Thank you so much for your very good letter that came today. I rejoice that your letters are showing signs of greater understanding and deeper insight as time goes by. You are right in your objection that Rome was not built in a day, but you have to admit that we should build as much of Rome as possible in a day. The fact is, we only have “today.” “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts . . . .” Heb. 3:7–8. “For we who have believed do enter that rest . . . .” Heb. 4:3. Now the kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent must take it by force. Anything that leads to being spineless and slack is not of God. The doctrine of Christ leads to godliness.

You wrote that you were of the opinion that whoever is born of God cannot be lost. I have heard Father speak about this many times, as well as the Plymouth Brethren. But I have never heard anyone who was able to support it with Scripture. They always quote Jesus’ words in John 17:12, but if you read this verse, you will understand at once that He is speaking about His disciples—the eleven. The twelfth was the son of perdition. “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” So this applies to the time He was with them in the world. Read about the son of perdition in the 109th psalm of David.

Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt. Solomon was overpowered by his body, (Sirach 47:19, Apocrypha) because he gave his heart to women. “How wise you (Solomon) became in your youth! You overflowed like a river with understanding.” Verse 14. But he was of the seed of David, so God kept His hand over him all the days of his life. “Solomon rested with his fathers, and left behind him one from his seed, ample in folly and lacking in understanding . . . .” Sirach 47:23. This was apostasy.

Now read Rom. 8:13: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die . . . .” Not physical, but spiritual death. “Do not quench the Spirit,” and “Do not despise prophecies.” “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Since we are exhorted not to quench the Spirit, it is obviously possible for the Spirit to be quenched. But when the Spirit is quenched, we do not have the Spirit, and then obviously we don’t belong to Christ. The Scriptures speak about some who had rejected the faith. Since Christ dwells in our heart by faith, we automatically reject Christ if we reject faith. We are saved by hope—Christ in you, the hope of glory. But if we live according to the ways of the world, our hope will be quenched—and with it, salvation. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.” Heb. 10:26-27.

Here you can see that by sinning willfully, people can end up with a fearful expectation of judgment, despite having previously received the truth. His beloved children have no such fearful expectation, because they have passed from death to life and will not face judgment.

That should be enough on this subject. Everything I have just written must first be thoroughly refuted before I can go along with the “doctrine” that we can live as ungodly as we please and still be saved. This is the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which Christ hated. It leads people to apostasy and to a sense of security in their carnality. We cannot be vigilant enough in ensuring that Satan does not lull us to sleep with false comfort.

It is a pleasure to see that you have no hesitation about simply rejecting what you find to be unscriptural. This is quite right. By so doing, you will soon gain more understanding than others your age.

You wrote that wisdom doesn’t come down all at once. The Spirit of wisdom is down, dear Aksel, but we are the ones who must “go down” to it because, sadly, we are much too high up in the first place. “For gold is tested in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.” Sirach 2:5. Down in this furnace we learn wisdom. From this vantage point, “wisdom exalts her sons and gives help to those who seek her.” Sirach 4:11. Those who seek wisdom will find that she meets them in the doorway.

It was also really good to hear that you are fully aware that there is far more to receive from God than what is “generally” preached in churches and assemblies. God is present in the church and the meeting house too; He is present in every place where people worship Him in Spirit and truth—not only on Mount Gerizim and in Jerusalem.

“My heart rejoices, He makes me happy,
I have my Jesus, He is my own.”

Greet Ludvig; may he soon lay hold of eternal life. I heard that he has lost his left index finger. That is bad, but God will also turn this to good, if he casts himself into His arms.

You probably think my letters are much too strong and forceful, and no doubt you feel the urge to restrain me. But believe me, it is good to get a clear view of life at the outset, because this will preserve us from many things we might otherwise have become involved in. God gives growth according to the effective working by which every member does its share. We need each other, because we are members of one another.

God has given the church “some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,” for the edifying of the body of Christ. People also appoint shepherds, evangelists, and teachers, heaping up for themselves teachers to please their itching ears.

I will close for now with a brotherly greeting to you and greetings to everyone at home.

Yours,

PS

I’ve had an opportunity to be a fire controlman for the Navy, but declined, as there is no opportunity for advancement in it. This afternoon I picked some fruit from a yellow egg plum tree and two pear trees. The starlings cleaned out a large cherry tree this fall. Kristian has a new tooth. He is well liked by everyone who knows him—he eats plums, and woe to the person who tries to take them away from him. He was with Pauline when she went out visiting the other day, and he helped himself when the cake platter was passed around; so there was much merriment, with cries of “Smith, Smith,” but when they started calling out too much, he began making faces.

I am still working for the chief paymaster here. We get along well. I have heard nothing from the captain since. Now and then I find some who are responsive. I have painted a lot this summer and have paneled the outbuilding. But I have often thought about tossing aside my brush, packing my kit, and going back on board, because things are looking rather unsettled. It’s not easy to know how things are going with “the terms of dissolution.”7 I think there’s a great deal of nonsense with all these “terms.”