Thank you very much for the postcard I got some time ago as well as the letter I just received. I have read them, and I’m pleased to see what understanding they already contain and the fellowship and love that are evident through them.

Aksel was here yesterday. We spoke together about grace and righteousness, that grace wasn’t the ultimate goal. Grace only works with the intention of bringing us to righteousness.

Aksel is planning to take a trip to Sarpsborg between Christmas and New Year’s. It will be a real test whether they receive him or reject him. Br. Emanuel Pettersen felt it would be good if you came to Sarpsborg this coming January. He already expressed this earlier in the fall. We’ll see how God works all this out. If they will not acknowledge the truth, I think it will be absolutely necessary to separate those who really have a genuine desire and teach them more accurately about “the body,” which is the true church. Time and again it becomes clear that all labor outside the body is a waste of time and effort; it’s actually sinful, since every sin that people commit is outside the body—no matter what kind of sin it may be. It is a lack of faith, and everything that is not of faith is sin.

If God leads your way to Sarpsborg, I know that in faithfulness to and according to the light God has given you by His grace you will set everything in order and take out the precious from the vile. The time has come to take action in Sarpsborg. They have heard, deliberated, and had the chance to make up their minds. If they are still unwilling, I believe the time is at hand when God will remove the lampstand from their place and form a church in the light. Dear brother, you have received a noble task and a glorious calling. Do not hold back, but use the word in all its sharpness, and let it accomplish what it will. New land and new peoples can only be conquered through purposeful work and persistence, coupled with all wisdom and understanding.

I can’t thank God enough for His great grace toward us, that He gives us progress and victory and that He is adding to the church those who are being saved in truth. Br. Andresen in Sarpsborg has perhaps seemed somewhat difficult and disgruntled in the position (predicament) he has been in, but I think that once he is freed from it, he will be a capable worker in the church, where he will feel content and have something to fight for. There are also several women there who have no small level of understanding. God is arranging everything with amazing planning and timing, so we can, in full rest, walk in the works God has prepared beforehand for us.

I am already rejoicing in the Spirit over the fruit that you will also gain through your labor among the dear friends in Sarpsborg. Br. Andresen said you were just the man for the job. And if Emanuel Pettersen doesn’t receive you, the other brothers and sisters will. I’ve heard about Gjertrud Wehme’s love and service; what a truly noble work.

May God bless you, your home, and your work.

Your brother, working together with you in the love of the Spirit,

You will be pleased to hear that Father has come around. He is getting there, although not so quickly. He wrote a letter to Aksel recently that I’ve never seen the likes of before. This constant bombardment is silencing the enemy fire.