By Sheila, Kenya

I was born into a Catholic family. From a young age, my grandmother taught me how to pray and how to observe Catholic rituals. By the time I was fifteen, I began to study Catholic doctrine. Our priest always said we should follow God’s commandments, love each other, attend Mass, and do good deeds. He said that only people who did these things were devout believers and when the Lord comes He would take them up to the kingdom of heaven. I often told myself, “I must do as God says, follow all the church rules and actively do good deeds, so that the Lord will love me and when He returns He’ll bless me and take me up to the kingdom of heaven.”

After going to college, I suspended my studies so I could have more time to offer my service at church. During this time, I found that other churchgoers looked so pious when in church, praying and attending Mass, but in their lives, they smoked, drank, and went to wild parties. I was disgusted, thinking, “The Lord teaches us to love Him, to help those in need, and to shun worldly temptations. These people might look like they believe in the Lord but they don’t really do anything for Him at all. They lust after worldly things and seek worldly pleasures. Doesn’t that go against the Lord’s teachings? I can’t be like them. I’ll do more good works for the Lord so I can get into the kingdom of heaven when the time comes.” But over time, I found I couldn’t keep God’s commandments in my day-to-day life either. Whenever I saw those pleasure-seeking church members living happily and freely while I faced hardships and adversity, I couldn’t help but blame God. The Lord teaches us to love others as ourselves but I was always envying and looking down on people. My family scolded me when I did something wrong but I’d just make excuses, quibble, and get angry at them. The Lord teaches us to be humble and forgiving but I didn’t adhere to this. I felt really guilty, like I was a believer in name only. I began to ponder, “Why can’t I ever overcome my sins? Even though I’d confess to my priest every time I sinned and do good deeds to make up for it, I’d still end up committing that same sin. How could God bless a faith like mine?” But our priest always told us that by confessing to him after we’d sinned, we’d be forgiven, and as long as we worked for the Lord and did good deeds then He would have mercy on us again, bless us, and let us into His kingdom, because it says in the Bible: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice” (2 Timothy 4:7–8). Thinking of what the priest said comforted me. I thought that as long as I attended Mass more, went to confession, and kept expending myself for the Lord then I had hope of getting into the kingdom of heaven. So, I kept myself busy with good deeds. I’d visit sick people and prisoners, and I volunteered at an orphanage.

One day in 2017, I went on Facebook to scroll through messages just like always when I suddenly saw a passage a sister named Betty had posted: “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. … ‘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). These words felt so fresh and new. I was immediately hooked. I’d especially never considered the questions at the end of this piece before. I thought, “This is fantastic! Whose words are these? Such a short passage totally reveals the meaning of faith in God and what we aim to get from our faith.” I contemplated these words, quieting my heart and earnestly considering my faith for the first time in my life. I thought back over my years of faith. I participated in lots of church activities and ceremonies, was active in church ministry and did good deeds in the community, and I suffered a little and paid some price. But I did those things so that my family and I could be blessed and protected by God, and especially so that I could get into the kingdom of heaven. I always thought I was right to pursue such things, that God would be pleased with my faith, and that I’d receive His promises and blessings. But after reading those words, I became dimly aware of a much deeper meaning to faith. Actively doing good deeds and denying myself only to get blessings from the kingdom of heaven in return wasn’t truly loving God. How could God commend that kind of faith? But then I thought about how I’d believed in the Lord for over 20 years, always engaged in church ministry. Could all my suffering and sacrifices have been for nothing? The more I pondered those words, the more I wanted to see what else was on Sister Betty’s Facebook timeline so I could get this all straight in my head. And so, I got in touch with her and we had a gathering online.

