I don’t think believing in God is that complicated and that one doesn’t need to be too focused or too invested in it. So long as I keep going to church every week, do my devotions and give alms, and in the normal course of events also attend some activities organized by the church, then this is believing in God and I can be saved. I’d like to ask whether this conception I have is correct or not?

Bible Verses for Reference:

The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Mat 11:12).

Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven (Mat 7:21).

Relevant Words of God:

Though many people believe in God, few understand what faith in God means, and what they must do to be after God’s heart. This is because, though people are familiar with the word “God” and phrases such as “the work of God,” they do not know God, much less do they know His work. No wonder, then, that all those who do not know God are possessed of a muddled belief. People do not take belief in God seriously because believing in God is too unfamiliar, too strange for them. In this way, they fall short of the demands of God. In other words, if people do not know God, do not know His work, then they are not fit for God’s use, much less can they fulfill the desire of God. “Belief in God” means believing that there is a God; this is the simplest concept of faith 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 experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God. Yet people often see belief in God as something very simple and frivolous. The belief of such people is meaningless and shall never gain the approval of God, because they tread the wrong path. Today, there are still those who believe in God in letters, in hollow doctrines. They are unaware that their belief in God has no substance, and that they are unable to gain the approval of God, and they still pray for peace and sufficient grace from God. We should stop and ask ourselves: Could believing in God really be the easiest thing on earth? Does believing in God mean nothing more than receiving much grace from God? Can people who believe in God but do not know Him, and believe in God yet oppose Him, really fulfill the desire of God?

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh

Christians’ Incredible Rebuttals to the CCP’s Rumors and Slander About Christ

Du Guirong (Director of the brainwashing class of the 610 Office): Xiao Zhang, Xiao Zhou, I hear that many pastors and elders of the religious community say that who you believe in is a man and not Jesus Christ. Yet you witness that this man is the returned Lord Jesus, that is, Almighty God appearing at work. Do you know that the Communist Party has long condemned Christianity and Catholicism as cults? And you dare to witness that the Lord Jesus has returned, that is Almighty God; aren’t you bucking the head wind? How can the Communist Party spare you? The Communist Party even dares to designate Christianity and Catholicism as cults, and the Bible as a cultist book. This is an open fact. Don’t you know that? If the CCP dares to condemn and deny the world’s orthodox religions, why couldn’t it condemn Almighty God’s appearance and work? When the CCP could designate the Bible as a cultist book, why would it spare The Word Appears in the Flesh? The public security agencies have confiscated many copies of this book. Many people are studying it. I just don’t understand it. Why do you people have to believe in Almighty God? Why insist on witnessing that Almighty God is Christ of the last days? We understand everything about His family background. He is an ordinary person, just like Jesus that Christianity believes in. Jesus, the son of a carpenter, had parents and siblings. He was just an ordinary man. Yet the entire Christendom worships Jesus like God. Almighty God that you people believe in is also a man like Jesus. You insist on saying that He is God, this is quite inexplicable. You endured so much persecution and pain for believing in an ordinary man. Is it worth it? I hear that there are many people who gave up their families and careers to follow Almighty God. I doubt what you can ultimately get from believing in God like this? What is the basis for you to believe that He is God?

Is Obeying Those in Power the Same as Obeying God?

President Yuan (President of the Legal Education School): Xiao Jiang, I see that you are very pious in believing in God. I admire you. I would like to know more about the matter of believing in God. So I have specially invited Pastor Feng here. Pastor Feng has believed in the Lord since childhood, studied theology, and worked as pastor for more than 20 years. You are both believers of God who share a common language. You can explore it together to see which is the correct and viable path to believe in God.

Pastor Feng (A Three-Self pastor): Sister Jiang, President Yuan said that you are quite persistent in the way you believe in God, I can see it. You have endured the government’s arrest, persecution and torture for adhering to your faith, and you haven’t denied God. I admire you for this, but I also feel sorry for you. What’s the point in going through these sufferings? The Bible says, “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Romans 13:1-2). Having believed in the Lord for many years, you should understand the meaning of this statement. The Bible was inspired by God after all. I believe that we believers of the Lord should obey those in office and power. I don’t know how you receive it.

The religious pastors and elders often preach to believers that any preaching that says the Lord has come in the flesh is false. They base this on the Bible verses: “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Mat 24:23-24). We now have no idea how we should discern the true Christ from false ones, so please answer this question.

Answer:

