The First Practice for Pursuing the Truth: Letting Go

Letting Go of the Barriers Between Oneself and God and One’s Hostility Toward God

I. Letting Go of One’s Notions and Imaginings About God: Letting Go of One’s Notions and Imaginings About God’s Work

F. God’s Work Does Not Change People’s Innate Conditions; It Aims to Change Their Corrupt Dispositions

Recently, we’ve carried out several fellowships involving the issues of innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions; primarily, we fellowshipped in detail and specifically about some manifestations of these three aspects. Through such detailed fellowship, have you gained some understanding of the specific classification of these manifestations? (Yes.) Having gained an understanding of the specific manifestations in these three aspects, is it now clearer for you why people must cast off their corrupt dispositions or what things in people need to be changed and cast off? Which aspects need to be changed, which do not need to be changed, which should be practiced according to the truth principles, and which are innate conditions preordained and arranged by God, unrelated to corrupt dispositions and not requiring people to expend effort or make any changes—are these matters now clear? (We feel somewhat clearer about them than before.) After gaining clarity, do you understand the significance of God’s work to cleanse people, transform their dispositions, and save them from Satan’s influence? Is it now clear what God’s working and speaking to provide the truth and expose various problems in people is directed at? Is God’s exposure of all the problems in people directed at their innate conditions? (No.) Is it directed at people’s natural defects in humanity? (No.) Then what is it directed at? (Primarily at people’s corrupt dispositions.) It is primarily directed at the principles by which people conduct themselves and act, their views and attitudes toward God, the truth, positive things, and other such issues. What are corrupt dispositions? Corrupt dispositions originate from Satan’s nature and are revealed from Satan’s nature. These things all go against the truth principles, are fallacious, and are actions and manifestations of resisting God. These things are the primary things that resist God and are the root causes of people being able to go against the truth, betray the truth, go against God’s intentions, and go against God’s requirements. Innate conditions, on the other hand, are merely some basic, instinctive things that people are born with; but the life on which humankind currently relies for survival is corrupt dispositions. Therefore, what God’s work aims to change is people’s corrupt dispositions. Precisely because corrupt dispositions resist God and are of Satan, and can be said to be overall manifestations of all negative things—the various corrupt dispositions revealed in people, or the various states and the detailed revelations and manifestations involving corrupt dispositions, are all related to negative things—the root cause of people resisting God, therefore, is not their innate conditions or certain defects in their humanity, but the life that takes corrupt dispositions as its foundation for survival. This life precisely originates from Satan. Thus, what ultimately needs to be transformed is people’s corrupt dispositions, and what needs to be cast off is also people’s corrupt dispositions. Of course, it can also be said that only when people’s corrupt dispositions are changed can they stop resisting God. In other words, only when people have cast off their corrupt dispositions does it mean they have been saved, and only when people have been saved can they stop resisting God and completely submit to God. Therefore, the true meaning of God’s work to save people is to enable them to cast off their corrupt dispositions. The true meaning and intended result of God telling people that pursuing the truth is viewing people and things, and conducting oneself and acting, according to God’s words and with the truth as one’s criterion is to enable people to cast off their corrupt dispositions and to view people and things, and conduct themselves and act, with God’s words as their life. Do you understand? (Yes.)

