Relevant Words of God:

What is it that man has gained since he first began believing in God? What have you come to know about God? How much have you changed because of your belief in God? Today, you all know that man’s belief in God is not solely for the salvation of the soul and fleshly well-being, nor is it to enrich his life through loving God, and so on. As it stands, if you love God for the sake of fleshly well-being or momentary pleasure, then even if, in the end, your love for God reaches its peak and you ask for nothing more, this love that you pursue is still an adulterated love and not pleasing to God. Those who use loving God to enrich their dull existence and fill a void in their hearts are the kind of people who covet comfort, not those who truly seek to love God. Love of this kind is forced, it is the pursuit of mental gratification, and God has no need of it. What kind of love, then, is yours? For what do you love God? How much true love for God is there within you right now? The love of the majority of you is of the aforementioned kind. Such love can only maintain the status quo; it cannot achieve immutability, nor can it take root in man. This kind of love is only like a flower that blooms and withers without bearing fruit. In other words, after you have loved God once in such a way, if there is no one to lead you on the path ahead, then you will collapse. If you can only love God in the time of loving God but afterward your life disposition remains unchanged, then you will remain under the shroud of the influence of darkness, unable to escape, and you will remain unable to break free from Satan’s bondage and from being its fool. No one such as this can be fully gained by God; in the end, their spirit, soul, and body will still belong to Satan. There can be no doubt about this. All those who cannot be fully gained by God will return to their original place, that is, return to Satan, and they will go down to the lake of fire and brimstone to accept the next step of punishment from God. Those gained by God are those who rebel against Satan and escape from its power. They are officially numbered among the people of the kingdom. This is where the people of the kingdom originate from.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What Viewpoint Believers Ought to Hold

Today, as a believer in the practical God, you must set foot on the right track. In your belief in God, you should not just seek blessings; rather, you should pursue loving God and knowing God. Through His enlightenment, through your own personal pursuit, you should be able to eat and drink His word, develop a real understanding of God, and have a real love of God that comes from your inmost heart. In other words, when your love for God is the most genuine, and no one can destroy or stand in the way of your love for Him, that is when you are on the right track in your belief in God. This proves that you belong to God, for your heart is already in God’s possession and nothing else can then take possession of you. Through your experience, through the price you have paid, and through the work of God, you are able to develop an unbidden love for God—and when you do, you will become free from the influence of Satan and will come to live in the light of God’s word. Only when you have broken free from the influence of darkness can you be said to have gained God. In your belief in God, you must try to pursue this goal. This is the responsibility of each of you. None of you should be satisfied with the current state of affairs. You cannot be of two minds toward the work of God, nor can you regard it lightly. You should think of God in all respects and at all times, and do all things for His sake. And in your speech and actions, you should place the interests of the house of God first. Only thus can you be in line with God’s intentions.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Ought to Live for the Truth Since You Believe in God

Someone who serves God should not merely know to suffer for Him; more than that, they should understand that the purpose of believing in God is to pursue loving God. God makes use of you not just to refine you and make you suffer, but rather He makes use of you so that you may know His deeds, know the true significance of human life, and even more so, know that serving God is not an easy task. Experiencing God’s work is not about enjoying grace; instead it is more about suffering for the sake of loving God. Since you enjoy God’s grace, you must also enjoy His chastisement; you must experience all of this. If you can experience God enlightening you, and you can also experience Him pruning and judging you, your experience will be comprehensive. God has carried out His work of judgment upon you, and He has also carried out His work of chastisement upon you. God’s word has pruned you, but it has also enlightened and illuminated you. When you are negative and weak, God still feels concern for you. All of this work teaches you that everything about man is within God’s orchestrations. You may think that believing in God is just about suffering, or doing many things for Him, or your flesh being at peace, or everything going smoothly for you, and you being comfortable and at ease in all things. None of these are purposes that people should have in their belief in God. If you believe for these purposes, then your viewpoint is incorrect, and it is simply impossible for you to be perfected. God’s deeds, God’s righteous disposition, His wisdom, His words, and His wondrousness and unfathomableness are all things people ought to understand. Through this understanding, you should come to rid your heart of your personal demands, hopes, and notions. Only by eliminating these things can you meet the conditions required by God. It is only through this that you can have life and satisfy God. The purpose of believing in God is to satisfy Him and to live out the disposition He requires, so that His deeds and glory may be manifested through this group of unworthy people. This is the correct viewpoint on believing in God, and this is also the goal that you should pursue. Your viewpoint on believing in God must be set right, and you should seek to gain God’s words. You need to eat and drink God’s words and you must be able to live out the truth, and in particular you must be able to see His practical deeds, His wonderful deeds in the entire universe, as well as the practical work He does in the flesh. People should, through their actual experiences, appreciate just how God does His work on them and what His intentions are toward them. The purpose of all of this is so they can cast off their satanic corrupt dispositions. By casting off all the uncleanness and unrighteousness inside you, and casting off your wrong intentions, you will develop true belief in God. Only with true belief can you truly love God. You can only genuinely love God on the foundation of believing Him. Can you achieve love for God without believing Him? Since you believe in God, you cannot be muddleheaded about it. Some people become motivated as soon as they see that faith in God will bring them blessings, but then lose all motivation as soon as they see that they have to suffer refinements. Is that believing in God? Ultimately, you must achieve complete and utter submission before God in your faith. You believe in God, but if you still make demands of Him, have many religious notions you cannot put down, personal interests you cannot let go of, and still you pursue blessings of the flesh and want God to save your flesh, to save your soul, then you are exhibiting the behavior of someone with the wrong perspective. Even though people with religious beliefs have faith in God, they do not seek to change their dispositions and do not pursue knowledge of God, but rather pursue only the interests of their flesh. Many among you have faiths that belong in the category of religious convictions; this is not true faith in God. To believe in God, people must possess a heart that is prepared to suffer for Him and the resolve to give themselves up. Unless people meet these two conditions, their faith in God is not valid, and they will not be able to achieve change in their dispositions. Only people who genuinely pursue the truth, knowledge of God, and life are those who truly believe in God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement

Now do you understand what belief in God is? Does belief in God mean beholding signs and wonders? Does it mean going to heaven? Believing in God is by no means a simple matter. The religious ways of belief should be purged; pursuing the healing of the sick and the casting out of demons, focusing on signs and wonders, coveting more of God’s grace, peace and joy, pursuing the prospects and comforts of the flesh—these are religious ways of belief, and such ways of belief are a nebulous kind of faith. What is practical belief in God today? It is accepting God’s word as your life reality, knowing God from His word, and thus attaining a true love for Him. To be clear: Belief in God is so that you may submit to God, love God, and fulfill the duty that should be fulfilled by a created being. This is the aim of believing in God. You must come to know the loveliness of God, how worthy God is of reverence, and how the work God does on His created beings is their salvation and their perfection—these are the bare essentials of your belief in God. Belief in God is principally the switch from a life of the flesh to a life of loving God, and from living in corruption to living in the life of God’s words; it is coming out from under the power of Satan and living under the care and protection of God; it is so that you may be able to submit to God instead of the flesh, so that God may gain your whole heart and make you perfect, and so that you may be freed from satanic corrupt dispositions. Belief in God is principally so that the great power and glory of God may be made manifest in you, so that you may follow God’s will, so that God’s plan may be accomplished, and so that you may be able to bear witness for God before Satan. Belief in God should not revolve around the desire to behold signs and wonders, nor should it be for the sake of your own flesh. It should be about the pursuit of knowing God, being able to submit to God, and, like Peter, submitting to Him unto death. The main purpose is to achieve this. One eats and drinks the word of God also in order to know God and satisfy Him. Eating and drinking the word of God gives you a greater knowledge of God, only after which can you submit to Him. Only with knowledge of God can you love Him, and only this is the goal man should have in his belief in God. If, in your belief in God, you always wish to see signs and wonders, then this viewpoint on belief in God is wrong. Belief in God is principally to accept the words of God as one’s life reality. When the words that come from God’s mouth are put into practice by people and realized in them, God’s aim is achieved. In believing in God, man should pursue being perfected by God, being able to submit to God, and achieving complete submission to God. If you can submit to God without complaint, be considerate of God’s intentions, and attain the stature of Peter, possessing the style of Peter spoken of by God, then that will be when you have achieved success in belief in God, and it will signify that you have been gained by God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. All Is Accomplished by the Word of God

You hope that your faith in God will not entail any difficulties or tribulations, or the slightest suffering. You always pursue those things that are worthless, and you attach no value to life, instead putting your own extravagant thoughts before the truth. You are so worthless! You live like a pig—what difference is there between you, and pigs and dogs? Are those who do not pursue the truth, and instead love the flesh, not all beasts? Are those dead ones without spirits not all walking corpses? How many words have been spoken among you? Has only a little work been done among you? How much have I provided among you? So why have you not gained it? What do you have to complain about? Is it not the case that you have gained nothing because you are too in love with the flesh? And is it not because your thoughts are too extravagant? Is it not because you are too stupid? If you fail to gain these blessings, can you blame God for not saving you? All that you pursue is to be able to gain peace after believing in God—for your children to be free from illness, for your husband to have a good job, for your son to find a good wife, for your daughter to find a good husband, for your oxen and horses to plow the land well, for a year of good weather for your crops. This is what you pursue. Your pursuit is only to live in comfort—for no accidents to befall your family, for the winds to pass you by, for your face to be untouched by grit, for your family’s crops to not be flooded—to be unaffected by any disaster, to live in “God’s embrace,” to live in a cozy nest. A coward such as you, who always pursues the flesh—do you have a heart, do you have a spirit? Are you not a beast? I bestow the true way on you without asking for anything in return, yet you do not pursue it. Are you still one of those who believe in God? I bestow real human life upon you, yet you do not pursue it. Are you not of the same kind as pigs and dogs? Pigs do not pursue the life of man, they do not pursue being cleansed, and they do not understand what life is. Each day, after eating their fill, they simply sleep. I have bestowed the true way on you, yet you have not gained it, you remain empty-handed. Are you willing to continue in this life, the life of a pig? What is the significance of such people being alive? Your life is contemptible and ignoble, you live amid filth and licentiousness, and you do not pursue any goals, so is your life not the most ignoble of all? Do you have the gall to face God? If you continue to experience in this way, will you not acquire nothing? The true way has been bestowed on you, but whether or not you can ultimately gain it depends on your own pursuit.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment

Just how much do you love God today? And just how much do you know of all that God has done on you? These are the lessons you should learn. When God arrives on earth, all that He has done on man and allowed man to see is so that man will love Him and truly know Him. That man is able to suffer for God and has been able to come this far is, in one regard, because of God’s love, and in another regard, because of God’s salvation; even more so, it is because of the judgment and the work of chastisement that God has carried out on man. If you are without the judgment, chastisement, and trials of God, and if God has not made you suffer, then, in all honesty you will not truly love God. The greater God’s work on man, the greater man’s suffering, the more it demonstrates how meaningful God’s work is, and the more man’s heart is able to truly love God. How is the lesson of loving God attained? Without hardship and refinement, without painful trials—and if, furthermore, all that God bestowed on man were grace, lovingkindness, and mercy—would you be able to reach a point of truly loving God? On one hand, during God’s trials man comes to know his deficiencies and to see that he is insignificant, contemptible, and lowly, that he has nothing and is nothing; on the other hand, during the trials God sets up some environments for man so that within them, man is better able to experience the loveliness of God. Although the pain is great, and sometimes insurmountable—even reaching the level of crushing grief—having experienced it, man sees how lovely God’s work on him is, and only upon this foundation is there born in man true love for God. Today man sees that with the grace, lovingkindness, and mercy of God alone, he is incapable of truly knowing himself, much less is he able to know the substance of man, and that only through both the judgment and refinement of God, and during the process of refinement itself, can man know his deficiencies, and know that he has nothing. Thus, man’s love of God is built upon the foundation of the refinement and judgment of God. If you only enjoy the grace of God, having a peaceful family life or material blessings, this doesn’t mean you’ve gained God, nor does it mean you’ve been successful in your belief in God. God has already carried out one stage of the work of grace in the flesh, and has indeed bestowed material blessings upon man, but man cannot be made perfect with grace, lovingkindness, and mercy alone. In man’s experiences, he tastes some of God’s love and sees the lovingkindness and mercy of God, yet having experienced for a period of time, he sees that God’s grace and His lovingkindness and mercy are incapable of making man perfect, incapable of exposing that which is corrupt within man, and incapable of ridding man of his corrupt disposition, or making perfect his love and faith. God’s work of grace was the work of one period, and man cannot rely on enjoying the grace of God in order to know God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God

Many who follow God are only concerned with how to gain blessings or stave off disaster. As soon as God’s work and management are mentioned, they fall silent and lose all interest. They think that understanding such tedious issues will not help their life to grow or provide any benefit. Consequently, although they have heard information about God’s management, they approach it in an unserious manner. They do not see it as something precious to be accepted, much less do they comprehend it by taking it as a part of their life. The purpose of these people in following God is very simple, and it is for a single goal: to be blessed. These people cannot be bothered to pay heed to anything else that has nothing to do with this goal. To them, gaining blessings is the most legitimate purpose in believing in God—it is the very value of their faith. If something does not serve this purpose, whatever it is, they remain unmoved by it. This is the case with most people who believe in God today. Their purpose and intention seem legitimate, because as they believe in God, they also expend themselves for God, dedicate themselves to God, and do their duty. They give up their youth, forsake family and career, and even spend years away from home rushing about. For the sake of their ultimate purpose, they change their own interests, their outlook on life, and even the direction they pursue; yet they cannot change their purpose in believing in God. They run about for the management of their own aspirations; no matter how far the road is, and no matter how many hardships, dangers, and obstacles there are along the way, they remain persistent and unafraid of death. What power compels them to continue dedicating themselves in this way? Is it their conscience? Is it their great and noble character? Is it their determination to battle the forces of evil to the very end? Is it the faith they possess to bear witness for God without seeking a reward? Is it their devotion of being willing to give up everything to fulfill God’s will? Or is it their dedicated spirit of always forgoing extravagant personal demands? For someone who has never understood the work of God’s management to be able to expend so much heart’s blood is, quite simply, a tremendous miracle! For the moment, let us not discuss how much these people have given. Their behavior, however, is highly worthy of our dissection. Apart from the benefits that are so closely associated with them, could there be any other reasons why people who never understand God would pay such a great price for Him? Here, we discover a problem previously unidentified by man: Man’s relationship with God is merely one of naked self-interest. It is a relationship between a receiver and a giver of blessings. To put it plainly, it is the relationship between an employee and an employer. The employee works hard only to receive the rewards bestowed by the employer. There is no kindred affection in this kind of relationship based on self-interest, only transaction. There is no loving or being loved, only charity and mercy. There is no understanding, only helpless suppressed indignation and deception. There is no intimacy, only an uncrossable chasm. Now that things have gotten to this point, who can reverse such a course? And how many people are capable of truly understanding how dire this relationship has become? I believe that when man immerses himself in the joyful atmosphere of being blessed, none can imagine how embarrassing and unsightly such a relationship with God is.