The Lord Jesus did indeed foretell that there would be false Christs and false prophets in the last days. This is a fact. But the Lord Jesus also clearly prophesied many times that He would come back. Don’t we believe this? When examining the prophecies of the Lord Jesus’ return, many people give priority to being wary of false Christs and false prophets, and spare no thought to how to welcome the arrival of the Bridegroom, and how to hear the voice of the Bridegroom. What’s the issue here? Isn’t it a case of not eating for fear of choking, of being penny-wise and pound-foolish? In fact, no matter how we guard against false Christs and false prophets, if we do not welcome the return of the Lord, and we cannot be taken before God’s throne, we are foolish virgins who are eliminated and forsaken by God, and our belief in the Lord is an utter failure! Key to whether or not we can welcome the return of the Lord is whether or not we are able to hear the voice of God. As long as we recognize that Christ is the truth, the way, and the life, we will have no difficulty in identifying the voice of God. If we can’t discern what is the truth, and only focus on the signs and wonders, then we will surely be deceived by false Christs and false prophets. If we do not seek and examine the true way, then we will never be able to hear the voice of God. Are we not waiting for death, and bringing about our own destruction? We believe in the words of the Lord: God’s sheep hear the voice of God. Those who truly have brains, and caliber, and can hear the voice of God will not be deceived by false Christs and false prophets. For false Christs and false prophets are without the truth, and unable to do the work of God. This is not something we need to be concerned about. Only those who are confused and brainless can be deceived by false Christs and false prophets. The clever virgins will not be deceived by false Christs and false prophets, because they have God’s care and protection. When God made man, the clever virgins were given the spirit of man and able to hear the voice of God. So God’s sheep hear His voice, which is ordained by God. Only foolish virgins devote themselves to guarding against false Christs and false prophets, and neglect to seek and examine the Lord’s return. If we wish to welcome the return of the Lord, and not be deceived by false Christs and false prophets, then we must understand how false Christs deceive people. Actually, the Lord Jesus has already told us about the deceitful practices of false Christs and false prophets. The Lord Jesus said: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Mat 24:24). The words of the Lord Jesus show us that false Christs and false prophets mainly rely on performing signs and wonders to deceive God’s chosen people. This is the primary manifestation of false Christs’ and false prophets’ deception of people. In this, we must understand why false Christs and false prophets use the signs and wonders to deceive people. Above all, it is because false Christs and false prophets are utterly devoid of the truth. In nature and substance, they are extremely wicked evil spirits. So they have to rely on signs and wonders to deceive people. If false Christs and false prophets were possessed of the truth, they wouldn’t use signs and wonders to deceive people. Looked at in this way, false Christs and false prophets perform signs and wonders because that’s all they can do. If we can’t see this, then it will be extremely easy for them to deceive us. Only Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. The One who can express the truth, and show mankind the way, and give them the life is the One who is Christ. Those who are incapable of expressing the truth are surely false Christs, they’re fakes. This is the basic principle of identifying false Christs and false prophets. All those who seek and examine the true way should abide by this principle to seek and ascertain the voice of God, and in this they do no wrong.

You testify that God has incarnated and become the Son of man to do the work of judgment in the last days, and yet the majority of religious pastors and elders affirm that the Lord will return coming with clouds, and they base this primarily on the Bible verses: “This same Jesus … shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven” (Act 1:11). “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him” (Rev 1:7). And furthermore, the religious pastors and elders also instruct us that any Lord Jesus who does not come with clouds is false and must be abandoned. So we’re not sure whether or not this view conforms to the Bible; is it correct to take this as truth or not?

Answer:

When it comes to waiting for the Lord to descend with the clouds, we must not rely on man’s notions and imaginations! The Pharisees committed a huge mistake in waiting for the arrival of the Messiah. They precisely used man’s notions and imaginations to measure the Lord Jesus who had already arrived. In the end, they nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. Is this not a fact? Is waiting for the Lord’s arrival as simple as we think? If the Lord returns and works among mankind like the way the Lord Jesus in the flesh had done, and none of us recognizes Him, then would we also judge and condemn Him as the Pharisees had done and crucify Him once again? Is this a possibility? The Lord Jesus prophesied that He shall return and said many words about it, but we only hold on to the prophecy that the Lord will descend with the clouds and don’t seek or investigate other more important prophecies spoken by the Lord. This makes it easy to walk down the wrong path and be abandoned by the Lord! There is actually not just the “descend with the clouds” prophecy in the Bible. There are also many prophecies like that the Lord will come as a thief and descend secretly. For instance, Revelation 16:15, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Matthew 25:6, “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him.” And Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” All these prophecies refer to God becoming flesh as the Son of man and descending in secret. “As a thief” means coming quietly, secretly. We won’t know He is God even if we see or hear Him, just as it was back when the Lord Jesus appeared and performed His work during His incarnation as the Son of man. From the outside, the Lord Jesus was just an ordinary Son of man and nobody knew He is God, which is why the Lord Jesus used “as a thief” as an analogy for the Son of man’s appearance and work. This is too befitting! Those who do not love the truth, no matter how God in the flesh speaks or works, or how many truths He expresses, they do not accept. Instead, they treat God in the flesh as a normal person and condemn and abandon Him. That is why the Lord Jesus prophesied that when He returns: “For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” (Luk 17:24-25). Based on the Lord’s prophecy, His return shall be “the coming of the Son of man.” “Son of man” refers to God in the flesh, not the spiritual body of the resurrected Lord Jesus descending with the clouds to openly appear before all people. Why is that the case? Let’s think about it. If it were the spiritual body of the resurrected Lord Jesus descending publicly with the clouds, it would be incredibly powerful and shock the world. Everyone would drop to the ground and no one would dare resist. In that case, would the returned Lord Jesus still endure a lot of suffering and be rejected by this generation? Definitely not. That is why the Lord Jesus prophesied that His return shall be “the coming of the Son of man” and “as a thief.” In actuality, it is referring to God incarnated as the Son of man arriving in secret.