We previously fellowshipped on some specific revelations and manifestations involving innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions. Some manifestations pertain to innate conditions, some to defects in humanity, some are manifestations of vile character, and some are specific manifestations of corrupt dispositions. The defects in one’s humanity and the vile essence of one’s humanity are what people most easily get mixed up. Defects in humanity mostly fall under innate conditions. For example, some people stutter when speaking, and some people have a quick or slow temperament. These defects in humanity, as long as they do not fall under the category of vile character, basically fall within the scope of innate conditions. However, vile character is unrelated to innate conditions; it is a revelation of a corrupt disposition and should fall under corrupt dispositions, not under innate conditions. This is because, within a person’s character, God has given them two basic things: conscience and reason. If someone’s character is vile, this involves problems with their conscience and reason. This definitely doesn’t pertain to their innate conditions. It definitely falls under corrupt dispositions; it is a specific manifestation of a certain corrupt disposition. The facts are enough to show that after someone is corrupted by Satan, they lose their conscience and reason. Their heart is completely misled by Satan, and they accept many thoughts and viewpoints that come from Satan, as well as some sayings and opinions from evil trends. When things reach this point, their conscience and reason are utterly corrupted and corroded—it could be said that at this time their conscience and reason are completely lost. What is exhibited is that their character is very poor and evil. That is, before they have accepted positive things, they have already accepted many fallacious things from Satan in their heart. These things have severely corrupted their humanity, resulting in their humanity being very poor. For example, after they accept the satanic thought and viewpoint from the world which states, “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” will their conscience improve or remain the same, or will it deteriorate? (It will deteriorate.) And what are the specific manifestations of this deterioration? (They consider only their own interests in everything they do.) For the sake of their own purpose and interests, they stop at nothing. They can cheat and harm others and do anything that goes against morality and conscience. The more they do, the more ruthless their actions become, the darker their heart grows, the less sense of conscience they have, and the less humanity they retain. For their own interests, they will cheat and deceive anyone, deceiving people they know and people they don’t know alike—they will deceive colleagues, family members, and even the closest people around them, harming those who trust them the most. At the beginning, when they do these things, they experience some inner conflict and a slight feeling in their conscience. Later, they begin to think over how to take action, starting first with unfamiliar strangers, and eventually showing no mercy even to their own relatives. You see, their humanity is progressively being corrupted, it is gradually being eroded by Satan’s thoughts and viewpoints, such as “interests above all” and “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” This gradual erosion process is the process in which their conscience gradually loses awareness and ceases to function, until it ultimately reaches the point of being completely lost. In the end, they have no moral boundaries or sense of conscience in their actions, and they can deceive anyone. What is the reason they can deceive anyone? What is the root cause? It is because they have accepted Satan’s thoughts and viewpoints, and they act under the domination of Satan’s thoughts and viewpoints. Ultimately, the conscience and reason of their humanity no longer function; that is, the basic things that humanity should possess cease to work entirely, they are completely eroded and controlled by Satan’s evil thoughts. The process of erosion and control is the process of their acceptance of these thoughts and viewpoints, and, of course, it is also the process of their being corrupted. As the conscience and reason of their humanity are corrupted, what is ultimately exhibited in them is that their humanity becomes very poor, and in more severe cases, they lose their humanity. These are some manifestations of the humanity of normal corrupt humans.

There are also some special cases, where some people are not even born as humans, so they cannot be said to possess conscience and reason. To put this abstractly, they are not reincarnated from humans. Although the matter of rebirth, reincarnation, and transmigration is abstract and invisible to people, people should be able to understand this easily; it is something that people can figure out and comprehend. Such people are not reincarnated from humans, so what are they reincarnated from? Some are reborn and transmigrated from animals, and some are reincarnated from devils; they are born without humanity. People without humanity are born without conscience or reason; this is not entirely caused by corruption. They are inherently living Satans and living devils. They are reincarnated from devils. For example, antichrists are evil people; they are reincarnated from evil people. Later in life, they accept even more thoughts and viewpoints of Satan. What they originally have, combined with what they acquire later, makes them increasingly bad. Such people are born not loving positive things; they are inherently averse to positive things, and severely resist and detest positive things. Therefore, the manifestation of humanity in such people is that they do not have the slightest conscience or reason. It is entirely impossible to see any merits or strong points of humanity in them. Of course, this merit definitely does not refer to being adept at singing, adept at expressing one’s viewpoints, or adept at a certain technical skill or profession. These are not the merits referred to. Rather, it refers to merits of humanity, such as being kindhearted and good-natured, understanding others, or being empathetic. These specific manifestations within the scope