Relevant Words of God:

Now, what knowledge and appreciation do you have regarding the concept of faith in God? How are they different from the understanding of faith in God you had within religion? As of now, do you truly understand what belief in religion and faith in God actually are? Is there a difference between belief in religion and faith in God? Where does the difference lie? Have you gotten to the bottom of these questions? What sort of person is the usual believer in religion? What is their focus? How should belief in religion be defined? Belief in religion is acknowledgment that there is a God, and believers in religion make certain changes to their behavior: They don’t hit or swear at people, they don’t do bad things that harm people, and they don’t commit various crimes or break the law. On Sundays, they go to church. These are believers in religion. This means that behaving well and often attending assembly is proof that someone believes in religion. When someone believes in religion, they acknowledge that there is a God, and they think that to believe in God is to be a good person; as long as they do not sin or do bad things, they’ll be able to go to heaven when they die and will have a good outcome. Their faith gives them sustenance on the spiritual level. As such, belief in religion can also be defined as follows: To believe in religion is to acknowledge, in one’s heart, that there is a God; to believe that they will be able to go to heaven when they die; to have in their heart a spiritual pillar; to change a bit in behavior; and to be a good person. That’s all there is to it. As for whether the God they believe in exists or not, whether He can express the truth, what He asks of them—they have no idea. They infer and imagine all of this based on the teachings of the Bible. This is belief in religion. Belief in religion is primarily the pursuit of behavioral changes and spiritual sustenance. But the path that such people walk—the path of pursuing blessings—has not changed. Their mistaken views, notions and imaginings about faith in God have not changed. The foundation of their existence, and the goals and direction that they pursue in their lives, are based on the ideas and opinions of traditional culture, and have not changed at all. Such is the state of everyone who believes in religion. So, what is faith in God? What is God’s definition of faith in God? (Belief in the sovereignty of God.) It is belief in the existence of God and His sovereignty—that is what’s most fundamental. To believe in God is to heed God’s words, to exist, live, perform one’s duty, and engage in all activities of normal humanity as God’s words require. The implication is that to believe in God is to follow God, to do what God asks, to live as He asks; to believe in God is to follow the way of God. Are the goals and direction of the lives of people who believe in God not completely different from those of people who believe in religion? What does faith in God involve? It involves whether or not people are able to listen to God’s words, accept the truth, cast off corrupt dispositions, drop everything to follow God, and be loyal in their duties. These things have a direct correlation with whether or not they can be saved. You now know the definition of faith in God; how, then, should faith in God be practiced? What does God require of believers in Him? (That they be honest people, and that they pursue the truth, dispositional transformation, and knowledge of God.) What requirements does God have for people’s outward behavior? (He requires that people be devout, not dissolute, and that they live out normal humanity.) People should have the basic decorum of a saint and live out normal humanity. What, then, must one be possessed of to have normal humanity? This relates to many truths that one must practice as a believer. Only in possessing all these truth realities does one have normal humanity. Does someone believe in God if they don’t practice the truth? What are the consequences of not practicing the truth? Just how should people believe in God in order to attain salvation, and submit to and worship God? All these things relate to practicing God’s words and practicing many truths. So, one must believe in God according to God’s words and His requirements, and they must practice according to His requirements; only this is true faith in God. This gets to the root of the matter. Practicing the truth, following the words of God, and living according to God’s words: This is the right way of human life; faith in God relates to the path of human life. Faith in God relates to so many truths, and followers of God must understand these truths. How could they follow God if they did not understand and accept the truth? People who believe in religion do no more than acknowledge that there is a God and trust that there is a God—but they do not understand these truths, nor do they accept them, so people who believe in religion are not followers of God. To believe in religion, it is fine merely to behave well externally, to be restrained and regulations-abiding, and to have spiritual sustenance. If one behaves well and has a pillar and sustenance for their spirit, does their path in life change? (No.) Some people say that belief in religion and faith in God are the same thing. Do those people follow God, then? Do they believe in God according to His requirements? Have they accepted the truth? If someone does none of these things, then they are not believers in God or followers of Him. The most obvious way that belief in religion manifests in someone is a lack of acceptance of God’s present work and the truth He expresses. This is the trait that characterizes believers in religion; they are not followers of God at all. Belief in religion is only a pursuit of behavioral change and spiritual sustenance; it does not involve any truth. Therefore, believers in religion will not be changed in their life disposition, nor will they practice the truth or be able to listen to God’s words and submit to Him. This determines that they will have no true knowledge of God, either. When a person believes in religion, however good their behavior, however firm their acknowledgment of God, and however elevated their theory of faith in Him, they are not a follower of God. Who is it they follow, then? The one they follow is still Satan. What is the basis for what they live out, pursue and yearn for, and practice? What does their existence depend on? Certainly not the truth in God’s words. They continue to live by the corrupt disposition of Satan, conducting themselves according to Satan’s logic and philosophy. Everything they say is lies, without even a bit of truth. Their satanic disposition has not undergone any change, and it is still Satan whom they follow. Their outlook on life, values, way of dealing with the world, and principles of conduct are all revelations of Satan’s nature. Only their outward behavior has slightly changed, but their life’s path, way of existing, and viewpoint on things have not changed at all. If someone is a true believer in God, what may change in them over the course of a few years? (Their outlook on life and values will change.) The very foundation of that person’s existence will change. If the foundation of their existence changes, what will be the basis for their life? (Their life will be based on God’s words and the truth.) So, are you now living every day in accordance with God’s words in your speech and actions? You no longer lie, for instance: Why is that? What is your basis for that? (God’s requirement that one is to be an honest person.) When you stop lying and engaging in deception, it is based on God’s words, the requirement to be an honest person, and the truth. And isn’t the path you’re then walking in life a different one?