The saddest thing about mankind’s belief in God is that man engages in his own enterprise amid the work of God and yet pays no heed to God’s management. The biggest failure of mankind’s belief in God is that, as he pursues submitting to God and worshiping God, he simultaneously constructs his own dream of an aspirational destination and plots how to gain the greatest blessing and the best destination. Even if people understand how pathetic, hateful, and pitiable they are, how many can readily give up their aspirations and hopes? And who is able to halt their own steps and stop making plans on their own behalf? God needs those who will cooperate closely with Him to complete His management. He needs those who will devote their entire mind and body to the work of His management in order to submit to Him. He does not need people who hold out their hands to beg from Him every day, much less those who expend a little for Him and then wait to demand repayment from Him. God hates those who make a paltry contribution and then rest on their laurels. He hates those cold-blooded people who are antipathetic toward the work of His management and only want to talk about going to heaven and gaining blessings. He has an even greater hatred for those who take advantage of the opportunity presented by His work of salvation for their own benefit. That’s because these people have never cared about what God wants to achieve and gain through the work of His management. They are only concerned with how they can use the opportunity provided by the work of God to obtain blessings. They are not considerate of God’s heart at all, being wholly preoccupied with their own prospects and fate. Those who are antipathetic toward the work of God’s management, and who lack even the slightest interest in how God saves mankind and His intentions, are all doing things they like to do outside the scope of God’s management work. Their actions are neither remembered nor approved of by God, much less looked upon favorably by God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 3: Man Can Only Be Saved Amid God’s Management

What should you pursue now? Whether or not you are capable of bearing witness to God’s work, whether or not you are able to become a testimony to and a manifestation of God, and whether or not you are fit to be used by Him—these are the things you should pursue. How much work has God really done on you? How much have you seen, how much have you grasped? How much have you experienced, and tasted? Regardless of whether God has tried you, pruned you, or disciplined you, His deeds and His work have been carried out on you. But as a believer in God and as someone who is willing to pursue being perfected by Him, are you able to bear witness to God’s work on the basis of your practical experience? Can you live out God’s word through your practical experience? Are you able to provide for others through your own practical experience, and expend your whole life to bear witness to God’s work? To bear witness to God’s work, you must rely on your experience, knowledge, and the price you have paid. Only thus can you satisfy His intentions. Are you someone who bears witness to God’s work? Do you have this resolution? If you are able to bear witness to His name, and even more, to His work, and if you can live out the image of His people that He requires, then you are a witness for God! Just how do you bear witness to God? If you seek and long to live out God’s word, and to give testimony with your own mouth, such that people may come to know His work and see His deeds—if you truly pursue this, then God will perfect you. If all you pursue is being perfected by God and being blessed in the very end, then the perspective of your faith in God is not pure. You should be pursuing how to see God’s deeds in real life, how to satisfy Him when He makes His intentions manifest to you, and pursuing how you ought to bear witness to His wondrousness and wisdom, and how to bear witness to how He disciplines and prunes you. All of these are things you should now be pondering. If your God-loving heart is solely so that you can gain glory with God after He perfects you, then it is still inadequate and cannot meet God’s requirements. You need to be able to bear witness to God’s work, satisfy His requirements, and experience the work He does on people in a practical way. Whether it be pain, tears, or sorrow, you must experience all of these things practically. They are meant to perfect you as a witness of God. What is it, exactly, that now compels you to suffer and pursue being perfected? Is your present suffering truly for the sake of loving God and bearing witness to Him? Or is it for the sake of blessings of the flesh, for your future prospects and fate? All of your intentions, motivations, and the goals that you pursue must be rectified and cannot be guided by your own will.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement