(1) An understanding of the truth necessarily has its basis in God’s words, and, in practicing the truth, one must determine the principles of practice, rather than copying and adhering to regulations;

(2) The principles of practicing the truth are surely submissive to God and the truth, and are of benefit to the work of the church and man’s entry into life;

(3) It is not sufficient for one to confirm on their own that they are at peace in their soul with their practice of the truth; someone else who understands the truth should provide verification, without which total accuracy is not assured;

(4) Perform your duty according to the demands of God’s words and the work arrangements from the Above, and submit to the enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit within. This, too, is practicing the truth;

(5) Practicing the truth not only leads one into reality, but can also edify others. Only this is the true testimony of life experience.

Relevant Words of God:

The truth that man needs to possess is found in the word of God, and it is a truth that is the most beneficial and helpful to mankind. It is the tonic and sustenance that your body needs, something that helps man restore his normal humanity. It is a truth that man should be equipped with. The more you practice God’s word, the more quickly your life will blossom, and the clearer the truth will become. As you grow in stature, you will see things of the spiritual world more clearly, and the more strength you will have to triumph over Satan. Much of the truth that you do not understand will be made clear when you practice the word of God. Most people are satisfied to merely understand the text of God’s word and focus on equipping themselves with doctrines rather than on deepening their experience in practice, but is that not the way of the Pharisees? So how can the phrase, “The word of God is life” be real for them? A person’s life cannot grow simply by reading God’s word, but only when the word of God is put into practice. If it is your belief that to understand God’s word is all that is needed to have life and stature, then your understanding is warped. Truly understanding God’s word occurs when you practice the truth, and you must understand that “only by practicing the truth can it ever be understood.” Today, after reading the word of God, you can merely say that you know God’s word, but you cannot say that you understand it. Some say that the only way to practice the truth is to understand it first, but this is only partially correct, and is certainly not entirely accurate. Before you have knowledge of a truth, you have not experienced that truth. Feeling that you understand something you hear in a sermon is not truly understanding—this is just taking possession of the literal words of the truth, and it is not the same as understanding the true meaning therein. Just having a superficial knowledge of the truth does not mean that you actually understand it or have knowledge about it; the true meaning of the truth comes from having experienced it. Therefore, only when you experience the truth can you understand it, and only then can you grasp the hidden parts of it. Deepening your experience is the only way to grasp the connotations, and to understand the essence of the truth. Therefore, you can go everywhere with the truth, but if there is no truth in you, then do not think of trying to convince even your family members, much less religious people. Without the truth you are like fluttering snowflakes, but with the truth you can be happy and free, and none can attack you. No matter how strong a theory is, it cannot overcome the truth. With the truth, the world itself can be swayed and mountains and seas moved, whereas a lack of the truth can lead to strong city walls being reduced to rubble by maggots. This is an obvious fact.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Once You Understand the Truth, You Should Put It Into Practice

What is the most important thing in practicing the truth? Is it not that you must first grasp the principles? What are the principles? The principles are the practical side of the truth. When you read a sentence of God’s words, you think it is the truth, but you do not grasp the principles within it; you feel the sentence is correct, but you do not know in what way it is practical, or what state it is meant to address. You cannot grasp its principles or its path of practice. To you, this truth you perceive is merely doctrine. However, once you grasp the truth reality of that sentence, as well as what God’s requirements are—if you truly understand these things, and are able to pay the price and put them into practice—then you will gain that truth. As you gain that truth, little by little, your corrupt disposition is resolved, and that truth is worked into you. When you are able to put the reality of the truth into practice, and when your performance of your duty, your every action, and your conduct as a person are based in the principles of practice of this truth, are you not then changed? Above all, you have become someone who is in possession of truth reality. Is someone who is in possession of truth reality not the same as someone who acts with principles? And is someone who acts with principles not the same as someone who is in possession of the truth? Is someone who is in possession of the truth not also able to conform to God’s will? That is how these things relate.