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. One Cannot Be Saved by Believing in Religion or Engaging in Religious Ceremony

Though many people believe in God, few understand what faith in God means, and what they must do to be in line with God’s intentions. This is because, though people are familiar with the word “God” and phrases such as “the work of God,” they do not know God, and still less do they know His work. No wonder, then, that all those who do not know God are muddled in their belief of Him. People do not take belief in God seriously, and this is entirely because believing in God is too unfamiliar, too strange for them. In this way, they fall short of God’s demands. In other words, if people do not know God, and do not know His work, then they are not fit for God’s use, and still less are they able to satisfy His intentions. “Belief in God” means believing that there is a God; this is the simplest concept as regards believing in God. What’s more, believing that there is a God is not the same as truly believing in God; rather, it is a kind of simple faith with strong religious overtones. True faith in God means the following: On the basis of the belief that God holds sovereignty over all things, one experiences His words and His work, purges one’s corrupt disposition, satisfies the intentions of God, and comes to know God. Only a journey of this kind may be called “faith in God.” Yet people often see belief in God as a simple and frivolous matter. People who believe in God in this way have lost what it means to believe in God, and though they may continue to believe until the very end, they shall never gain God’s approval, because they tread upon the wrong path. There are still those today who believe in God according to words and in hollow doctrine. They do not know that they lack the essence of belief in God, and they cannot receive God’s approval. Still they pray to God for blessings of safety and sufficient grace. Let us stop, quiet our hearts, and ask ourselves: Can it be that believing in God really is the easiest thing on earth? Can it be that believing in God means nothing more than receiving much grace from God? Are people who believe in God without knowing Him or who believe in God and yet oppose Him really able to satisfy the intentions of God?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Preface

Some people view the matter of believing in God in very simple terms. They think, “Believing in God means attending gatherings, praying, listening to sermons, fellowshipping, singing and praising God, and performing some duties. Isn’t that what believing in God is all about?” Right now, no matter how many years you have believed in God, you still have not fully understood the significance of faith in God. In fact, the meaning of faith in God is so profound that if a person’s experiences are too shallow, they will not be able to comprehend it. When they experience to the very end, the disposition of Satan and the satanic poisons within them must be cleansed and transformed. People must equip themselves with many truths, meet the standards God requires of man, and be able to truly submit to God and worship Him. Only then do they truly attain salvation. If you are still as you were before when you were part of a religion, just reciting some words and doctrines and chanting some slogans, performing a few good behaviors and actions, and refraining from certain sinful things—at least the obvious ones—this does not represent that you have entered the right track in your belief in God. Does following regulations mean that you are on the right path? Does it mean that you made the right choice? If the things within your nature do not change, then you can still resist God and offend Him in the end. This is the biggest problem. If you do not resolve this problem in your belief in God, can you be said to have truly attained salvation?

