What is the difference between an honest person and a deceitful person?

February 23, 2021

Relevant Words of God:

I take pleasure in those who are not suspicious of others, and I like those who readily accept the truth; toward these two kinds of people I show great care, for in My eyes they are honest people. If you are deceitful, then you will be guarded and suspicious toward all people and matters, and thus your faith in Me will be built upon a foundation of suspicion. I could never acknowledge such faith. Lacking true faith, you are even more devoid of true love. And if you are liable to doubt God and speculate about Him at will, then you are, without question, the most deceitful of all people.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. How to Know the God on Earth

In the presence of God, some people are all prim and proper, they take pains to be “well-behaved,” yet they bare their fangs and brandish their claws in the presence of the Spirit. Would you number such people among the ranks of the honest? If you are a hypocrite, someone who is skilled in “interpersonal relations,” then I say that you are definitely someone who tries to trifle with God. If your words are riddled with excuses and valueless justifications, then I say that you are someone who is loath to put the truth into practice. If you have many confidences that you are reluctant to share, if you are highly averse to laying bare your secrets—your difficulties—before others to seek the way of the light, then I say that you are someone who will not attain salvation easily, and who will not easily emerge from the darkness. If seeking the way of the truth pleases you well, then you are someone who dwells always in the light. If you are very glad to be a service-doer in the house of God, working diligently and conscientiously in obscurity, always giving and never taking, then I say that you are a loyal saint, because you seek no reward and are simply being an honest person. If you are willing to be candid, if you are willing to expend your all, if you are able to sacrifice your life for God and stand firm in your testimony, if you are honest to the point where you know only to satisfy God and not to consider yourself or take for yourself, then I say that such people are those who are nourished in the light and who shall live forever in the kingdom. You should know whether there is true faith and true loyalty within you, whether you have a record of suffering for God, and whether you have wholly submitted to God. If you lack these, then there remains within you disobedience, deceit, greed, and complaint. As your heart is far from honest, you have never received positive recognition from God and never lived in the light. How one’s fate will work out in the end hinges upon whether they have an honest and blood-red heart, and whether they have a pure soul. If you are someone who is very dishonest, someone with a heart of malice, someone with an unclean soul, then you are sure to end up in the place where man is punished, as is written in the record of your fate.

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

A deceitful person will play his tricks on anybody, including his relatives—even his own children. No matter how forthright you are with him, he will play games with you. This is the true face of his nature—he is of this nature. It is difficult to change and he is like that all the time. Honest people may sometimes say something sly and deceitful, but such a person is usually relatively honest; he handles affairs directly and does not take unfair advantage of others in his dealings with them. When he speaks with others, he does not say things intentionally to test them; he can open up his heart and communicate with others. Everyone says he is quite honest, but there are still times when he speaks with some deceitfulness. That is simply a manifestation of a corrupt disposition and does not represent his nature, because he is not that type of person.

—“How to Know Man’s Nature” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:

Because of the difference in nature between honest people and deceitful people, their behavior and conduct are also greatly dissimilar. Within the church, honest people are easily perfected, whereas deceitful people are not easily perfected. This is because honest people are willing to accept the truth and can put the truth into practice, whereas deceitful people find it difficult to put the truth into practice, even if they do accept the truth. Honest people are able to give their hearts to God in their belief in God, whereas deceitful people are not. Honest people are able to dedicate everything to expend themselves for God, whereas deceitful people are apt to ask for something in return and to make conditions. The hearts of honest people are pure and sincere, whereas the hearts of deceitful people are treacherous and fickle. Honest people spare no effort to satisfy God whenever He requires something of them, whereas deceitful people are slipshod in any duty they do and they keep one foot in the door to ensure they have a way out. Honest people are particular about trustworthiness in both speech and action, and they do not try to cheat God or other people, whereas deceitful people brazenly cheat everyone, and to them this is fine so long as they achieve their own aims. Honest people are magnanimous when they fellowship with others, they don’t haggle over individual losses or gains, and they promote loyalty with an emphasis on emotion, whereas deceitful people always vie with others to gain an advantage, and they are apt to toy with other people. Honest people are able to open their hearts and speak what is in their hearts in their dealings with others, and be honest and aboveboard, whereas deceitful people harbor dark designs that they keep from other people, and they are incapable of getting along with others. Honest people are direct and straightforward in their speech and comportment, and are matter-of-fact and plain-spoken, whereas deceitful people are evasive and harbor treacherous intent in their speech and comportment, and they say one thing and do another. Honest people are pure and open, innocent and lively, and both God and other people love them, whereas deceitful people harbor sinister motives, they play a role according to circumstances, they make grand gestures, there is too much falsehood and hypocrisy in them, and both God and other people detest them. All these manifestations are the differences between honest people and deceitful people.

