know, just wait, they'll come

find it, then give it back. Do the same. If

you find their donkey or their cloak or anything else

that they have lost, do not ignore it. You know

why we have a lost and found? Who would create

or invent a lost and found in life? Christians? Christians

would invent a lost and found? Why because we care

who it belongs to, Because we just we aren't called

to claim everything that falls on the ground. See, Love

says somebody lost it, So love says, I want to

get that back to them. Love says this was costly.

Love says, I don't need the prosper This is interesting.

When we come under grace in the New Covenant. I

don't need to prosper by extracting from you your goods.

I don't need the prosper because God's already determined to

overwhelm me with an abundance of grace and prosperity. God

is already prospering me. God is already pouring into me

and over me. Blessings are chasing me down. Every single

day I wake up with blessings trying to find me.

Blessings are trying to find me. I don't need to

take your stuff to get my blessing. That is deception,

that is folly. That's the work of Satan. That's the

work of a hard heart, and that is the opposite

of love. God has given us a heart of love. Now,

I'm telling you that Paul's writings and the other half

of the New Testament, first we learn about who Christ is.

Then we learn about the law of love. And the

majority of the Pauline epistles and the majority of these

other passages they're about the law of love, the law

of Christ. What does that law look like, because because

that's the nature we've received, and we grow into that

nature by learning about it. We grow into that nature.

By learning about it with a yes. This is another

problem with religion. Another problem with religion is we see

Jesus as this significant figure, this redemptive figure, this redeeming figure,

the one through whom we have salvation, but we don't

see him as the fountain head of a new creation,

wherein I've now received his nature. But the more we

learn about him, the more we grow into him. And

this is the calling of the new covenant life, the

calling of the new creation life. Second Corinthian chapter three,

seven through eighteen. Now the Lord is the spirit, and

where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.

But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror,

the glory of the Lord. Now, I think the Lord

talked to me this morning while I was sitting here

this morning, and he said, uh, glory actually has a name.

Glory has a name. The glory of God actually has

a name, and the name is love. Oh see, sometimes glory.

Sometimes when we talk about these things, they're they're kind

of nebulous, they're kind of out there, they're kind of oohoo,

they're kind of mysterious, and we don't have a good

handle to hang them on. What does glory look like, well,

the glory of God is love Church. We all, with

unveiled face, behold as in a mirror, the glory of

the Lord. Why would it say as in a mirror,

because he's trying to get this across. Is that you

bear the same image as Jesus. Now, the moment you

come to the Lord and come out of that tank,

it's not been perfected. Instantly you're transformed, but progressively you

become more and more transformed as you learn of him

and gaze at him with a yes, with a yes, Oh,

that was a good opportunity to say yes, beholding as

a mirror the glory of the Lord. We are being

transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, just

as from the Lord the spirit. So the sphere of

the Lord is liberty. Liberty is freedom from the lies,

the deceit, the constraints, the obligations, the strongholds, the bondages,

the hatred and the bitterness of first Adam. We're liberated

out of that, and we're liberated into Christ and we're

liberated crazy enough to we're liberated the love. Let that

mean news to you. You're liberated to love Roman the

eight twenty nine, for those who for those God fore knew,

He also predestined to be conformed to the image of

his son, that he might be the first born among

many brothers and sisters Colossians three nine and ten. Do

not lie to one another, since she laid aside the

old self and it's evil practices. Every commandment in the

Torah of the New Testament, every commandment in the epistles,

every commandment, is all in the framework of bringing clarity

to the perfect law of liberty, or the law of Christ,

which is the law of love. It's all about love.

Do not lie to one another, since you laid side

the old self in that baptismal tank, and you've put

on the new self. You've been raised up in Christ.

Who is being renewed, Who's being renewed to a true

knowledge according to the image of the One who created him,

who created you, who's the fount of a new creation,

who gave you his righteousness, who covered you with his blood,

who presents you before Father, who calls you righteous, who's

declared over your you'ar justified. Jesus has created you. Jesus

has created us. And now we are progressively renewed fully

into his image as we grow in knowledge about him.