of humanity’s conscience and reason are completely absent in them. So what are the main characteristics of the humanity of such people? Deviance and evil. These are the two main characteristics. They do not love positive things; when they hear about positive things, they can acknowledge that they are correct but never accept them. Everything in their hearts and everything they reveal is related to deviance and evil. This is one of the main characteristics of people whose inherent humanity essence is evil. Such people are reincarnated and transmigrated from devils and Satans. Even without artificial instillation, teaching, influence, or conditioning later in life, they are already very evil. They are inherently creatures of this sort. Their thoughts and viewpoints inherently possess many essential things that are of Satan. On top of that, they accept even more fallacious thoughts and viewpoints from Satan’s evil trends after birth. So, it can be said that fuel is added to the fire of the nature essence of such people, it becomes even more evil and worse, that is, it possesses every toxic quality imaginable and becomes even more severe. These are the two special cases of people reincarnated from animals and people reincarnated from devils. The normal situation is that regardless of what defects in humanity one is born with, as long as they exhibit some manifestations of vile character, it falls within the scope of corrupt dispositions. If they can accept the truth, practice the truth, and walk the path of pursuing the truth, eventually all their corrupt dispositions can be cast off. When their corrupt dispositions are cast off, the vile aspects of their character will be correspondingly changed. Such people are those who can be saved; they are normal corrupt humans. Even if you exhibit some manifestations of bad character, or lack integrity, or some manifestations of your humanity do not conform to the truth and are detestable to others, as long as your conscience and reason still exist and can still serve as the basic conditions for how you view people and things and conduct yourself and act—meaning your conscience and reason can still influence how you view people and things and conduct yourself and act, and your conscience and reason can still function in you—then ultimately your corrupt dispositions can be changed. If a person’s conscience and reason cannot control or steer anything they do, then it can be said that this kind of person is incapable of accepting the truth and even more so incapable of practicing it. So the corrupt dispositions of such people will not easily be cast off. Why is this? Because the conscience and reason of such people do not function whatsoever. They no longer have the opportunity to accept the truth and no longer possess the basic conditions for accepting the truth. It is very difficult for these people to cast off their corrupt dispositions. Therefore, regardless of what problems exist in your humanity, examine yourself to see whether, when you are about to act in a way that goes against humanity or the truth, you feel anything in your conscience or feel pain or reproach in your heart, and whether you have a boundary or standard in your heart to measure whether this matter should or should not be done, whether doing this matter goes against morality or conscience, and more deeply, whether it violates the truth principles. If you have a sense of conscience, can measure that this matter goes against humanity and the truth, and can, under the functioning of your conscience and reason, restrain yourself and keep your actions in check, then you have the opportunity or likelihood to be able to accept the truth and practice according to the truth principles. But if, when doing anything, you feel nothing in your conscience, cannot measure what the standard for this matter is or whether you should do it, and do not know whether doing this thing conforms to humanity, moral justice, or the truth principles—and, furthermore, when doing this thing it goes against conscience, humanity, or the truth principles, but your conscience cannot function to stop you from doing this wrong and negative thing—then people like you basically have no opportunity to accept the truth. What follows is that you have no opportunity to cast off your corrupt dispositions.

Whether people can cast off corrupt dispositions depends on whether they can accept the truth—this is quite obvious. And whether people can accept the truth depends on whether they have a sense of conscience. So how can it be discerned whether someone has a sense of conscience? It’s necessary to look at whether, when doing things, they have the most basic conscience that humanity should possess, and whether, when they do something or say something, their conscience functions. For example, when you want to say something that goes against your conscience and the facts to slander someone, or when you want to lie, your conscience reproaches you: “I shouldn’t say this. Saying this is lying and deceiving, which means that I’m not an honest person. God is scrutinizing, and my own conscience will not let me do this. It is not appropriate to say this.” Having these thoughts means your conscience is functioning. When your conscience is functioning, the words you say may still contain some adulterations or elements of human intent and may not be 100% accurate. However, under the effect of your conscience, the words you speak are already relatively appropriate. If you can further practice the truth and speak based on principles, then the words you say will be completely appropriate, and you will become an honest person. But if someone is not subject to the function of conscience, they are not necessarily able to become an honest person or speak honest words. For example, when the Above asks them about someone, they may think, “That person is indeed not bad. Their caliber is good, and their humanity is also quite good. Is the Above asking about them to promote them? If they are promoted, then that means I won’t be. I can’t tell the truth; I’ll just say they’re average”—they start thinking about how to speak in a way that benefits themselves. When they think this way, is their conscience functioning? They have no conscience, and they are not subject to the function of conscience. People without conscience have no humanity. They say