—The Fellowship From the Above

If people are not honest, God is not pleased with them and they will not be able to stand firm within the crowd. Honest people are not only liked by God, but also by others. Why are honest people liked by others? One aspect is that they are trustworthy. When you associate with them, you feel calm and steady, and you are free from misgivings. You’re not concerned about future troubles, you do not worry that they will try and deceive you or harm you. The main thing is that honest people can help others, open their hearts to others, and be beneficial for others. Because honest people love the truth and are able to practice the truth when believing in God, and God loves honest people, the Holy Spirit works in them. When the Holy Spirit works in an honest person they will gain God’s grace, be able to understand the truth, and live out the likeness of a true human being. This is why others like honest people. In addition, associating with honest people allows you to learn how to conduct yourself, how to act, how to practice the truth, and ultimately to live out the likeness of a normal human being. Why do people dislike deceitful people? Why does God despise deceitful people? What are the expressions of corruption of deceitful people? What is their nature and essence? What do they bring to others? A deceitful person, from the essence of their corrupt disposition, is extremely selfish. They do everything for themselves, they seek only their own pleasures, they do not consider others, they do not care whether others live or die. This is the most selfish and despicable kind of person. If someone who is not honest wields power within the church, will God’s chosen people gain any benefit? He does not consider whether or not God’s chosen people can gain anything through eating and drinking God’s words, whether or not they can obtain the truth, enter into reality, or enter onto the right track of faith in God and be saved. What he considers is, “As long as I have pleasure and status, as long as I stand out from the crowd and have control over others, I’m satisfied and that’s fine!” As long as his own fleshly desires are attained then he is finished with his business; he does not take into account whether God’s chosen people live or die. Is this not the most essential aspect of a deceitful person? So, the core of a deceitful person’s essence is self-centeredness, seeking fleshly enjoyment for themselves, and not caring about others’ feelings.

—Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

Honest people pursue the truth because they love the truth. Deceitful people do not love the truth. They like doctrines, they like to explain things to people and they like to show off, and so they pay a lot of attention to preaching and speaking. Deceitful people are concerned about their outward appearance. This is just like the Pharisees who prayed to God only so that others could see them do it. They prayed at intersections so that people in all directions could see them. They appeared to be quite devout on the outside, but actually they were being total cheats and total phonies. Honest people love the truth. When in the presence of God, they do not have any other thoughts except for pursuing the truth, grasping God’s will, and being willing to satisfy God—they have no desires besides these. They do not harbor all kinds of cunning plots and they do not have so many selfish and despicable ideas. They have pure hearts. In everything, they just ponder over this one thought: “How can I satisfy God? What is God’s true will?” If they don’t understand, they pray continuously and ponder over it continuously until they have figured it out. People like this are honest people. Honest people, in their prayers before God, do not ask for anything else besides seeking the truth. If they do not seek the truth or grasp God’s will in their prayers, they will feel they have nothing to say, for they feel that it is pointless and hollow to pray for anything else besides these things. They are not willing to say false things. Deceitful people are not like this. They are always showing off before God, speaking of their own reasoning, displaying their abilities, and showing off their achievements. In fact, everything they do is for others to see, so that others approve of them, praise them and listen to them. All those who do not pursue the truth, who do not seek and try to grasp God’s will and who do not thirst for the truth are deceitful people, hypocritical people….

—Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life