—God’s Fellowship

How many religious practices do you observe? How many times have you rebelled against the word of God and gone your own way? How many times have you put God’s word into practice because you are truly considerate of His burdens and seek to satisfy His will? You should understand the word of God and put it into practice accordingly. Be principled in all your actions and deeds, though this does not mean abiding by rules or doing something grudgingly just for show; rather, it means practicing the truth and living by the word of God. Only practice such as this satisfies God. Any course of action that pleases God is not a rule, but the practice of truth. Some people have a penchant for drawing attention to themselves. In the presence of their brothers and sisters, they might say they are indebted to God, but behind their backs, they do not practice the truth and act entirely differently. Are these not religious Pharisees? A person who truly loves God and possesses the truth is one who is loyal to God but does not outwardly show off as such. Such a person is willing to practice the truth when situations arise, and does not speak or act in a way that goes against their conscience. This sort of person demonstrates wisdom when matters arise, and is principled in his or her deeds regardless of the circumstances. This kind of person can provide true service. There are some who often pay lip service to their indebtedness to God; they spend their days with brows locked in worry, putting on an affected air and pretending to be pitiable. How despicable! If you were to ask them, “Can you tell me about how you are indebted to God?” then they would be rendered speechless. If you are loyal to God, then do not talk outwardly about it; instead, demonstrate your love for God by way of actual practice, and pray to Him with a true heart. Those who just deal with God verbally and perfunctorily are all hypocrites!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. In Faith, One Must Focus on Reality—Engaging in Religious Ritual Is Not Faith

Many people have certain outward behaviors, such as being able to cast aside their families and careers and fulfill their duties, and therefore they believe they are practicing the truth. However, God does not recognize that they are practicing the truth. If everything you do has a personal motive behind it and is adulterated, then you are not practicing the truth; you are simply exhibiting superficial conduct. Strictly speaking, your conduct will probably be condemned by God; it will not be praised or remembered by Him. Dissecting this further, you are doing evil and your conduct is in opposition to God. From the outside, you are not interrupting or disturbing anything and you have not done real damage or violated any truth. It appears to be logical and reasonable, yet the essence of your actions pertains to doing evil and resisting God. Therefore, you should determine whether there has been a change in your disposition and whether you are putting the truth into practice by looking at the motives behind your actions in light of God’s words. It does not depend on a human view of whether your actions conform to the human imagination and human intentions, or whether they are suited to your taste; such things are not important. Rather, it depends on God saying whether or not you are conforming to His will, whether or not your actions possess truth reality, and whether or not they meet His requirements and standards. Only measuring yourself against God’s requirements is accurate. Transformation in disposition and putting the truth into practice are not as simple and easy as people imagine. Do you understand this now? Do you have any experience with this? When it comes to a problem’s essence, you might not understand it; your entry has been overly superficial. You run about all day long, from dawn until dusk, rising early and going to bed late, yet you have not achieved transformation in your life disposition, and you cannot grasp what such a transformation involves. This means your entry is too shallow, does it not? Regardless of how long you have believed in God, you might not sense the essence and deep things to do with achieving transformation in disposition. Can it be said that your disposition has changed? How do you know whether God praises you or not? At the very least, you will feel exceptionally steadfast regarding everything that you do, and you will feel the Holy Spirit guiding and enlightening you and working in you while you are fulfilling your duties, doing any work in God’s house, or ordinarily. Your conduct will fit hand-in-hand with God’s words, and once you have gained a certain degree of experience, you will feel that how you acted in the past was relatively suitable. If, however, after gaining experience for a period of time, you feel that some of the things you did in the past were not suitable, and you are dissatisfied with them, and feel that indeed there was no truth in the things you did, then this proves that everything you did was done in resistance to God. It is evidence that your service was full of rebelliousness, resistance, and human ways of acting.

—“What Should Be Known About Transforming One’s Disposition” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

Exactly what are the criteria for putting the truth into practice? How is whether you are putting the truth into practice measured and defined? How does God determine whether you are someone who accepts His words upon hearing them? He looks at whether, during the time that you have believed in Him and listened to sermons, there has been any change in your internal state, in your disobedience toward Him, and in the essence of the various aspects of your corrupt disposition. He looks at whether you have replaced these with the truth, and at whether you have changed in your external behavior and actions or in the essence of your corrupt disposition deep within your heart. God measures you according to these things. Having listened to sermons and eaten and drunk of God’s words for all these years, are your changes just superficial, or essential? Have there been changes in your disposition? Have there been changes in your misconceptions about God, your disobedience toward God, and in how you approach the commissions and duties that God entrusts to you? Has there been a reduction in your disobedience against God? When something happens and you are revealed to be disobedient, are you able to reflect upon yourself? Are you capable of obedience? Have you become more loyal to the commissions and duties that God entrusts to you, and is this loyalty pure? During the time that you have been listening to sermons, have your motives, ambitions, desires, and intentions been cleansed? Are these not criteria for measurement? Then there are also your misconceptions about God: Do you still cling to your original notions, vague and abstract imaginings, and conclusions? Do you still have complaints and other negative emotions? Have there been changes in terms of these things? If there has not been any change in these aspects, then what kind of person are you? This proves one fact: You are not someone who practices the truth.

—“Only by Practicing God’s Words Can One Achieve a Change in Disposition” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

Since people began to believe in God, they have harbored many incorrect intentions. When you are not putting the truth into practice, you feel that all your intentions are correct, but when something happens to you, you will see that there are many incorrect intentions within you. Thus, when God makes people perfect, He causes them to realize that there are many notions within them that are obstructing their knowledge of God. When you recognize that your intentions are wrong, if you are able to stop practicing according to your notions and intentions, and are able to bear testimony to God, and stand firm in your position in all that happens to you, this proves that you have rebelled against the flesh. When you rebel against the flesh, there will inevitably be a battle within you. Satan will try and make people follow it, will try and make them follow the notions of the flesh and uphold the interests of the flesh—but God’s words will enlighten and illuminate people within, and at this time it is up to you whether you follow God or follow Satan. God asks people to put the truth into practice primarily to deal with the things inside them, to deal with their thoughts and notions that are not after God’s heart. The Holy Spirit touches people in their hearts and enlightens and illuminates them. So behind everything that happens is a battle: Every time people put the truth into practice, or put the love of God into practice, there is a great battle, and though all may seem well with their flesh, in the depths of their hearts a life-and-death battle will, in fact, be going on—and only after this intense battle, after a tremendous amount of reflection, can victory or defeat be decided. One does not know whether to laugh or cry. Because many of the intentions within people are wrong, or else because much of God’s work is at odds with their notions, when people put the truth into practice, a great battle is waged behind the scenes. Having put this truth into practice, behind the scenes, people will have shed countless tears of sadness before finally making up their mind to satisfy God. It is because of this battle that people endure suffering and refinement; this is true suffering. When the battle comes upon you, if you are able to truly stand on the side of God, you will be able to satisfy God. While practicing the truth, it is inevitable that one will suffer inside; if, when they put the truth into practice, everything within people were right, then they would not need to be made perfect by God, and there would be no battle, and they would not suffer. It is because there are many things within people that are not fit for use by God, and because there is much of the rebellious disposition of the flesh, that people need to learn the lesson of rebelling against the flesh more profoundly. This is what God calls the suffering that He asked man to undergo with Him. When you encounter difficulties, hurry up and pray to God: “O God! I wish to satisfy You, I wish to endure the final hardship to satisfy Your heart, and regardless of how great the setbacks I encounter, still I must satisfy You. Even if I have to give up my whole life, still I must satisfy You!” With this resolve, when you pray thus, you will be able to stand firm in your testimony. Each time they put the truth into practice, each time they undergo refinement, each time they are tried, and each time God’s work comes upon them, people have to endure extreme pain. All of this is a test for people, and so within all of them there is a battle. This is the actual price that they pay. Reading more of God’s words and running about more is a portion of that price. It is what people ought to do, it is their duty, and the responsibility that they should fulfill, but people must put aside that within them which needs to be put aside. If you do not, then no matter how great your external suffering, no matter how much you run around, all will be in vain! Which is to say, only the changes within you can determine whether your external hardship is of value. When your internal disposition has changed and you have put the truth into practice, then all your external suffering will gain God’s approval; if there has been no change in your internal disposition, then no matter how much suffering you endure or how much you run about on the outside, there will be no approval from God—and hardship that is not confirmed by God is in vain. Thus, whether the price you have paid is approved by God is determined by whether or not there has been a change in you, and by whether or not you put the truth into practice and rebel against your own intentions and notions to attain the satisfaction of God’s will, the knowledge of God, and loyalty to God. No matter how much you run about, if you have never known to rebel against your own intentions, but only to seek external actions and fervency, and never pay any attention to your life, then your hardship will have been in vain. If, in a certain environment, you have something you want to say, but inside you feel that saying it is not right, that saying it does not benefit your brothers and sisters and may hurt them, then you will not say it, preferring to be pained within, for these words are incapable of meeting God’s will. At this time, there will be a battle inside you, but you will be willing to suffer pain and give up that which you love. You will be willing to endure this hardship to satisfy God, and although you will suffer pain inside, you will not pander to the flesh, and God’s heart shall have been satisfied, and so you will also be comforted inside. This is truly paying a price, and is the price desired by God. If you practice in this way, God will surely bless you; if you cannot achieve this, then no matter how much you understand, or how well you can speak, it will all be for nothing! If, on the road to loving God, you are able to stand on the side of God when He does battle with Satan, and you do not turn back to Satan, then you will have achieved the love of God, and you will have stood firm in your testimony.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God

Man’s current practice of the truth is still not up to standard, and cannot achieve fully all the truth requires. People practice only a portion of the truth, and only when they are in certain states and circumstances; they cannot put the truth into practice in all circumstances and all situations. When, on occasion, a person is happy and their state is good, or when they are fellowshiping with the group, and feel more liberated than usual, they may temporarily be able to do some things that accord with the truth; yet when they are in the company of negative people and those who do not pursue the truth, their practice is poorer, and their actions are somewhat inappropriate. This is because people practice the truth without an attitude of perseverance, but instead put it into practice guided by the fleeting influences of emotion or circumstance. It is also because you have not understood your state, nor have you understood your nature, so, at times, you are yet capable of doing things you cannot imagine yourself doing. You only know some of your states, but, as you have not understood your nature, you cannot control what you might do in the future—that is, you have no absolute certainty you will stand firm. There are times when you are in a state and you can put the truth into practice, and you seem to evince some change, yet, in a different environment, you are incapable of putting it into practice. This is out of your control. Sometimes you can practice the truth, and sometimes you cannot. One moment, you understand, and the next, you are confused. Currently, you are doing nothing bad, but perhaps you will in a little while. This proves that corrupt things still exist inside you, and, if you are incapable of true self-knowledge, they will not be easy to resolve. If you cannot attain a thorough understanding of your own corrupt disposition, and are ultimately capable of things that resist God, then you are in danger. If you can attain penetrating insight into your nature and hate it, then you will be able to control yourself, forsake yourself, and put the truth into practice.

—“Understanding One’s Nature and Putting the Truth Into Practice” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

When practicing the truth, it is hard for people to avoid making mistakes, but if you know how to do things in accordance with the truth when you do them, yet you do not carry them out in accordance with truth, then the problem is that you have no love for the truth. The disposition of a person without love for the truth will not be changed. If you cannot accurately grasp God’s will, and do not know how to practice, then you should fellowship with others. If no one feels like they can see the matter clearly, then you should carry out the most reasonable solution. However, if you ultimately discover that in carrying it out this way you have made a slight error, then you should quickly correct it, and then God will not count this error as a sin. Because you had the right intentions when putting this matter into practice, and you were practicing in accordance with the truth and simply did not see it clearly, and your actions resulted in some errors, then this was an extenuating circumstance. However, nowadays many people merely rely on their own two hands to work and on their own minds to do this and that, and they seldom give any consideration to these questions: Does practicing this way conform to God’s will? Would God be happy if I did it this way? Would God trust me if I did it this way? Would I be putting the truth into practice if I did it this way? If God hears of this matter, would He be able to say, “You have done this correctly and suitably. Keep it up”? Are you able to carefully examine every matter you encounter? Can you be serious and meticulous about each of them? Or are you able to ponder whether God despises the way you are doing it, how everyone else feels about your methods, and whether you are doing it based on your own will or to satisfy your own desires…? You have to put more thought into it and seek more, and your mistakes will become smaller and smaller. Doing things in this manner will prove that you are a person who genuinely seeks the truth and that you are one who reveres God, because you are doing things in accordance with the direction that the truth requires.

If a believer’s actions are out of touch with the truth, then he is the same as an unbeliever. This is the type of person who does not have God in his heart, and who leaves God, and such a person is like a hired worker in God’s family who does some odd jobs for his master, receives a little compensation, and then leaves. This is simply not a person who believes in God. Previously, there was mention of what you can do to gain God’s approval. Approval from God is the first thing you should think about and work for; it should be the principle and scope of your practice. The reason you should determine whether what you are doing is in line with the truth is that if it is in line with the truth, then it certainly conforms with God’s will. It is not that you should measure whether the matter is right or wrong, or if it accords with everyone else’s tastes, or if it is in line with your own desires; rather, you should determine whether it is in accordance with the truth, and whether or not it benefits the work and interests of the church. If you give consideration to these things, then you will be more and more in line with God’s will when you do things. If you do not consider these aspects, and merely rely on your own will when doing things, then you are guaranteed to do them incorrectly, because the will of man is not the truth and, of course, is incompatible with God. If you wish to be approved by God, then you must practice according to the truth rather than according to your own will. Some people engage in certain private matters in the name of fulfilling their duties. Their brothers and sisters then see this as inappropriate, and reproach them for it, but these people do not accept the blame. They think that because it was a personal matter that did not involve the church’s work, finances, or people, it therefore does not count as violating the scope of the truth, and God should not interfere in this matter. Some things might seem to you to be private matters that do not involve any principle or truth. However, looking at the thing you did, you were being very selfish in that you gave no consideration to the work of God’s family or how what you did would affect it; you were only considering your own benefit. This already involves the propriety of the saints, as well as issues to do with a person’s humanity. Even though what you were doing did not involve the interests of the church, nor did it involve the truth, engaging in a private matter while claiming to be performing your duty is not in line with the truth. Regardless of what you are doing, how big or small a matter is, and whether you are doing it to fulfill your duty in God’s family or for your own private reasons, you must consider whether what you are doing conforms with God’s will, as well as whether it is something that a person with humanity should do. If you seek the truth like that in everything you do, then you are a person who truly believes in God. If you devoutly treat every matter and every truth in this way, then you will be able to achieve changes in your disposition. Some people think that when they are doing something personal, they can just ignore the truth, do it as they wish, and do it in whatever way makes them happy and in whatever manner is advantageous to them. They do not give the slightest consideration to how it might affect God’s family, nor do they consider whether or not what they are doing befits saintly propriety. Finally, once they are finished with the matter, they grow dark inside and feel uncomfortable, though they do not know why. Is this retribution not deserved? If you do things that are not approved by God, then you have offended God. If someone does not love the truth, and frequently does things based on their own will, then they will frequently offend God. Such people are ordinarily not approved by God in what they do, and if they do not repent, then punishment will not be very far off.

—“Seeking God’s Will Is for the Sake of Practicing the Truth” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

How much truth do you understand? How much do you ultimately put into practice? Whom do you love more, God or yourself? Do you give more often, or receive more often? On how many occasions when your intent was wrong have you forsaken your old self and satisfied the will of God? Just these few questions will baffle many people. For most people, even if they realize that their intent is wrong, they still knowingly do wrong, and they are nowhere near forsaking their own flesh. Most people allow sin to run rampant within them, allowing sin to direct their every action. They are unable to overcome their sins, and they continue to live in sin. Having arrived at this current stage, who does not know how many evil deeds they have done? If you say you do not know, then you are lying through your teeth. To speak frankly, it is all an unwillingness to forsake your old self. What is the use of saying so many repentant “words from the heart” that are worthless? Does this help you grow in your life? It can be said that to know yourself is your full-time work. I perfect people through their submission and their practice of God’s words. If you only wear God’s word as you would wear your clothes, just to look smart and snazzy, are you not deceiving yourself and others? If all you have is talk and you never put it into practice, what will you attain?