This is why it's important to read the Bible. This

is why it's important to read about Jesus. This is

why it's important to have devotions and have time with him,

because if you don't have time with him, then you

are not imaging him. You're not seeing yourself. You can

only see yourself in the new creation raised up in

resurrection life. If you have time looking at who he is,

because he is who you have become. So Christians who

have no time for the word, guess what happens. Christians

who have no time for the Word don't have the

image of love developing in them. If you don't have

the image of love developing in you, you're hanging on

to a hard heart. If you're hanging on to a

hard heart, you have to be regulated by the law.

If you're regulated by the law, then that means you're

earning your righteousness with your works instead of earning your

righteousness out of relationship. Fall back into works based We

fall back into works based righteousness and works based living.

If we aren't imaging Jesus within and seeing ourselves grow

in becoming who he is, do you understand what I'm

saying this makes sense at all? That illusion? Are you okay?

Galatians Chapter six one and two. Brothers and Sisters, if

someone is caught in a sin, caught or ensnared, caught

or ensnared, not literally caught. Oh I caught you, but

ensnared is well another right. It could be I caught

you as well, though it could be it could be

either one right. If I caught you, it could be

you're ensnared. If you're ensnared, maybe I didn't catch you,

but you need to be caught. Brothers and sisters, is

someone who caught in a sin, you, who live by

the spirit, should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves

unless you also may be tempted. Carry each carry each

other's burdens, carry each other's burdens. That's a sensitivity, have

a sensitivity to one another. And in this way you

fulfill the law of Christ. Now maybe you didn't even

know that there was a New Testament law, because we

tell you all the time you're not under law, you're

under grace. But when we say that, what we're trying

to say is you're not under the Old Testament law

or laws. You're not under the Torah. You're under grace.

But grace has a law, and the law is the

law of Christ. And the law of Christ is the

law of love. And the love of God is shed

in you, shed abroad in you. The love of God

has found a fountain expression in you. Out of your

innermost being will flow rivers of living water, living dead water,

living water, living water. Love is a living water. Love

is a fountain of living water out of your innermost

being John seven thirty nine. Out of your innermost flow

a fountain of living water. This he spoke concerning the spirit.

The spirit is love. John thirteen thirty four. A new commandment.

I give you love one another as I have loved you,

not partially as I've loved you, but fully as I've

loved you. So you must love one another. By this,

everyone will know that you're my disciples. If you love

one another. This is the crazy thing about the new

creation life. Because we've put Adam to death, first Adam,

and we have sprung up out of first atom into

last atom, second atom. Resurrection. Life, Holy Spirit is now

living on the inside of us, empowering us, giving us

Romans five seventeen, and abundance of grace Grace's favor, Grace's

unmerited favor. Grace is the power to do God's will

or to walk with God. So we have this abundance

of grace literally springing up on the inside. And if

you're not feeling that, if you're not like tapped into that,

it just means there's some stuff over here because you're

not delivered. I just I got some words for him.

Legal freedom out of Adam isn't deliverance. You knew that.

If you've been to restored life, you knew that legal

freedom is not deliverance. Optismal experience is your death. Now

you need to dismiss the partnerships that you had in

the unclean realm. Now you could have never done that

until you were recognized that you were dead to that past. Right,

So now I come over here into resurrection life. Yes,

but I've got stuff. I've got stuff still talking to me.

I've got coveteous desires. I can't figure out why they

have an airplane, and I don't why they have ten

inch mags and I have skinny little wheels. Why they

have you know, vinyl sighting? And I've just got would right,

We've got all sorts of things that happen over here

on this side, and we're gonna get ministered to by

some of these voices. But because we put them to death,

we have power over them. Right. So here we are,

here we are a new commandment. I give you to

love one another. And by this they will know you're

my disciples. If you love one another, who will know?

Shouldn't we just love Christians? I mean, isn't that what

Jesus did? Pretty much? What Jesus did, Jesus is perfect theology.

