The testimonies in Issue 6 of Skjulte Skatter regarding the saints’ attitude toward military service appear to have caused quite a commotion. No one, however, has given a clear rebuttal of what was written. This is, no doubt, because they have nothing of any substance with which to refute these testimonies. Even The Good Tidings, from which you would expect something more, has revealed its ignorance of this matter in its column “Day by Day.” The fact is that within free assemblies people are working hand in hand with lawlessness. The boundaries of their liberty have stretched even into the flesh. People are inhaling socialism in the factories and shops where they work. From there they go to their religious meetings and pollute them with the same spirit. The police and military serve as a restraint for lawlessness. That is why there is such an effort to eliminate these powers, so that the Antichrist can more easily come to the fore. People within the free assemblies believe that they are working for God by pulling together in the same yoke as this antichrist spirit. They hate the cross. Therefore, God has given them over to a debased mind. We need truth in our days. People have allowed themselves to be deceived long enough by religious comedians who gratify their own flesh with the laughter and applause of their audience. Their anecdotes and stories are corrupt; we have heard them all too often. We need food that has salt in it. We need food we can live by. They are serving salt that has lost its savor, which is good for neither dirt nor fertilizer. That is why people are drifting around aimlessly like religious wrecks, without any goal or purpose for their faith. They have all “jumped” over into Romans 8 and have been “freed” from the law and the cross. They drift around in space like wandering stars and call the laws of the Spirit bondage. It would impair their “freedom” if they had to do their simple duty and comply with the laws of the land regarding military service. In the presence of the masses, they kiss the Bible to show how much they love it, and then, in direct contradiction to what the Bible teaches, they preach disobedience to the laws of the land. As far as I can see, Romans 13 says, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves . . . . For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.” [Emphasis added]. The same God who says that he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword also says that the authorities do not bear the sword in vain. We can be thankful that they do not bear the sword in vain. Otherwise, we would be plundered and chased out of house and home by covetous people who strive to gain freedom for their flesh. The police and military are the only forces restraining them from their lawless deeds. These people are afraid of the sword; it’s no wonder they rage against it. We have no misgivings whatsoever about acting as God’s servants when and where it becomes necessary, in obedience to the authorities. The police bear the sword. Should we get rid of them too? It amazes me that people who preach to others can be so blind and shortsighted, undoubtedly because they forgot a long time ago that they were cleansed from their former sins. 2 Pet. 1:9. People hate and judge their brothers, but they don’t take these sins very seriously, in spite of the fact that hating and judging are just as deadly as murder. People surround themselves with as many worldly luxuries and as much worldly splendor as possible, and they do not see anything wrong with that. At the same time, they dare to speak evil of things they have never understood, and probably never will. In the Old Testament, it is written, “You shall not murder.” Ex. 20:13; Matt. 5:21 [Emphasis added]. Nevertheless, the Lord says to Saul, “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” [Emphasis added]. Some people say, “Yes, but in the Old Testament they were allowed to murder.” No, they were not! The commandment said, “You shall not murder.” Nonetheless, the same God commanded them to destroy the Amalekites. Perhaps one of these people who publicly kisses the Bible, and who has so much confidence in his own authority, will explain this more clearly to me. I believe that the free assemblies in Norway left long ago for Babylon. None of this makes sense to them; confusion has set in. They preach death but live in luxury. They preach contempt for worldly teaching, yet they push their children to succeed in the world. Pack up these theories; they cannot bear the light. Keep shooting your arrows into the darkness if you want, but do not try to attack the light. You will not win. When someone transgresses against us personally, we should turn the other cheek and take no revenge. But what does that have to do with war? We do not have a personal hatred for those we are fighting against. Am I not in just as much danger as my enemy? Or perhaps some people think that all the evil that takes place in peacetime is more of a blessing than war. The Lord has many means of punishing nations. Do not be so foolish as to assume you can take these means out of His hands. Chastisement brings wisdom, and tribulation brings patience. Lawless freedom, however, makes people cast off restraint. Such unrestrained people need a straightjacket. The truth makes us sound in faith, and the cross teaches us to be law-abiding. Even Christ, in obedience to the authorities, took up His cross and carried it to His crucifixion. All flesh must be subject to the authorities, and if someone defiled by socialistic thinking is infuriated by the use of force against the flesh, that does not negate God’s commandments. If the authorities were to forbid us to preach Christ, that would be a completely different matter. In such a case, we must obey God rather than man. There was a brother who refused to serve in the military for religious reasons, but later his conscience bothered him about it, so he registered for duty. Some people return to the meetings after being in jail as military objectors, acting like martyrs and heroes for their noble deeds. It does not take a lot of light to recognize that many of them have been feeding their own honor and their own flesh. These preachers are doing a good job, I must say. And they have already reaped much fruit from their labors, because it is apparent that in the free assemblies, it is considered very fashionable to refuse to serve in the military, just as it is considered fashionable within socialist circles. We understand the sources of their faith and their works. “Come out from among them . . . do not touch what is unclean . . . .” 