whatever they want to say and lie whenever they want to lie. Why does lying not make them feel bad? Because they are not subject to the function of conscience. Thus, there is no restraint from conscience and reason in their heart, nor any restraining power. Ultimately, they can tell lies and fulfill their personal desire to lie according to their own will. In the end, what is the essence manifested by such people? It is doing things without the restraining power of conscience, which means they are not subject to the function of conscience. People who are not subject to the function of conscience make mistakes and commit evil without feeling accused or uneasy in their hearts. Therefore, they do everything using their own interests as the criterion. Such people have no restraining power whatsoever and are not subject to the function of conscience, so can they practice the truth? (No.) They cannot practice the truth. To measure what kind of humanity you have, you mainly have to look at whether your words and actions are governed by conscience and reason, and whether you can practice the truth, cast off corrupt dispositions, and achieve salvation. If your conscience and reason can still function normally, then you are a person with conscience and reason. If your words and actions are not restrained by conscience and reason, and you can even act utterly willfully and unscrupulously without any restraint, then you are not only devoid of conscience and reason but also lack humanity. If everything exhibited in a person’s humanity can basically fall within the scope of vile character, then this person basically has no humanity. The hallmark of having no humanity is the absence of conscience and reason, and doing things without the function of conscience. For example, if you tell them that one should conduct oneself with conscience and humanity, they think: “What is conscience worth? Can having conscience bring money? Can having conscience fill my stomach?” But for people with conscience, it is different. If they occasionally do something bad driven by greed, causing harm to others, they will later feel self-reproach and regret, thinking, “I’ve really wronged people by doing this to them. Isn’t this committing evil? How could I have been so deluded at that time? Why couldn’t I restrain myself? I need to find a way to make amends.” You see, they deceived someone at the time, and even though they gained some benefit, when they think about this benefit, they feel uneasy in their hearts and hate themselves, thinking, “How could I do something like this? I absolutely cannot do this again in the future. I’d rather live in poverty or go hungry than do this again. That’s not something a person should do—doing it would lead to lifelong regret!” Doing something like this once feels as disgusting as swallowing a dead fly for them. So they never do it again. They feel remorse and troubled in their hearts. People without humanity, on the other hand, will rack their brains and focus entirely on deceiving others, deceiving them completely without holding back; their conscience does not accuse them, and they show no mercy. They harm others terribly and even feel happy, thinking, “Serves them right! Who told them to fall into my hands? If I don’t deceive them, who else would I deceive? It’s just their bad luck to have run into me!” Do such people have any sense of conscience? (No.) No matter how terribly they deceive others or to what extent they harm them, they never offer a single word of apology and feel no guilt or remorse whatsoever. Instead, they feel proud and fortunate in their hearts. Each time they enjoy what they have obtained through deception, they do not feel troubled but believe it is entirely justified. They think that they are capable, skilled, and clever, that what they thought and did at the time was correct, and that they should have gotten even more through their deception. Tell Me, do such people have humanity? (No.) After committing evil, they can still think this way and exhibit such behavior. Do you think this kind of person can be saved? Will they deceive again if faced with similar circumstances? (They will.) They will only become more skillful at deception, more pleased with themselves, and feel increasingly clever the more they deceive. With each deception, their heart grows darker, their actions more ruthless, and their methods crueler. Such people are beyond salvation. It can be said that they have been completely taken captive by Satan. They are evil people, devils, and scoundrels through and through. If you talk to such people about conscience and humanity, they will sneer at you and say, “You big dope, acting with conscience and humanity—who’s going to give you money for that? Aren’t you just going to end up poor? Look at how well I’m doing, and just look at you—so pathetic!” They will sneer at you and disdain you. Such humanity is utterly devoid of conscience—the conscience of such people has been completely lost; they’ve been utterly taken over by devils, and they’ve become out-and-out living devils. Therefore, don’t talk about the truth with such people—they cannot accept it. They do not even have normal humanity, so how can they accept the truth? People who can accept the truth have a boundary when it comes to viewing people and matters, and conducting themselves and acting, especially when it involves their own interests. What is this boundary? It is being restrained and controlled by their conscience. If they can be restrained and controlled by their conscience, it can be said that such people still have a certain degree of humanity and a boundary in their self-conduct. This means that they act with a certain level of propriety. When associating with others or doing anything, if they do not understand the truth principles or do not know how to act in accordance with the truth, they can at the very least observe boundaries of conscience. In other words, their conscience still has awareness and can function. If their conscience can function, then they have the opportunity to accept the truth. Their conscience will develop in a positive direction, and ultimately the parts of their character that are not good will change somewhat. As their character gradually undergoes transformation, their various corrupt dispositions will also be cast off step by step. Is this clear now? (Yes.)