Jesus ran around for thirty three and a half years,

three and a half years of ministry. Didn't he pretty

much just love Christians? Righteous people? Okay, so let's let's

let's go with that. Let's let's go over here and

read that at Luke six. If you love those who

love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners

love those who love them. So this is interesting. Uh,

If you love those who love you, that's not a gope.

That's conditional love. The calling, the anointing, the flow of

God in us who are new creation believers, is a

gope love. It's unconditional love, it's without precondition. Sinners can

fileao one another brotherly love Philadelphia. That's where we get

the city fileo. Sinners can fileyo one another, they can

errous one another. But our calling is to agape one another.

And agape means we don't look for precondition with people.

A gope means we don't have. People don't have to

measure up, they don't have to get worthy. We're called

the like Jesus loves right. And if you do good

to those who do good to you, what credit is that?

Even sinners do that? And if you lend, he's gonna

get it in your back pocket? Now, everybody, grab your wallet.

If you lend to those whom you expect repayment, what

credit is that to you? Even as sinners lend to

sinners expecting to be repaid in full. But love your

enemies and do good to them, and lend to them

without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward would

be great. Did you hear that? Maybe that's why some

of our rewards are small. Then your reward will be great,

and you will be known. You will be children of

the most high, because he is kind to the ungrateful

and the wicked. Wow, then your reward will be great.

Isn't that crazy? Isn't that amazing? So love will be

You know, love is costanly, Love is going to cost

us something, right, Love is expensive in every way love is.

And it's not just people that we're called the love.

Obviously we're called to love people and even the unrighteous.

But did you know you're called to love the state

of Washington? Did you know that when you're did you know,

think about society and where we've gone because the absence

now this is this is the law of love on

the inside of us, and the law of love, the

perfect love. James one twenty five calls it the perfect

love of liberty, and it says, when you look into

the perfect law of liberty, you shouldn't forget what manner

of you man you are, and don't walk away and

forget about that right. If you're a forgetful hearer, then

you'll walk away from the perfect law of liberty, the

perfect law of liberty. He's talking about how that you've

been liberated. As soon as you are free, the more

free you are from Adam. Adam is a hater. Adam

is jealous, Old Adam, not the new one in the

back of the building. Old Adam is a hater. And

he's jealous, and he's mean, and he's murderous, and he's

a thief. The more free you are from that person,

the more you're liberated to love. If you aren't feeling

liberty to love, something's hanging on to you and to me. Right,

But I just I want to I want to just

have you. Have you noticed the roads lately? Have you

noticed the roads? The highways in Washington are worse than

the highways pretty much anywhere on the planet. No, no, no, no,

I don't mean the potholes. I mean the litter. I

mean the litter. It used to be we didn't have

to talk about this stuff because people were raised in

more of an atmosphere of love for one another. Right, Uh,

let me read one more. I know we're out of time.

I know w we're at a time. I'm waiting for

the keyboard to just give me the right foot of

fellowship Matthew twenty two. Teacher, which is the greatest commandment

in law? Jesus replied, Lord, your God, with all your heart,

with all your soul, and all your mone This is

the first and the greatest commandment, And the second is

like it. Love your neighbor as yourself now, your neighbor,

believe it or not, is Amazon. No, No, listen, listen.

A corporation in our form of government is a personal entity.

A corporation functions as a personal entity. So if I

damage my Amazon product and I fill out a return

form and I tell them it's like new and send

it back so I can get my money. And I'm

doing that because I don't give a rip about Amazon,

because Amazon is not a human. That's an absence of love.

You're violating an entity that we consider functions as a human.

In our nation, corporation's function as non human entities, and

we give them the rights and privileges of humans. So,

and it's the same with my highways, and it's the

same with your yard, and it's the same with your dog.

And it's the same with adording on your car. If

I ding your door and I drive away, then I've

just shown God I need a chastening because because I'm

not abiding in his love for you and allowing his

love that dwells in me to spill out, and I'm

not trusting that His supply to me is greater than

the cost of adording. God's supply to you is greater

than the cost of adorning or an Amazon returned, Hey,

my jeep bluehead gas get you remember that just recently

you wouldn't know it. My jeep grew blue head gasket.

And so somebody said, why don't you just get rid

of it on Carvona, And so I thought, hey, that's

a good idea. So I went into Carvona. I start

filling out all the forums on Carvona, and I could

trade it in on Carvona. And then I thought, well,

I wonder how much they would pay for a car

with a blown head gasket. And then you could hear

Old Adam pipe up, and Old Adam pipes up and says,

you don't have to tell him about the head gasket.

Old Adam get behind me. So I'm going through the

farms and I'm checking all the boxes. And by the time,

first Adam, who is prospering, First Adam new Adam, raised up,

Adam born again, Adam new creation, Adam. He wakes up

with enough money coming his way every day to pay

for a vehicle. He doesn't need to steal from carb Ontum.

By the time I filled out the whole forum, you

know what that Jeeba's worth? One hundred dollars. We'll give

you one hundred dollars trade in value. I'm like, okay, Well,

raise the Lord and God is enough. God is enough, right,

Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart,

all your soul, and all your mind. This is the

first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it.

Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the

prophets hang on these two commandments. All the law and

all the commandments hang on these two. Let's stand this morning.

Galatians five says walk by the spirit. It literally means

walk by love. And then it says love is patient, kind, meek, gentle, forbearing,

long suffering, self control. And it says, and against such things.

There is no law. There's no law of the land.

There's no law in the Old testamatura. There's no law

telling you you can't love, you can't be peaceful, you

can't be meek, you can't be joyful, you can't be patient,

you can't be long suffering. There's no law telling you

you can't be that, because that's the law of the spirit,

and the law of the spirit of the life. In Christ,

Jesus will bear fruit everywhere we go, and the reward

of that life will be great. The reward of that

life will be great. It's intentional, it's extravagant, it's merciful,

kind and patient, it's understanding, it's selfless, it's costly. But

the reward of that life will be great. The reward

of that life will be great. One of my favorite

past verses is tewod Trinth ends ten three through five.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they

are mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.

Now we know this verse here, We know this verse

really well. That we take every argument. We take arguments

and imaginations, we take them captive to Christ. I just

want to shift out, just for a moment, just for today.

I want to shift that, and I want you to

think we take them captive to love. We take them

captive to love. What thoughts are we allowing? What thoughts

come up? What thoughts of criticism, of theft, of cheating,

of exaggeration, of lying, of negativity? What thoughts are coming

up of rejection, of abandonment, of betrayal, What thoughts are

coming up? What imaginations are coming up? From time to time? Right.

They contradict love, not only his love, but the love

He's made you to be. He's made us into love.

We have been refashioned in the love. Let's welcome him

right now, Holy Spirit, we welcome you. Yeah, just put

up your hands with me. Just welcome him right now. Welcome,

Welcome the transformation of love. Welcome the transformation of love.

Even as we've learned about you today, Lord, we say yes.

Even as we've learned about this new nature. We say yes.

Even as we've learned about what you look like. We

say yes. Even as we've learned that this is the unction,

the leading, the wisdom, the anointing of the spirit within us.

We say yes. We say yes, Holy Spirit, we say yes.

Come on, just add your yes to mine this morning,

Add your yes to mine, Holy Spirit, transform us. We're

not gonna leave the way we came in today. We

are not gonna leave the way we came in. We're

gonna leave transform in a greater fashion, yielding the love,

partnering with love. It's the law of liberty. It's like

God is saying, you're free to love. You're free to love.

I'll pay your bills, I'll meet your needs, I'll take

care of you. I will watch over everything you could

ever imagine. I will watch over everything you could ever

desire or need. So therefore your free to love. It's

a law of liberty. You are liberated to love. You

are liberated to love because the person you were worried

about stuff and worried about self. But you no longer

have to worry about that. I've got every single thing covered.

So you are liberated now to love. Lord, we receive

that fully today, and we welcome, we welcome your testimony

of love on the inside of us in Jesus' name,

and everybody said, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, hallelujah.

Let's worship as we go this morning. Church. Yeah.