C. The Principles and Paths for Resolving Notions

There are still some things about spreading notions that need to be fellowshipped. Some people say: “We must practice exposure and dissection during church life when it comes to the spreading of notions, and restrict it. However, during the course of believing in God, we are liable to develop various notions; this is something beyond our control. So, when it comes to notions, what kind of path of practice should we follow so that we can practice accurately, and not cause disturbances and disruptions during church life, detrimentally impact others, or cause losses to other people’s lives? What is the appropriate way to act?” Isn’t it a fact that people have notions? Isn’t it unavoidable? (Yes.) Some people say, “Only those who do not pursue the truth will develop notions.” Is this statement correct? It is only partially correct. Those who pursue the truth may also occasionally develop notions about God when they encounter special situations because, before people understand the truth and God’s intentions, and before they have knowledge of God, they will develop some notions about God’s words and work. These notions are some fallacious human ideas that do not conform to the truth. Some notions may conform to morality, philosophy, traditional culture, ethical theories, and so on, and on the surface, these ideas may seem correct. However, they just do not conform to the truth and are in conflict with it. This is a fact. How should people face these notions? Before people pursue the truth, they already carry many notions with them; these are inherent notions. During the process of people pursuing the truth, quite a lot of new notions will arise in them due to changing environments and various contexts; these are acquired notions. Both types of notions are things that people need to face in their journey of believing in God. So, is there a solution for resolving notions? Is there a path of practice? Some say, “This is easy to handle. We can rebel against our inherent notions; there’s no need for us to pay them any heed. We are sure that in the process of pursuing the truth, these notions will gradually be resolved and eliminated as we understand the truth. As for acquired notions, we rely on God to resolve them, and we are not constrained by them either. Therefore, to date, we have not formed notions in our hearts that could lead to things like resistance, condemnation, or blasphemy against God.” How is this method of practice, this way of facing and handling notions? Can it resolve notions? Does it have drawbacks? Is this attitude toward notions proactive and positive? (No.) Does this attitude have any positive effect whatsoever on people? If you use a passive method whereby you ignore these notions, storing them in the most hidden parts of your heart, stamping them down and praying whenever they come out and then considering them resolved, dealing with them the same way whenever they reappear, and not thinking about them afterward and acting like they’re not a problem, believing, “In any case, the God I believe in is still my God, I am still God’s created being, and God is still my Creator; this hasn’t changed”—is this the most effective way to resolve notions? Does this achieve a positive result? Does this kind of practice thoroughly resolve notions from the root? Obviously not. No matter how big or small, or how many or few these notions are, as long as they exist in people’s hearts, they will have some negative impact on their life entry and their relationship with God, causing disturbances. Especially when people are weak; when they encounter an environment they cannot overcome; when they do not understand God’s intentions, do not have a path of practice, and do not know how to satisfy God; and when they feel they have no hope of salvation, these notions will quickly emerge inside them, dominate their thoughts, occupy their hearts, and may even affect their staying or leaving, and influence the path they choose. It might be that there’s a notion you never cared about and which has never affected you or brought you down—you always believed you were its master, that you could control it—but after experiencing a certain failure, a dismissal or elimination, or severe discipline and chastening from God, or even when you feel as if you have fallen into a bottomless pit, at that time, that notion is no longer a mere accessory for you. Even if you ignore it, it can disturb and mislead your thoughts, even dominate your thoughts and viewpoints, your attitude toward God, and your faith in God. If you do not have an appropriate method or principle of practice to deal with these notions, or if you do not have a clear understanding of them, these notions will intermittently affect your life entry or your immediate choices. They may even influence your relationship with God and your attitude toward God. So, when faced with various notions arising in any context, what kind of attitude and method should people adopt to confront and handle them so as to avoid harm and achieve a positive, beneficial result? This is a question that should be clearly fellowshipped about.

