The aim of fellowshipping the truth clearly is to enable people to understand and practice the truth and achieve changes in their dispositions. It is not simply to bring light and a little happiness to their hearts once they understand the truth. If you understand the truth but do not practice the truth, then there is no point in fellowshipping and understanding the truth. What is the problem when people understand the truth but do not put it into practice? This is proof that they do not love the truth, that in their hearts, they do not accept the truth, in which case they will miss out on God’s blessings and the opportunity for salvation. In whether or not people are able to attain salvation, what’s crucial is whether they are able to accept and practice the truth. If you have put into practice all of the truths you understand, you will receive the enlightenment, illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and will be able to enter the truth reality, and will achieve a deeper understanding of the truth, and will gain the truth, and will gain God’s salvation. Some people are incapable of practicing the truth, they are always complaining that the Holy Spirit does not enlighten or illuminate them, that God does not give them strength. This is wrong; this is misunderstanding God. The enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit is built on the foundation of people’s cooperation. People must be sincere, and willing to practice the truth, and whether their understanding is profound or superficial, they must be able to put the truth into practice. Only then will they be enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. If people understand the truth but do not put it into practice—if they just wait for the Holy Spirit to act and force them to put it into practice—are they not being extremely passive? God never forces people to do anything. If people understand the truth but are unwilling to put it into practice, this shows that they do not love the truth, or that their state is abnormal and there is some kind of blockage. But if people are able to pray to God, God will act, too; only if they are unwilling to practice the truth and also do not pray to God will the Holy Spirit have no means of working in them. In fact, no matter what kind of difficulty people have, it can always be solved; what’s key is whether or not they are able to practice according to the truth. Today, the problems of corruption in you are not a cancer, they are not some incurable disease. If you can resolve to practice the truth, you will receive the work of the Holy Spirit, and it will be possible for these corrupt dispositions to change. It all depends on if you can resolve to practice the truth, this is what’s key. If you practice the truth, if you walk the path of pursuing the truth, then you will be able to receive the work of the Holy Spirit, and can definitely be saved. If the path you walk is the wrong one, then you shall lose the work of the Holy Spirit, one wrong step will beget another, and it will all be over for you, and no matter how many years you continue believing for, you will not be able to attain salvation. For example, when they are working, some people never think about how to do the work in a way that benefits God’s house and is in line with God’s will—with the result that they do much that is selfish and vile, that is detestable and hateful to God; and in doing so, they have been revealed and eliminated. If, in all things, people are able to seek the truth and practice according to the truth, then they have already entered onto the right track of faith in God, and so have hope of becoming someone who is in line with God’s will. Some people understand the truth but do not put it into practice. Instead, they believe that the truth is nothing more than this, and is incapable of resolving their own inclinations and corrupt dispositions. Are such people not laughable? Are they not ridiculous? Are they not know-it-alls? If people are able to act according to the truth, then their corrupt dispositions can change. If their belief and service to God is according to their own natural personality, then not a single one of them will be able to achieve changes in their dispositions. There are some people who spend all day stewing in the grief of their own wrong choices. Given a ready-made truth, they do not give it any thought or try to put it into practice, but insist on choosing their own path. What an absurd way of behaving this is; truly, they can’t even enjoy blessings when they have them, and are destined to have a hard lot in life. Practicing the truth is that simple; whether you practice or not is all that matters. If you are someone who has resolved to practice the truth, then your negativity, weakness and corrupt disposition will gradually be resolved and changed; this depends on whether or not your heart loves the truth, whether or not you are able to accept the truth, whether or not you can suffer and pay a price in order to gain the truth. If you truly love the truth, you will be able to suffer all kinds of pain in order to gain the truth, whether this is being vilified, judged, or rejected by people. You should bear this all with patience and tolerance; and God will bless and protect you, He will not abandon or neglect you—this is absolute. If you pray to God with a God-fearing heart, depend on God and look up to God, there will be nothing you cannot get through. You may have a corrupt disposition, and you may transgress, but if you have a God-fearing heart, and if you scrupulously walk the path of pursuing the truth, then you will unquestionably be able to stand firm, and will unquestionably be led and protected by God.

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