Many people can talk a bit about practice and they can talk about their personal impressions, but the majority of it is the illumination gained from the words of others. It does not at all include anything from their own personal practices, nor does it include what they see from their experiences. I have dissected this issue earlier; do not think that I know nothing. You are merely a paper tiger, yet you speak of conquering Satan, of bearing victorious testimonies, and of living out God’s image? This is all nonsense! Do you think that all the words spoken by God today are for you to admire? Your mouth speaks of forsaking your old self and putting truth into practice, yet your hands are carrying out other deeds and your heart is plotting other schemes—what kind of a person are you? Why are your heart and your hands not one and the same? So much preaching has become empty words; is this not heart-breaking? If you are unable to put God’s word into practice, it proves that you have not yet entered into the way that the Holy Spirit works, you have not yet had the work of the Holy Spirit in you, and you have not yet had His guidance. If you say that you are only able to understand the word of God but are unable to put it into practice, then you are a person who does not love the truth. God does not come to save this kind of person. Jesus suffered enormous agony when He was crucified in order to save the sinners, to save the poor, and to save all those humble people. His crucifixion served as a sin offering. If you cannot practice God’s word, then you should leave as soon as you can; do not linger in God’s house as a freeloader. Many people even find it difficult to stop themselves from doing things that clearly resist God. Are they not asking for death? How can they speak of entering God’s kingdom? Would they have the audacity to see God’s face? Eating food that God provides you with, doing crooked things that oppose God, being malicious, insidious, and scheming, even while God allows you to enjoy the blessings He has bestowed upon you—do you not feel them burning your hands when you receive them? Do you not feel your face turning red? Having done something in opposition to God, having carried out schemes to “go rogue,” do you not feel frightened? If you feel nothing, how can you speak of any future? There was already no future for you long ago, so what greater expectations can you still have? If you say something shameless yet feel no reproach, and your heart has no awareness, then does it not mean that you have already been abandoned by God? Speaking and acting indulgently and unrestrainedly has become your nature; how can you ever be perfected by God like this? Would you be able to walk the world over? Who would be convinced by you? Those who know your true nature would keep their distance. Is this not God’s punishment? All in all, if there is only talk and no practice, there is no growth. Though the Holy Spirit may be working on you while you speak, if you do not practice, the Holy Spirit shall stop working. If you continue to go on like this, how can there be any talk of the future or giving your entire being to God’s work? You can only speak of offering your entire being, yet you have not given your true love to God. All He receives from you is verbal devotion; He is not given your intention to practice the truth. Could this be your actual stature? If you were to continue on like this, when would you be perfected by God? Do you not feel anxious over your dark and gloomy future? Do you not feel that God has lost hope in you? Do you not know that God desires to perfect more and newer people? Could old things hold their own? You are not paying attention to God’s words today: Are you waiting for tomorrow?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Person Who Attains Salvation Is One Who Is Willing to Practice the Truth

People who genuinely believe in God are those who are willing to put God’s word into practice and are willing to practice the truth. People who are truly able to stand firm in their testimony to God are also those who are willing to put His word into practice and can genuinely stand on the side of the truth. People who resort to trickery and injustice all lack the truth, and they all bring shame to God. Those who cause disputes in the church are Satan’s lackeys, they are the embodiment of Satan. Such people are so malicious. Those who have no discernment and are incapable of standing on the side of the truth all harbor evil intentions and tarnish the truth. More than that, they are the archetypal representatives of Satan. They are beyond redemption, and shall naturally be eliminated. God’s family does not allow those who do not practice the truth to remain, nor does it allow to remain those who deliberately dismantle the church. However, now is not the time to do the work of expulsion; such people will simply be exposed and eliminated in the end. No more useless work is to be expended on these people; those who belong to Satan cannot stand on the side of the truth, whereas those who seek the truth can. People who do not practice the truth are unworthy of hearing the way of the truth and unworthy of bearing witness to the truth. The truth is simply not for their ears; rather, it is directed at those who practice it. Before every person’s end is revealed, those who disturb the church and interrupt God’s work will first be left aside for now, to be dealt with later. Once the work is complete, these people will each be exposed, and then they will be eliminated. For the time being, while the truth is being provided, they will be ignored. When the whole truth is revealed to humanity, those people should be eliminated; that will be the time when all people will be classed according to their kind. The petty tricks of those without discernment will lead to their destruction at the hands of the wicked, they will be lured away by them, never to return. And such treatment is what they deserve, because they do not love the truth, because they are incapable of standing on the side of the truth, because they follow evil people and stand on the side of evil people, and because they collude with evil people and defy God. They know perfectly well that what those evil people radiate is evil, yet they harden their hearts and turn their backs on the truth to follow them. Are these people who do not practice the truth but who do destructive and abominable things not all committing evil? Although there are those among them who style themselves as kings and others who follow them, are their God-defying natures not all the same? What excuse can they have to claim that God does not save them? What excuse can they have to claim that God is not righteous? Is it not their own evil that is destroying them? Is it not their own rebelliousness that is dragging them down into hell? People who practice the truth will, in the end, be saved and made perfect because of the truth. Those who do not practice the truth will, in the end, bring destruction upon themselves because of the truth. These are the ends that await those who practice the truth and those who do not.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Warning to Those Who Do Not Practice the Truth