People living in the flesh have free will and free thoughts. Regardless of whether they’re educated, how their caliber is, or what their gender is, as long as people have thoughts, they will generate notions. If a notion dominates your corrupt disposition, you will defy God because of this notion. Therefore, this problem of people having notions must be resolved. It’s not only those who spread notions who generate notions; it’s just that they spread their notions, heedlessly standing in opposition to God and spreading various views and judgments about Him. But is it the case that those who don’t spread notions have none? Everyone has notions; this is a fact. The difference is that those who intentionally spread notions have a nature essence that is inherently averse to the truth. Because they do not accept the truth and even believe their notions are correct and entirely conform to the truth, if their notions conflict with the truth, they choose to accept their notions rather than the truth. This is where they fail and why they are restricted and condemned. So why are ordinary, normal people not condemned when they generate notions? This is because most of them speak and act with rationality, and know in their hearts that human notions do not conform to the truth and are incorrect; although they cannot immediately resolve their notions, they are willing to abandon them. When they choose to accept the truth, their internal notions are thereby replaced and resolved by the truth; they let go of their notions and are no longer influenced, restricted, or dominated by them. So, these people, although they have notions, do not spread them. They can still do their duties normally, follow God normally, accept God’s words and God’s work, submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and submit to God’s salvation. They always acknowledge that they are created beings and God is the Creator. Regardless of what notions they harbor in their hearts, they can maintain a normal relationship with God, maintain the relationship between a created being and the Creator, refrain from giving up their duties, refrain from abandoning God’s name, and their faith in God remains unchanged. Although this is the case, if notions are never resolved, they can still ruin people and lead to their destruction. Therefore, we still need to fellowship about how best to face and resolve notions.

What do you think is easier to resolve: the inherent notions that people have from before believing in God, or the notions that people develop in special environments and contexts after they come to believe in God? (Inherent notions are easier to resolve.) The imaginings and notions people have about God when they first start believing in Him are easier to resolve, whereas the notions they develop while they experience God’s work after coming to believe in Him are not as easy to resolve—this is a theoretical statement, but it does not align with the facts in the end. What does “theoretical” mean? It means that these kinds of conclusions are deduced by people based on philosophy and logic. After people first start believing in God and understand the truth about visions, some of their notions are dropped and resolved. In actuality, this resolution is only achieved on a doctrinal level; it seems as if these notions have been resolved, but many of the notions that people develop while following God are related to their inherent notions. Theoretically, of these two types of notions, inherent notions are easier to resolve, but in fact, as long as people can accept the truth and love positive things, as long as they reach an understanding of the truth, both types of notions are easy to resolve. For example, some of you say inherent notions are easier to resolve, but you may encounter some people with distorted comprehensions who are very stubborn and fixate on unimportant details, who probe into the Bible, spiritual classics, and the interpretations of Bible expositors; these people repeat the things they find to you, and no matter how you fellowship about the truth, they do not accept it. They cannot accept pure sermons, the truth, or correct words; they do not take these things in when they listen to them. For one thing, there is a problem with their comprehension ability; for another, they do not love positive things or the truth, instead they love to be stubborn and fixate on unimportant details, and to play games with language, and they like theories and theology. Can such people let go of their notions? (No.) Judging from the facts, from the disposition and preferences of such people, they cannot accept the truth. People’s initial notions are actually very shallow and superficial, they are very easy to resolve. If a person has normal thinking and normal comprehension ability, when you fellowship with them about the truth concerning visions, as long as they understand it, they can easily let go of their notions. But there is one type of people who do not have normal thinking, cannot comprehend the truth, and do not accept the truth. Can such people let go of their notions? (No.) Therefore, the notions of such people are difficult to resolve. If a person has normal reason and is able to accept the truth, then no matter what notions they develop about God after believing in God, and no