I told her how I’d felt when I read those words, “What you posted online was fantastic. It showed me that I believe in the Lord just for blessings, that that’s not truly loving the Lord. But there’s one thing I don’t get. The Bible says: ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice’ (2 Timothy 4:7–8). My priest always says that as long as we keep doing good works and good deeds then the Lord will bless us and we’ll be able to get into the kingdom of heaven. I’ve done this throughout all the years of my faith. Will the Lord really not remember the things I’ve done? Will I not be able to get into the kingdom of heaven?” Betty shared this fellowship, “Always toiling, making sacrifices, and doing good deeds for the Lord will please the Lord, and when He returns He will rapture us up into His kingdom. This is what Paul said. The Lord Jesus never said anything like that, and neither did the Holy Spirit. These words just represent Paul’s own views, and they’re not what the Lord intended. The words of man are not the truth. Only God’s words are the truth. When it comes to the important matter of getting into the kingdom of heaven, God’s words must be our basis. If we go by the words of man, we’ll be likely to stray from the Lord’s way. So who exactly is able to get into the kingdom of heaven? The Lord Jesus tells us clearly: ‘Not every one that said to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that follows the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 7:21). This shows us that God doesn’t look at how much we sacrifice when determining whether we can get into the kingdom of heaven. Instead, He looks at whether or not we follow His will. That is, to enter the kingdom of heaven, people have to rid themselves of their sinful nature and be cleansed, and they have to follow God’s words, and submit to, love, and worship God. If we toil and work lots and make many sacrifices, but we can’t follow God’s words, and often sin and resist God, then we can’t get into the kingdom of heaven. Those Jewish Pharisees who resisted the Lord served God year in, year out in the temple and spread God’s gospel far and wide. They suffered greatly and paid a high price. From the outside, they looked loyal to God but all that concerned them was holding religious rituals. They kept and preached human traditions and doctrines, and discarded God’s laws and commandments. Their service totally went against God’s intention and they strayed from the way of God. Especially when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the Pharisees wildly condemned and slandered Him and did all they could to stop people from following Him, in order to protect their own positions and livelihoods. In the end, they colluded with the Roman government to crucify the Lord Jesus, incurring God’s punishment. This proves that people could work hard and make sacrifices and expend themselves, but it doesn’t mean they follow God’s will. This is because they haven’t been cleansed of sin, and people will still sin and resist God even if they have made sacrifices and expended themselves a lot for Him. Then there’s us. Though we appear to work hard, to be kind and giving, and we help our fellow churchgoers, our aim is to be blessed and to get into the kingdom of heaven. When God blesses us, we thank and praise Him. When we get sick or disaster befalls us, we blame and misunderstand Him, and could even betray Him. This shows us that we don’t do all these things out of love for God or to satisfy God, but to make deals with God. We’re just using God to satisfy our own ambitions and desires. How then are we people who follow the heavenly Father’s will? The Bible says: ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ (1 Peter 1:16). God is holy, so how could God ever lead such filthy people as us into the kingdom of heaven? Only by casting off our sinful nature, being cleansed, and no longer sinning or resisting God can we be approved of by God and be fit to enter the kingdom of heaven.” As I listened to her, I thought, “I used to think I could get into the kingdom of heaven with good works, but now it seems I’ve been practicing my faith at odds with God’s intention. People can only enter the kingdom of heaven by becoming holy, but I don’t know how to become holy.” I shared my thoughts with Sister Betty.

She read me some relevant passages of Almighty God’s words: “A sinner such as you, who has just been redeemed, and has not been changed, or been perfected by God, can you be in line with God’s intentions? For you, you who are still of your old self, it is true that you were saved by Jesus, and that you are not counted as a sinner because of the salvation of God, but this does not prove that you are not sinful, and are not impure. How can you be saintly if you have not been changed? Within, you are beset by impurity, selfish and mean, yet you still wish to descend with Jesus—you should be so lucky! You have missed a step in your belief in God: You have merely been redeemed, but you have not been changed. For you to be in line with God’s intentions, God must personally do the work of changing and cleansing you; if you are only redeemed, you will be incapable of attaining sanctity. In this way you will be unqualified to share in the good blessings of God, for you have missed out a step in God’s work of managing man, which is the key step of changing and perfecting. You, a sinner who has just been redeemed, are therefore incapable of directly inheriting God’s inheritance” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Concerning Appellations and Identity). “Though Jesus came among man and did much work, He only completed the work of redeeming all mankind and served as man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition. And so, after man was forgiven of his sins, God returned to the flesh to lead man into the new age, and began the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and they shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Preface). Sister Betty then said, “In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus just did the work of redemption. After we accept His salvation, we just need to confess and repent to Him and our sins are forgiven, and then we can enjoy the grace and blessings He bestows on us. The Lord Jesus forgave our sins, but He doesn’t absolve our sinful nature and satanic dispositions. After Satan corrupted us, we became dominated by our corrupt dispositions, like arrogance, conceitedness, crookedness, deceitfulness, wickedness and greed, so we can’t help but sin and resist God. It’s our satanic nature that is the root of our sin and resistance against God; if we don’t resolve our sinful nature, we’ll never stop sinning and resisting God and we’ll never be fit to enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s why the Lord said He’d return in the last days, expressing the truth to do the work of judgment beginning in God’s house to utterly cleanse and change our satanic dispositions. We can then be free of sin and be fully saved and gained by God. It’s just as the Lord prophesied: ‘He that despises Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day’ (John 12:48). ‘I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; and the things that are to come, He shall show you’ (John 16:12–13). Only by accepting the returned Lord’s judgment work in the last days can we be cleansed of our corruption. Only then will we be fit to inherit God’s promises and enter His kingdom.” Sister Betty’s fellowship really made me see the light. All those years, I’d sinned and then confessed to the priest and worked hard to do good deeds, but I still couldn’t stop myself from sinning. Now I knew that the Lord Jesus only did the work of redemption and by believing in Him we only had our sins forgiven, but our sinful nature still remained within us. That’s why I was still living in a vicious cycle of sinning and confessing. The only way to be cleansed of our corruption is to accept the returned Lord’s judgment work in the last days. Only then will we be able to truly submit to and fear God and be fit to enter God’s kingdom. That thought made me so happy. I now had hope to get into the kingdom of heaven!