2 Cor. 6:17. “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed.” Jer. 51:9. “The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, they have remained in their strongholds; their might has failed. They became like women . . . .” Jer. 51:30. That is what happens to Babylon’s mighty men. They end up hiding in their strongholds; they lose their power and become like women. Paul was rescued twice by soldiers. The masses wanted to kill him, but the soldiers carried him away. Acts 21:35. Two hundred warriors, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen saved Paul from forty men who had sworn they would not eat or drink until they had killed him. Acts 23:23. These soldiers acted as the servants of God. We should thank God for what these warriors did. If they had all been military objectors, there are probably several of Paul’s letters that we would never have had. I do not want to glorify war, but neither will I condemn the men who serve in the military. I believe that in eternity I will meet many among the fallen soldiers whose glory far outshines those who preached lawlessness and false liberty.Joahn O. Smith

“Korsets Seier” asks, “Did Jesus have a sinful flesh?” And with this question follows a long explanation. I am amazed that there can be such a lack of understanding of God’s Word and what it really says about the glorious work of salvation about which Paul testifies in Romans 8:3 where it says, “For what the law could not do in that it was powerless because of the flesh, God did by sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” This scripture expresses the profound beauty of the gospel, as opposed to the law. The law condemned the sinner because he had sinned; God condemned sin so that the sinner should be set free. God accomplished His work of salvation in His Son, Christ. He did this by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemning sin in the flesh. “K.S.” does not understand that we are dealing with the judgment of sin, which is the salvation of man. Is it so difficult to understand that God condemned sin in His Son as a representative of mankind? “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us . . . .” 2 Cor. 5:21. If God condemned sin in His Son who was made sin for us, does this mean that Christ has become impure as “K.S.” wants to make it out to be? Seeing that God accomplished this salvation for mankind in Christ Jesus, can there be any doubt that this sentence, which should have been fully executed in us, fell on Christ? God’s judgment dealt with sin. Sin was condemned in the flesh. In Whose Flesh Did God Condemn Sin? This is the central question that we want to ask “K.S.”: we want to ask everyone to examine it so that they may not distort God’s Word and nullify His salvation. Was sin condemned in the flesh of Peter, James, or John? If that were the case, Christ could have refrained from coming into this world. Then He could have used one of them as the savior of the world. This would have become what the false religion “Millennial Dawn” teaches; namely, that Christ was not a Mediator, but only a means (medium), and that God could have used anyone else. In whose flesh did God condemn sin? One believer’s answer was, “In the world’s flesh.” Then why did the Christ come? According to this verdict the world could have become its own savior. However, it cannot do that; but One died for all, therefore all died. 2 Cor. 5:15. The work of salvation must go through the One. He was the One who did not know sin and was made to be sin for us. It was in Him, in Christ’s flesh, that sin was sentenced. The work of salvation was carried out in Christ. Not in anyone else. Since God condemned sin in Christ’s flesh, it is obvious that Christ had to have sin in the flesh. Then “K.S.” states further: “The Scriptures say that He ‘came in the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Rom. 8:3), but it is one thing to ‘be like’ something, yet it is a totally different matter to be the same thing.” Consider what this kind of interpretation leads to. It is written about Jesus that He took on the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of men. Phil. 2:7. It is one thing to be like [resemble] a man, another thing to be a man. According to this interpretation, Christ should therefore be only like [resemble] a man but not be a man. But if Christ came in the likeness of man, and it means, as we believe, that He was a man, then we conclude that when Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, that He came with sin in the flesh. The Greek word omoiøma, which in Norwegian has been translated with “likeness” in Romans 8:3, is found, among other places, in Philippians 2:7, where it says, “coming in the likeness of men.” But that Christ did not just come in the likeness of men but as a true man is evidenced by what Paul writes immediately after, adding, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself . . . .” V. 8. (In the first centuries