matter in what environment or context these notions arise, they do not argue with God. They say, “I am human, I have corrupt dispositions, my thinking and actions can be wrong. God is the truth, God is never wrong. No matter how reasonable my thoughts are, they are still human thoughts, they come from a human and are not the truth. If they contradict God’s words or the truth, then these thoughts, no matter how reasonable, are wrong.” They may not know exactly where these notions are wrong right now, so how do they practice? They practice submission, are not stubborn and do not fixate on certain details, and let go of the matter, believing that one day God will reveal it. Someone asks them, “What if God doesn’t reveal it?” They reply, “Then I will submit forever. God is never wrong, and what God does is never wrong. If what God does doesn’t conform to human notions, it doesn’t mean God is wrong, but that humans cannot comprehend or understand it. Therefore, what people should do the most is not to scrutinize, not to dwell on their notions, and not to use their notions to find fault with God, using their notions as a reason and excuse to not submit to God and to defy Him.” This is how they treat their notions. Is this kind of practice practicing the truth? This is indeed practicing the truth. When they develop notions, they do not compare God to them or use them to scrutinize God, to verify whether God is true or whether He exists. Instead, they let go of their notions and strive to accept the truth and to know God. Yet even though they try their hardest to know God, they still cannot know Him. What do they do then? They still submit. They say, “God is never wrong. God is always God. God is the One who expresses the truth. God is the source of truth.” They first place God in the position of God and themselves in the position of created beings when dealing with these notions. Therefore, even if they haven’t put aside their notions or resolved them, their attitude of submission toward God does not change. This attitude protects them, allowing them to remain recognized by God as created beings before Him. So, are the notions of such people easy to resolve? (Yes.) How is this achieved? Suppose they spoke this way upon encountering some situation: “Saying everything god does is the truth and is right, that god is almighty and cannot make mistakes—isn’t that incorrect? Although it’s said that god cannot make mistakes, this is just a theoretical statement. In fact, there are some things god does that are inconsiderate and which don’t align with human feelings. I think this matter is not quite right. For things that are not quite right, I don’t need to submit or accept them, right? Even though I do not deny god’s name or his identity, the notions I’ve now developed have given me more insight and a better understanding of god—god also does some things wrong and has times when he makes mistakes. So, from now on, I won’t believe it when people say god is righteous, perfect, and holy. I will attach a little question mark to these statements. Although god is the creator and I can accept his sovereignty, in the future I need to accept selectively and cannot confusedly and blindly submit. What if I submit wrongly? Wouldn’t I suffer a loss? I can’t be a person who foolishly submits.” If they treat notions and God with this attitude, can they easily let go of their notions? Is this kind of practice practicing the truth? (No.) Hasn’t the relationship between them and God become problematic? Aren’t they constantly scrutinizing God? God has become the object of their scrutiny rather than the Sovereign who rules over their fate. Although they acknowledge that they are a created being under the dominion of the Creator, what they are doing is not performing the duties and obligations of a created being. They are not treating the Creator from their original position as a created being but are instead standing in opposition to the Creator, scrutinizing the Creator and analyzing the Creator’s actions and behavior, choosing whether to submit and accept based on their own discretion. Is this attitude and way of practice the manifestations that someone who accepts the truth should have? Can their notions be resolved? (No, they cannot be resolved.) They can never be resolved. This is because their relationship with God has been twisted; it is not a normal relationship, it is not the relationship between a created being and the Creator. They treat God as an object of scrutiny, constantly scrutinizing Him. They accept what they think is correct and good, but they internally resist and contend with God over what does not conform to human notions and imaginings or to human preferences, and become estranged from God. Is such a person someone who accepts the truth? On the surface, in the absence of any incidents and without any notions about God, they can submit to the words that God speaks. But once they develop notions, their submission vanishes; it is nowhere to be seen, and cannot be put into action. What is going on here? It is clear that they are not people who practice the truth. They do not accept God as the source of the truth or as the truth itself. It is difficult for people who do not accept the truth to let go of or resolve their notions, regardless of when those notions arise.

