Thank you for coming here to Arendal. It is always so blessed to seek more understanding together. Yesterday I received a postcard from Br. Ellefsen where he mentioned that Pauline Nilsen Roa is now seriously sick and almost certainly going to die. She was bedridden when I was last in Horten and suffering from inflammation in her hip. She has suffered very much in her life. Now she is an invalid and alone in the world, so God may want to take her home. That was sad news. I wrote her a long letter which Ellefsen will read to her. She could easily comprehend spiritual truths, but she was weak with regard to separating herself from everything and everyone. I also wrote this to her in the letter. I never had to directly rebuke her for anything, but I still exhorted her often concerning what I understood was right. Life is short, and we need to be awake. It seems to me that things become more serious every day. Br. Ellefsen is becoming more and more established on the path to becoming a servant of the Lord. Since his wife died, he is more purposeful and determined than ever before.

I really can’t give my “yea” and “amen” to Pastor Paul’s book. His interpretations don’t even come close. He brazenly attempts to explain things that he has no understanding of, and that’s exactly where he goes astray. There are many deep, human thoughts, but these absolutely cannot stand up under the scrutiny of the Spirit’s teaching. In many places he is at a total loss when he tries to find scriptures to support his thoughts. The book is utterly reprehensible, to put it very mildly, and I would personally warn against such false interpretations.

Pastor Paul is of the opinion that once we receive the Spirit, both sin and its root are taken away, and we become completely holy. No, our spirit is not made alive all at once; it is made alive little by little. Pastor Paul is against this. It is written: “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” “We . . . are always delivered to death . . . .” He is of the opinion that Romans 7 applies to a person who does not have God’s Spirit. He says we must always be on guard that we do not make flesh our strength, but that we hold fast to the Head, Christ, and learn of Him who is a better teacher than all men put together. Just take a good look at the results of such teaching. At the heart of it is false liberty, even if he exhorts to good works outwardly—sort of halfheartedly.

When a person wants to exalt himself, the results are always bad. We must listen for the Spirit’s voice and learn of Him if we want it to go well with us. I am glad that you sent me the book even though I haven’t finished reading it. If you read Catherine Booth’s wisdom, you will hear quite a different and rich tone. Pastor Paul’s book is human, religious wisdom, which God has never approved. It has a hollow sound and lacks the resonant, full tones of love. God’s wisdom is always bursting with love, revealing a thousand ways into God’s Father heart. God’s wisdom always testifies of the blood’s continual cleansing power and of our constant need of cleansing, both outwardly and inwardly. People want to pervert this beautiful teaching in any way possible in order to negate the effect of the blood. And Pastor Amli is very comfortable in this web, since he is able to put so much work into it. Listen to how it sounds, dear Aksel. Try those who say they are apostles. Don’t just accept everything as being good. No, I know you don’t.

Brotherly greetings to you and those at home. From here we are sailing to Lillesand and then on to Bergen.

Your devoted brother,

Address: Bergen