Thank you for your last letter. We are all doing well here, thanks be to God. We had meetings last Sunday and on Prayer Day at Betel, which we rent for 4 kroner each time, and the hall is jam-packed every time. We took a collection to cover the costs at the first meeting, and we brought in 10.63 kroner. Since this covered the rent for both days, we didn’t take another collection. Here there are quite a few “Nicodemuses” who agree with us, but do so secretly to protect their good name and reputation. On Prayer Day, a couple stood up and preached false liberty. However, there were probably not many who understood what was going on, and because of the large number of people present, we let it pass without commenting. On Sunday, a whole bunch of them showed up, but God gave us the upper hand, and not one of them said anything—despite the fact that we spoke about false liberty and warned against it. Remarkable. We must act like the prophet who worked on the wall with one hand and swung the sword with the other. It was a really good move to rent a hall for ourselves, because now no one can usurp the leadership. For that matter, we could have rented the largest meeting hall in town, because there is no lack of funds. On Sunday the hall was filled to overflowing, with people coming and going.

Last winter Br. Abrahamsen was in Sarpsborg. At a meeting where he had spoken in tongues, a woman from Lapland stood up and explained that he had said in her native tongue, “Get rid of every hindrance; Jesus is coming soon.” This woman traveled around giving lectures. Br. Berg was in Fredrikstad on Prayer Day and on Sunday. He prophesied at a feast, and someone else spoke in tongues. However, the leaders didn’t like this and started singing. Berg then prophesied against the leaders as well.

If all of you in Kristiansand were to rent a meeting hall, I am certain that you would have better meetings, and the collections would cover the rent. Ellefsen is our treasurer. It’s amazing how sometimes the atmosphere can be charged with the spirit of opposition and unbelief, etc. It is virtually impossible to employ the gifts of the Spirit for edification until the spirit of unbelief has been rendered powerless. God has given me total authority over the spirit of unbelief and opposition. These spirits are in subjection and are powerless when commanded to be silent or to depart. At such times, God’s Spirit has an even more powerful effect than usual, and my spirit rejoices boundlessly. Those who had previously allowed themselves to be influenced by unbelief and mockery are completely stunned and incapacitated. They just stand there dumbfounded, and then they begin to listen and become interested. I rejoice, not that the spirits are in subjection, but in that power which subjects all things to itself, i.e., puts all things under itself and can itself go under all things. This power is two-fold, because it has both a negative and a positive side. On the one hand, the power of the Spirit causes our flesh to be humbled under the flesh of those who don’t have the Spirit. On the other hand, the Spirit that has been given to us is greater than the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience.

There are three who bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree as one. He who believes has this witness in himself. The water is for outward cleansing, whereas the blood cleanses us within. Our bodies are washed with pure water (that is to say, judgment over the deeds of the body); for every sin a person commits is outside the body. Deeds of the body, which are to be put to death by the Spirit, are washed with water. The Spirit contains the properties of both the water and the blood. For the Lord is the Spirit, and He (Jesus) came with water and blood—not with water alone (not only forgiveness of sins), but with water and blood. The Spirit bears witness, since the Spirit is the truth. 1 John 5:6. In other words, we always need the water for the cleansing of the deeds of the body, and we need the blood to always be committed into death. The Spirit cannot be united with anything but water and blood, and bargaining is of no use here. This totally and utterly eliminates false liberty—the liberty to sin.

What are deeds of the body? They are deeds that I hate and judge. Are deeds of the body the same as sinning, the same as transgressing the law? No! The law is transgressed willfully, and it’s always preceded by a temptation, whereas the deeds of the body are never a fruit of temptation. What is born of flesh is flesh and cannot obey the law of God; what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. The body is buried through baptism into death, and all deeds of the body are also included in baptism (the water). By the Word we can make a distinction between the body and the body of sin, but practically speaking, the one follows the other, and vice versa. Everything is contained within the body; therefore, everything is created for the body. The body belongs to the Lord. All sin is within the body; that’s why it is dead because of sin. Our earthly bodies are members of Christ’s earthly body, because no one ascends to heaven apart from the One who first descended from heaven—Jesus Christ, who is in heaven. Christ was made to be sin for us; that is, He was united with us in sin so that He could, from that position, put sin to death in Himself and in us. We are crucified with Him, and everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed. In other words, we are cursed with Him, and that which is crucified and accursed must die; therefore, we must die with Him. But if we die with Him, then we also believe that we will live with Him. This is perhaps a strange way to express the work of salvation, but I believe that you understand this; it is the very core of salvation.

We do not bear about our own death, but “the death of Christ.” If we constantly commit ourselves into “the death of Christ,” then what is committed to death—in other words the “body” of sin—also belongs to Christ. We understand from this that Christ has become all and in all. He purchased the field (the world) to gain the pearl (the new creation). But what then with those things that are outside the body? The body belongs to the Lord, but how about the things outside the body—in other words, sin? Christ has never been a minister of sin, but it was necessary that He be numbered with the transgressors so that He could die. If Christ had not been numbered with the transgressors, the Jews could not have convicted Him. For Christ lived according to the law, and He had to live by it. But in order to enter into His body, He had to be numbered with the transgressors. Noah’s flood covered the transgressors, “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me,” says the Lord.

I will probably be sailing on the Sleipner as the accounting officer around May 21. Greet everyone at home, as well as all the brothers and sisters. Most sincere greetings to you from your brother in that which is perishing, but far more in that which shall abide,

Write soon!

Let Father read this letter, because I know he is interested in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.