after Christ, some false teachers appeared and declared that Christ’s appearance on earth was only an illusion and that He was not a real man.) The same Greek word occurs in Romans 6:5: “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” In this instance the Greek word that was previously translated as “appearance” has been translated as “likeness.” But imagine that the fundamental idea of the word is what “K.S.” says it is; then we are united with Christ in a resemblance of His death and in a resemblance of His resurrection, but not in a real death and resurrection. Then our union with Him in His death and in His resurrection is only an illusion, a fantasy. For it is one thing to be like something, but it is something else to be the same thing. (“Christian Science” teaches such fantasies, for example when it concerns sickness.) The Greek word omoiøma means: that which is conformed or assimilated. It also means likeness, resemblance. The word assimilate is usually used in the context of foods being absorbed by the body whereby these foods are made one with the body. In this manner, according to Romans 6:5, we shall be united with Christ in His death and in the resurrection by assimilating His divine work in us by faith. It also states in Romans 8:3 that Christ was sent in a semblance (lignelse—Norw.) or likeness of sinful flesh. When He came into the world, sinful flesh was assimilated or absorbed in Him; therefore He came in the likeness of sinful flesh; He was conformed or made like sinful flesh. He was made sin. 2 Cor. 5:21. It was in this flesh that sin was condemned. The work was finished in Christ. Hallelujah! God did it. Rom. 8:3. When Jesus came in the likeness of men, He did not come as a copy of a man; when He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, He did not come in a copy of sinful flesh; and when we are united together in the likeness of His death and His resurrection it is not a copy but an indisputable fact. Otherwise everything would be a mirage. Is it any wonder that the self-life bears abundant fruit in those places where this copy-doctrine is being taught? There people are taught that you are totally dead and that sin has been taken away, but when this is also only a mirage, is it not reasonable for the weeds to grow tall, sheltered by such a doctrine? Moreover, assuming that Jesus was not sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, but only in an image or in a semblance of sinful flesh, was sin then condemned in this image, in this semblance? (For according to “K.S.” a semblance means an imitation of sinful flesh.) We see that such doctrines lead to utter folly and we must, unfortunately, pursue this line of thinking so that, if possible, someone can come to his senses by means of this folly. “K.S.” says, “He who knew not sin was truly made to be sin for us, but He Himself was not sinful.” They said about Jesus when He went into Zacchaeus’ house, “He has gone in to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Luke 19:7. What was the consequence of Jesus’ visit? The consequence was that sin departed. But was Jesus as sinful as Zacchaeus, and did He have to repay four-fold? Far from it! Jesus was absolutely not sinful. However, we will use the illustration of Zacchaeus. Jesus came to sinful mankind, being sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, in a body, and sin had to leave where He entered. Sin was condemned in His flesh. It was driven out by judgment; sin was sentenced in Him. But did that make Jesus sinful? No! “K.S.” says further: “People believe that Jesus had to feel sin in His being as the most corrupt people do, in order to show that we, by fighting against it, will also overcome as He overcame.” I don’t know what people believe, neither do I know who these people are, but I know this: in Christ the most corrupt person’s sin was judged. Do you believe that? We believe that Christ walked according to the Spirit—what we call the newness of spirit—and not according to the flesh. Nevertheless, He denied Himself by saying about His own will: Not My will, but Yours be done. And He also says that the person who wants to follow Him must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him. When Adam sinned, he did his own will, not God’s will. Concerning Jesus, we know that He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin, that is, without doing His own will. Therefore He can now be a faithful High Priest for us. Therefore we can also be tested in various trials, yet without sin—for He has overcome, and we shall also overcome. He was tested in all points as we are (not similar to us), yet without sin, and in whatever we have been tried, we can also be of help to others. But if we are tested and sin, we cannot be of help to others. “K.S.” uses this point of Jesus being tested in all points as we are, yet without sin, attempting to prove by a wrongful interpretation of the letter, that Jesus was not sent in the likeness of sinful flesh. It is so wonderfully written: “Therefore, in all things, He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God . . . .” Heb. 2:17. What a blessed consolation it is for everyone to know that all wretchedness, beginning with Adam, was judged in Christ. We should not be amazed at the fact that Jesus had to fight in His temptations, calling out, “Not My will, but Yours, be done,” because angels came and comforted Him. However, I am amazed that “K.S.” teaches that you can be finished with everything after a brief “Gethsemane-battle.” And now “K.S.” also believes that you can, by fighting such a short battle, go into any kind of trial afterward, sailing along with a “Hallelujah!” where Jesus fought tremendous battles. We can point to many instances where souls who have followed this doctrine have fallen in sin—have done their own will—where they would have been victorious by taking up the battle against it. “K.S.” says, “It is self-evident that if Jesus had the same sinful flesh that we have, He would be no better than the high priests of the old covenant. Then Jesus would have had to atone for His own sin.” It is evident that “K.S.” is totally blind to the difference between committing sin and having sin. It was the transgressions themselves—the sins—that were atoned for by the punishment for the transgressions being laid on Him. If Christ had been guilty of punishable transgressions, He would have had to atone for His own sin, or more aptly put, He could not have atoned for His own sin, because our Passover Lamb that was sacrificed had to be without blemish and without spot. Jesus asks, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” However, it is something else that the very root of sin was condemned in His flesh. He consecrated a new and living way through the veil, which is His flesh. Heb. 10:20. John points at Jesus and says, “Behold the Lamb of God who bears the sins of the entire world.” John 1:29. Where did Jesus bear this sin? He bore it in His flesh. And that is where it was judged. Did the high priests in the old covenant bear the sins of the world? No! At that time they had animal sacrifices, whereas Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice. We see that He was much better than the high priests in the old covenant, as the new covenant was worthy of better sacrifices. When Were the Sins of the World Laid on God’s Lamb? Romans 1:3-4 Then we have this misleading comparison between Adam before the Fall and Christ, which many people emphasize, because Christ, according to His nature, was supposed to have been like Adam before the Fall! Adam was created, whereas Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and conceived by the Holy Spirit. Adam was given the task of ruling over the animals of the field, but Christ came with a totally different mission. God sent His Son in order to save mankind by letting condemnation pass over that which corrupted them, namely, sin; and He accomplished this work in His Son. Adam was of the earth; Christ was from heaven, and the One who is from heaven is over all. “K.S.” says, “Where the first Adam fell, the last Adam stood firm, going through everything as a conqueror.” The Bible doesn’t tell us about any more than one trial that Adam had to endure, in which he fell. In other words, Christ was not tempted in all points as Adam was, yet without sin. But Christ was tempted in all points as we are. Neither was Christ made like Adam in all things, but it is written: “Therefore, He had to be made in all things like His brethren . . . .” Heb. 2:17. And of what benefit and comfort would it have been for us if Christ had been tempted only as Adam was tempted? Adam could not be tempted in all points as we are tempted with the nature he had before the Fall, and neither could Christ if He had had Adam’s nature before the Fall, because if Christ had been tested in all things as Adam was tested, that would have been without significance for us. But suppose that Christ did have Adam’s nature. Does that mean that sin was condemned in a nature like Adam’s before the Fall? Wouldn’t it be more reasonable for sin to be condemned in “Adam” after the Fall? Adam before the Fall was not in need of salvation, but “Adam” after the Fall, was. In Hebrews 9:28 we read the following: “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, without sin, for salvation.” Sin was condemned in Christ’s flesh when He appeared the first time; therefore judgment and offerings will be unnecessary when He appears the second time. Salvation in Christ is glorious. See how intimately Christ has become united with mankind, and afterwards how intimately He has become united with those who are willing to be saved. Acts 2:47. The word “likeness” is of wonderful worth in the original language. Just as Christ assimilated or was absorbed to be made one with mankind, being made like it (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7), so we who believe are being absorbed and made to be one with Him in His resurrection. Rom. 6:5. What a glorious truth this is that brings life and immortality to light.Aksel Smith

If believers lived according to what they heard, the goal of the meetings would be met. How-ever, it is quite possible that they have no goal. Paul came to bring about the obedience of the faith. They were to obey what they believed; yet often, even quite often, there is no such goal with a meeting. There is a meeting because it is meeting day. And when the meeting is over, people say, “It was a bad meeting,” in which case they don’t want to say much about the meeting, or, “The meeting was good.” But if it was a good meeting, you would hear words of acknowledgment such as, “I am in such a bad state; I am so miserable,” or, “Oh, how good God is.” If someone has received something at the meeting, it is often afterwards watered down because of talk about the speakers and meetings, and soon he is careless again and is only left with memories of something good has tasted but which is no more. Consequently, he seeks to go to another meeting, and the cycle is repeated. Learn from Jesus. He watched over His spirit. If He stood in the midst of the multitudes and one could think that now He had great opportunities because the people were gathered, He went away and hid Himself. If you notice that your spirit will be watered down if you continue where you are, then you must leave the people just like Jesus did and strengthen what you have in the secret place; otherwise you will become weaker. Always live before the Lord’s face. Live faithfully. That is life and the way to a fuller life.Aksel Smith