People should see clearly whom God saves and which parts of people God saves and transforms. For one thing, they should have a clear understanding of themselves, and for another, they should also have discernment regarding those around them. Regarding manifestations of vile character, some of these involve the revelations of corrupt dispositions. These primarily refer to manifestations that violate the truth and are rebellious against God and resistant to God. In the eyes of people, such actions do not violate the law and would not be condemned by the law, but they are condemned by God. These fall under corrupt dispositions. Other manifestations of vile character not only involve corrupt dispositions but also pertain to the problem of having a vicious humanity essence. Such people are capable of doing any kind of bad deed and they are utterly evil people. If a person has problems with their character in only one aspect, but they still speak and act with conscience and reason, and they only commit some evil under special circumstances, then they are not an evil person. Evil people have no conscience or reason whatsoever. Can people without conscience and reason do good things? Absolutely not. Can they practice the truth? Even less so. If a person’s conscience is functioning and has restraining power, then their character and behavior can improve to some extent. If a person has no conscience and no matter what they do they lack the function of conscience, then their character and behavior will not improve. Therefore, discerning a person cannot be entirely based on their character or integrity; the primary thing is to see whether they have conscience and reason, and whether their conscience and reason are functioning. If they have conscience and reason, and their conscience and reason can function when they act, then they still possess basic humanity. If their actions lack the function of conscience and reason, then they do not possess basic humanity—they are devoid of humanity. People who possess the basic function of conscience and basic humanity have the opportunity for salvation, while those who lack basic humanity have no opportunity for salvation. What is the main factor in whether someone can receive salvation? (The main factor is whether they have conscience and reason within them.) That’s right. So, can you discern whether someone has conscience and reason? (We can discern a little. The most important thing is to see whether a person is internally restrained by conscience and reason when they act, and whether they have moral boundaries.) In terms of doctrine and theory, this is how it is explained—do you have any concrete examples? (For example, some people, while doing their duty, violate principles and commit reckless misdeeds, and the brothers and sisters point out their problems or prune them. In such cases, if those people have conscience and reason, they will proactively reflect on and try to know themselves. However, if they lack conscience and reason, they may develop resentment or even strike out and retaliate.) This is a good example. When people with conscience and reason are criticized by others for doing something wrong, they feel ashamed and guilty. They develop remorse in their hearts, and with remorse, they will have manifestations of repentance and are willing to do better. As for people without conscience and reason, no matter how great the misdeeds or mistakes they commit are, no matter how much loss they cause to church work or how much trouble and disturbance they bring to the brothers and sisters, when criticized, they have a hundred reasons with which to justify and defend themselves, refusing to acknowledge their transgressions in the slightest. It’s obvious that they cause losses to the work, yet they feel no guilt in their hearts. Tell Me, will they feel remorse? (They won’t.) They will not feel remorse. Can people without remorse repent? (No.) Are people who cannot repent those who accept the truth? (They are not.) Will they continue to do the same things? (Yes.) Until when? (Since they lack a sense of conscience, they will keep doing it.) That’s right. They will keep doing this. No matter what others say, they won’t listen: “This is just how I do things—like it or not! What does the church’s work suffering losses have to do with me? All that matters is that I don’t suffer any losses myself.” This is their viewpoint. Alright, that’s all for our fellowship on this topic. Ponder on what we’ve fellowshipped, match it to yourself and the things and people around you, gradually understand it, and use these words to view others, view things, and view yourselves. Little by little, you will gain understanding of these things.