Judging from the content of the above fellowship, which type of notion do you think is easier to resolve? It depends on the situation. For those who can accept the truth, who have reason and are the right people, their notions are easy to resolve regardless of when they arise. For those who cannot accept the truth, their notions are difficult to resolve no matter when they arise. Some people have believed in God for twenty or thirty years, and even now, nothing they say conforms to the truth; it is all just words and doctrines and human notions. They do not understand any truth at all—can they let go of their notions when they arise? This is hard to say. If they do not accept the truth, they will not be able to let go of their notions. It is inevitable for people to have notions. Everyone’s mind can generate various notions at any time, whether they are inherent or acquired. There are notions in everyone’s hearts, regardless of how many years they have believed in God. So what should be done? Is this problem just unresolvable? It can be resolved; there are a few principles to remember. These principles are very crucial. When you encounter such situations, practice according to these principles. After practicing for a while, you will see results, and you will enter into the truth reality. When notions arise, no matter what the notion is, first ponder and analyze in your heart whether this thinking is correct. If you clearly feel that this thinking is incorrect and distorted, and that it blasphemes God, then pray immediately, asking God to enlighten and guide you to recognize the essence of this problem, and after that, discuss your understanding during a gathering. While gaining understanding and experiencing things, focus on resolving your notions. If practicing in this way does not achieve obvious results, you should fellowship about this aspect of the truth with someone who understands the truth, striving to gain help from others and solutions from God’s words. Through God’s words and your experiences, you will gradually verify that God’s words are correct, and you will realize great results in regard to the issue of the resolution of your own notions. By accepting and experiencing such words and work from God, you will finally understand God’s intentions and have some knowledge of God’s disposition, enabling you to let go of and resolve your notions. You will no longer misunderstand or guard against God, nor will you make unreasonable demands. This is for easily resolvable notions. But there is another type of notion that is difficult for people to understand and resolve. For notions that are difficult to resolve, there is one principle you need to uphold: Do not express or spread them, because expressing such notions does no good to others; it is a fact of defying God. If you understand the nature and consequences of spreading notions, you should best measure it clearly yourself and refrain from speaking recklessly. If you say, “It feels terrible holding my words in in the church; I feel like I could burst,” you should still consider whether spreading these notions is truly beneficial to God’s chosen people. If it is not beneficial and can lead others to have notions about God, or even defy and judge God, aren’t you harming God’s chosen people? You are harming people; it is no different from spreading a plague. If you truly have reason, you would rather endure the pain yourself than spread notions and harm others. However, if you find it agonizing to hold your words in, you should pray to God. If the problem gets resolved, isn’t that a good thing? If you judge and misunderstand God with your notions even when you pray to Him, then you are only bringing trouble upon yourself. You should pray to God like this: “God, I have these thoughts, and I want to let go, but I can’t. Please discipline me, reveal me through various environments, and let me recognize that my notions are wrong. No matter how You discipline me, I am willing to accept it.” This mindset is correct. After praying to God with this mindset, won’t you feel less stifled? If you continue to pray and seek, receiving enlightenment and illumination from God, you understand God’s intentions, and your heart becomes bright, you will no longer feel stifled. Won’t the problem be resolved then? Your notions, resistance, and rebelliousness toward God will mostly disappear; at the very least, you won’t feel the need to express them. If that still doesn’t work and the problem isn’t completely resolved, find someone with experience to help you resolve your notions. Have them find a few passages of God’s words related to resolving the notions you have, and read them dozens or hundreds of times; perhaps your notions will be thoroughly resolved. Some might say, “If I express notions during a gathering with the brothers and sisters, that will be spreading notions, so I can’t do that. But it feels terrible holding them in. Can I talk about them with my family?” If your family members are also brothers and sisters of the faith, expressing these notions around them would also disturb them. Is this appropriate? (No.) If what you say would have a detrimental impact on others, harming and misleading them, you absolutely must not say it. Instead, pray to God to resolve the issue. As long as you pray and eat and drink God’s words with a devout heart, a heart that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, your notions can be resolved. God’s words contain the comprehensive truth; they can resolve any problem. It just depends on whether you can accept the truth and are willing to practice God’s words, and whether you can let go of your own notions. If you believe that God’s words contain the comprehensive truth, you should pray to God and seek the truth to resolve problems when they arise. If, after praying for a while, you still do not feel enlightened by God and have not received clear words from God on what to do, but unconsciously your notions no longer affect you internally, do not disturb your life, gradually fade away, do not affect your normal relationship with God, and of course do not affect your performance of duty, then hasn’t this notion basically been resolved? (Yes.) This is the path of practice.