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Choosing the Right Path Is the Most Crucial Part of Belief in God

Mere behavioral changes are unsustainable; if there is no alteration in people’s life dispositions, then sooner or later, they will show their true colors. This is because behavioral changes have their source in fervor, and coupled with some work by the Holy Spirit at the time, it becomes extremely easy for them to be fervent or to have good intentions for a short time. As the nonbelievers say, “Doing one good deed is easy; what’s hard is doing a lifetime of good deeds.” Why are people incapable of doing good deeds throughout their entire lives? Because by nature, people are wicked, selfish, and corrupt. One’s behavior is directed by their nature; whatever one’s nature is, so is the behavior that one reveals, and only that which is revealed naturally represents one’s nature. Things that are fake cannot last. When God works to save man, it is not to adorn man with good behavior—the purpose of God’s work is to transform people’s dispositions, to make them reborn into new people. God’s judgment, chastisement, trials, and refinement of man all serve to change their disposition so that they may achieve absolute submission and loyalty to God, and come to worship Him normally. This is the aim of God’s work. Behaving well is not the same as submitting to God, much less does it equal being compatible with Christ. Changes in behavior are based on doctrine and born of fervor; they are not based upon true knowledge of God or upon the truth, much less do they rest upon guidance from the Holy Spirit. Even though there are times when some of what people do is enlightened or guided by the Holy Spirit, this is not a revelation of their life. They have not yet entered into the truth realities, and their life disposition has not changed at all. No matter how good a person’s behavior is, it does not prove that they submit to God or that they put the truth into practice. Behavioral changes do not represent changes in life disposition and they cannot be counted as revelations of life.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three

There are several major religions in the world, and each has its own head, or leader, and the followers are spread across different countries and regions all over the world; almost every country, be it large or small, has different religions within it. However, regardless of how many religions there are across the world, all people within the universe ultimately exist under the guidance of one God, and their existence is not guided by religious heads or leaders. This is to say that mankind is not guided by a particular religious head or leader; rather, the whole of mankind is led by the Creator, who created the heavens and earth and all things, and who also created mankind—this is a fact. Although the world has several major religions, regardless of how great they are, they all exist under the dominion of the Creator, and none of them can exceed the scope of this dominion. The development of mankind, the supersedure of society, the development of natural sciences—each is inseparable from the arrangements of the Creator, and this work is not something that can be done by any given religious head. A religious head is merely the leader of a particular religion, and cannot represent God, nor can they represent the One who created the heavens and earth and all things. A religious head can lead all those within the entire religion, but they cannot command all created beings beneath the heavens—this is a universally acknowledged fact. A religious head is merely a leader, and cannot stand equal to God (the Creator). All things are in the hands of the Creator, and in the end they will all return to the hands of the Creator. Mankind was made by God, and regardless of the religion, every person will return under the dominion of God—this is inevitable. Only God is the Most High among all things, and the highest ruler among all created beings must also return under His dominion. No matter how high the status of a man, that man cannot take mankind to a suitable destination, and no one is able to class all things according to kind. Jehovah Himself created mankind and classed each according to kind, and when the end time arrives He will still do His own work Himself, classing all things according to kind—this work cannot be done by any apart from God. The three stages of work carried out from the beginning until today were all carried out by God Himself, and were carried out by the one God. The fact of the three stages of work is the fact of God’s leadership of all mankind, a fact that no one can deny. At the end of the three stages of work, all things will be classed according to kind and return under the dominion of God, for throughout the entire universe there only exists this one God, and there are no other religions. He who is incapable of creating the world will be incapable of bringing it to an end, whereas He who created the world will surely be capable of bringing it to an end. Therefore, if one is unable to bring the age to an end and is merely able to help man cultivate his mind, then he will surely not be God, and will surely not be the Lord of mankind. He will be incapable of doing such great work; there is only one who can carry out such work, and all that are unable to do this work are surely enemies and not God. All evil religions are incompatible with God, and since they are incompatible with God, they are enemies of God. All work is done by this one true God, and the entire universe is commanded by this one God. Regardless of whether it is His work in Israel or in China, regardless of whether the work is carried out by the Spirit or by the flesh, all is done by God Himself, and can be done by no one else. It is precisely because He is the God of all mankind that He works freely, unconstrained by any conditions—this is the greatest of all visions.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God