Paul tells us the law of the Spirit has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. This is the light shining out of darkness to which Paul refers in the above passage. It is the agape love we discussed from John 21 sometime ago. After a breakfast on the beach with some of the disciples, the resurrected Jesus takes a walk with Peter, the apostle John following close behind. This short dialogue in John 21 is very revealing about agape love. The Greek word Jesus uses for love is very different from the Greek word Peter uses responding to Jesus in this short dialogue.

“God incarnate” is an amazing truth. We may read this phrase and simply understand the concept of God in flesh without grasping the Divine provisions. It’s about the treasure we now possess in these jars of clay revealing the surpassing power of life and circumstances are belonging to God and not to us! It is not just about God, it is about you and me, it’s about we human people being in Christ Jesus participating in His divine fellowship, participating in His glory and holiness … before we get to heaven!

We gave limited context to “The Way” in our last GraceNotes referring to the group of Jesus believers who were originally worshiping inside the Jewish faith. These Jewish believers knew God’s Old Testament ways and expected Jesus to be the Messiah, the King of Israel. This was their Hope!

The Body of Christ is the unique group of believers who accept Jesus as both a person as well as the Son of God. This is what is biblically described as the “new covenant,” separated from Old Testament Jewish believers who understand God under the law of the Old Testament. These “born-again” believers, after the resurrection of Jesus, were originally seen as part of the Jewish faith but eventually were separated and became identified by people who believed in “the way.”

It has been over a year since we breached Jesus’ words in Mark 9:49. This mystery of Godliness reveals within us the continuing purging of our sinful clay bodies with God’s righteous decree that “everyone will be salted with fire.” This is our Lord’s way of taking us deeper and deeper into His grace and agape love! We are justified by faith and disciplined by His grace because, for one thing, we are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory!!!

It’s been 50 plus years since we had a US military “draft.” In those days a “boot camp” was more common to everyday language. It was the first 16 weeks of military duty where a young male learned to be a soldier within the compulsory two-year stint. We had to learn discipline, obedience, wearing a uniform and a backpack! Our identity as a soldier required a new kind of mom called a Sargent!