I

What you need is not truth and life,

nor the principles of how to conduct yourselves,

much less God’s painstaking work.

Rather, what you need is everything you possess in the flesh.

You are utterly dismissive of God’s words and work,

so God can sum up your faith in one word: perfunctory.

God can sum up your faith in one word: perfunctory.

You will go to any lengths to achieve the things

to which you are absolutely devoted,

but you would not do the same for the sake of matters

concerning your belief in God.

Rather, you are relatively devoted and earnest.

That is why God says that those who lack a heart of utmost sincerity

are failures in their belief in God.

Think carefully—are there many failures among you?

II

Success in belief in God is achieved as a result of people’s own actions;

when people don’t succeed but instead fail,

that too is due to their own actions,

and no role is played by any other factor.

You would do anything it takes to achieve something

that is more difficult and entails more suffering than believing in God,

and you would treat it very seriously,

so much so that you would be unwilling to tolerate any errors;

these are the kinds of unremitting efforts

all of you put into your own lives.

You are even capable of deceiving God’s flesh

under circumstances in which you would not deceive

any member of your own family.

This is your consistent behavior

and the principle by which you conduct yourselves.

III

Finally, God hopes you all put in serious effort

for the sake of your own destination,

though you had better not employ deceitful means in your efforts,

or else God will continue to be disappointed with you in His heart.

And what does such disappointment lead to?

Are you not fooling yourselves?

Those who take thought for their destination yet ruin it

are the people least able to be saved.

Even if he were to become exasperated and enraged,

who would take pity on such a person?

In sum, God still wishes for you to have a destination

that is both suitable and good,

and, even more, He hopes that none of you will fall into disaster.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. On Destination