Yesterday I was sick in bed, but today I’m better and up again. I think it was a touch of the flu. It is good to know that whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. This glorious hope does not put us to shame, for God is true and every man is a liar. It’s up to us to make use of the power God has given us. We can multiply our “talent” and become rich in the understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can press in with violence, taking the kingdom of God by force. What then is God’s kingdom? It is a kingdom consisting of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; so let us pursue peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, for this is what it means to press into the kingdom of God. Sin brought sickness, sorrow, and death into the world, and our body is subject to its laws. But we have something within us that isn’t visible, something we can neither point to nor handle—namely, Christ in us, the hope of glory. Our body is only a shell, a dwelling place of the Spirit. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Just as we once presented our bodies as slaves of sin, we should now present them as slaves of righteousness. Rom. 6:19. In this way our bodies become members of Christ, because they are serving the Spirit of God and accomplishing His will. We speak in part and understand in part. There is much to be said about our bodies, for they also serve the law of sin. But as David says: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” What you wrote about when you swore while on that bicycle trip was extremely instructive. Examining this can lead us to glorious conclusions. There was no deceit or guile in your spirit, and therefore the Lord did not impute this transgression to you. So you were “blessed,” as David said. But without a doubt, if there had been guile in your spirit, you would not have escaped without paying for it, even to the last penny. You served the law of sin with your flesh, but your mind did not consent to it, because you hated what you did. So it was not you, but sin that dwells in you.

The fact is that we can do such things and still feel that the grace of God covers it and that He does not reprove us. That brings us to the Scripture which says that the grace of God chastens us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Here we see this chastening. It is God’s grace. If you love a person very dearly and happen to do something quite unintentionally against them, wouldn’t you hate what you’ve done? And if your friend didn’t even reprove you, wouldn’t that be overwhelming for you? Your friend’s forbearance would be an extremely severe chastisement—far worse than eight days in jail. This is how God chastens us. The grace of God disciplines us. Paul does write about some people who were eager to go around chastising others in order to make them their slaves. But even if you have ten thousand of these instructors, he writes, you don’t have many fathers. There are plenty of these taskmasters today, but it is God’s grace that should chasten us, not these ten thousand instructors. If we allow ourselves to be disciplined by them, and we submit to them, then the result will be exactly as it is written in Isa. 66:17: “‘Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, to go to the gardens after an idol in the midst, eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together,’ says the Lord.” We must sanctify and purify ourselves according to God’s standard, not according to the standard of people who eat abominable animals and mice. When your own conscience doesn’t judge you, never allow yourself to be chastened by these ten thousand instructors. By nature people are inclined to chastise others in order to win them over, if possible, so they can boast in the other’s flesh. But woe to them who submit to such people! Blessed is the man who meditates in the law of the Lord day and night.

I’ll close for now, because it isn’t so easy to know what to write before I know how things are going. Revelation in the knowledge of God is given to each one for his profit. In light of this, we understand that it is not profitable to receive everything all at once. But one thing is certain: You shall see greater things than these!

Write again soon, because your letters give me a starting point and material to work with. I hope those at home received the photograph of Kristian. Stand firm as steel in the ranks and fight among Daniel’s men. Don’t yield in subservience to anyone, but always yield to the truth. We will speak of many more things, dear Aksel, which will serve to liberate and edify us.

Your brother, resting in the light and in the fellowship of Christ,