The next day, Sister Betty played a reading called “The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’.” It was really touching for me and I felt those words were so authoritative. She told me excitedly, “The Lord we’ve been yearning for has already returned as Almighty God incarnate. Almighty God expresses many truths and does the work of judgment beginning in God’s house. What we read yesterday and the reading we listened to today were all uttered by Almighty God. He has come and opened the seven seals and unrolled the small scroll. He has disclosed all the mysteries we’ve never understood and bestowed all the truths we need to be fully saved and cleansed. This fulfills the prophecy in Revelation: ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 3:6). Hearing God’s voice today is by the guidance of God, and we’re so blessed!” I was overjoyed and thrilled to hear the news that the Lord had returned. The reading I’d listened to and the words I’d read the day before were all God’s words. No wonder they possessed such authority! Who else could disclose the mystery of how the Lord returns? No one other than God could do this. I was totally convinced that these words were uttered by God and that the Lord had returned! I was so excited just then. I’d never imagined I’d be able to welcome the Lord’s return. I felt so blessed! I just had one question: “How does God do the work of judgment to cleanse and fully save man?”

Sister Betty then read me this passage of Almighty God’s words in answer to my question: “Christ of the last days uses a variety of truths to teach man, to expose the substance of man, and to dissect the words and deeds of man. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should submit to God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of God, and so on. These words are all directed at the substance of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, the words that expose how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan, and an enemy force against God. In undertaking His work of judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with a few words; He exposes and prunes over the long term. All these different methods of exposure and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth of which man is utterly bereft. Only methods such as these can be called judgment; only through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly convinced about God, and moreover gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the intentions of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt essence and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the essence of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth). After reading this, Sister Betty said, “In the last days, Almighty God works to judge and cleanse mankind with His words. He judges man’s rebellion and unrighteousness, man’s God-resisting satanic nature and corrupt dispositions, and exposes our desire for blessings and our tainted faith and our fallacious views and various notions about God. He also shows us how to be honest and how to serve in line with His intentions, how to truly submit to Him and love Him, how to follow His will, and so on. By experiencing the judgment and chastisement of His words, we see how we’ve been corrupted by Satan—being arrogant, conceited, crooked, deceitful, wicked and greedy—and how everything we live out comes from our satanic dispositions. In this we see God’s holy, righteous disposition that brooks no offense, and we begin to hate ourselves, feel regret, and focus on practicing the truth. Then our life dispositions gradually begin to change. All this is achieved by God’s words of judgment.” Sister Betty then shared her own experiences. In her faith before, she always thought that she loved the Lord because she expended herself and made sacrifices enthusiastically, so she often prayed, asking the Lord for grace and blessings. She firmly believed that because she’d suffered for the Lord, He would surely reward her with entry into the kingdom of heaven. After she’d accepted God’s last days’ work and was judged and exposed by His words, she saw her views on faith were wrong and tainted: She didn’t believe out of love for or submission to God or to do a created being’s duty, but to satisfy her own desire for blessings and to get the blessings of the kingdom of heaven in return. This was using God and making deals with Him. She realized that she was so selfish, without humanity or reason, and she fully regretted it and hated herself. She began to pursue the truth as God required and her wrong views on faith were made right. Her satanic disposition also began to change. She saw that the only way to truly know herself and be cleansed of her corruption was to accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. From her fellowship I saw how practical it is for God to express the truth and do His judgment work in the last days and how it really can change and cleanse people. I saw how much we need God to do His judgment work in the last days and that we now have a path to be freed from corruption. I was thrilled.

In later gatherings, Sister Betty fellowshipped with me on the mystery of God’s incarnation, how Satan corrupts man, how God saves man one step at a time, the inside story of the Bible, what outcomes and destinations await mankind, and more. These were truths that I’d never heard before in over 20 years of believing in God. The more I read Almighty God’s words, the more I felt them to be God’s voice. Only God incarnate could express such authoritative and powerful words. Besides God, who could expose the truth of mankind’s corruption by Satan? Who could show us the deviations in our faith and show us the right path in our belief? Who could disclose the mysteries of God’s 6,000-year plan and tell us what outcomes and destinations await us? I became convinced that Almighty God is the Lord returned—He is Christ of the last days! I then happily accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days.