In God’s work in the last days, He has expressed many truths, all of which are to resolve mankind’s corruption, and are entirely based on what corrupt humanity requires for salvation. They are all to save and perfect people, and they are all things that corrupt humanity must be equipped with in order to be saved.
Every aspect of the truth expressed by God is significant; they absolutely are not dispensable. Just understanding a little bit of the truth is not enough for us to gain salvation and achieve a transformation in life disposition. In order for this to happen, we must understand and gain many truths. For example, for gaining an understanding of God, how many aspects of God must be understood for someone to truly know Him? At the very least they must understand His disposition, His righteousness and holiness, His management plan and every stage of His work, His full wisdom and omnipotence to rule over all things, what He has and is and His essence, and finally, they must understand that God is the truth, the life, and the way, that God is love, and that every one of His words is the reality of all positive things. Only those who have reached understanding of these things truly know God. How many truths do people need to understand and possess in order to know God? How much of the Holy Spirit’s work do they need? How much of the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination do they need to gain from God’s words? How much judgment and chastisement, and pruning and dealing of God’s words do they need to undergo? How many painful trials do they need to endure? Is gaining the truth a simple process? It’s not a simple or an easy thing to understand any aspect of the truth. To gain salvation, at the least we must understand ten truths as well as have some experience of and entry into every aspect of these truths. This is the only way to achieve an understanding of God. Once a person has a genuine understanding of God, then their corrupt disposition can be changed. The more of the truth they understand and the more thoroughly they break free from Satan’s influence, the more they are able to completely turn toward God and be gained by Him. A person’s salvation can only be achieved through their pursuit of the truth, their experience of God’s work, as well as their obedience to God’s judgment and chastisement and various trials and refinements. When someone gains the truth and God’s words become their life, satanic philosophies, Satan’s laws of logic, satanic outlooks on life and values, and all of their absurd beliefs just naturally disintegrate and turn to nothing. Since Satan’s toxins cannot survive in the light, as soon as they are confronted with God’s words, with the truth, they just automatically fall apart and disappear. Accordingly, once a pursuer of the truth gains a genuine understanding of God, the corrupt dispositions and poisons of Satan that they harbor will gradually be eliminated. Once someone has seen God’s righteousness and love as well as His almightiness and wisdom, their heart will turn toward God and they will be able to obey and worship Him. Change occurs in a person’s life disposition only through knowledge of God. The more a person who pursues the truth understands the truth, the more they are able to see through the evil and darkness in the world; the more they understand the truth, the more they are able to recognize mankind’s corruption, evil, absurdity, and pitifulness. The more of the truth someone understands from God’s words, the greater their knowledge of, obedience to, and devotion to God, and the more they will fully see their own nature and essence, and the truth of their corruption. A person’s entry into life and growth in their life is entirely due to the fruit borne from understanding the truth. So in pursuit of the truth, once someone has gained the truth and has a genuine understanding of God, all of their corruption will naturally be cleansed, and their life disposition will gradually undergo transformation. God’s work to save mankind is purification and transformation of people through His words. The more someone longs for His words and pursues the truth, the more they will be able to truly gain purification and gain the truth as their life. Then their life disposition will change as a matter of course. Progressing from rebelling against and resisting God to being able to obey and worship Him is achieved through savoring and experiencing His words and gaining the truth. People’s life experiences clearly demonstrate that as long as one pursues the truth and obeys all of God’s work, they can fully achieve salvation and definitely gain a change in life disposition. This is absolute.
Now we’ve all seen one fact clearly—only by pursuing the truth can one gain salvation. When pursuing a change in disposition, only focusing on one aspect of experience and entry is not enough. You must pursue to enter into several aspects of the truth at the same time; only this way will your progress in life be apparent. Just like eating, if you only eat one type of food, the nutritional benefits will ultimately be limited, and if you continue to do that, it will impact your health. When believing in God, reading His words, praying to Him, performing one’s duty, fellowshiping on the truth, putting the truth into practice, accepting the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, accepting being pruned and dealt with, and undergoing trials and refinement—not a single one of these aspects can be overlooked. There is a natural law to a dispositional transformation. As for where it starts from, what it relies on for change, how it is changed, what kind of suffering needs to occur, or which truths you need to be equipped with, you must have a general grasp on all these things that you experience in life. This way, when you are pursuing to enter into a dispositional change, you will know how to gain a hold on it, and you will be able to get onto the right track as quickly as possible. In order to understand your true state of dispositional change, you must grasp the four indicators of a change in disposition. This is how you can be fully able to enter onto the right track of belief in God and be saved by Him. The first indicator of a change in disposition is entering into being an honest person. This is a precondition for dispositional transformation. The second indicator is a shift in one’s outlook on things, which is an indication of understanding the truth. The third indicator is being able to genuinely obey God, and this is the first fruit reaped in a dispositional change. The fourth indicator is being able to exalt God and bear witness to Him when performing one’s duty, and being able to resolve issues with the truth. This is the phase of completion of a dispositional transformation. Every indicator represents one stage, and one aspect of a change in disposition. The four indicators of a change in disposition are like a display, a gauge for this. The true state of a person’s dispositional change can be gauged based on these four indicators. It’s clear that grasping and understanding the four indicators is critical for achieving dispositional transformation. As long as you grasp these four indicators, achieving a change in disposition and being perfected by God will no longer be an issue. As for those who pursue the truth, no true, clear results of a change in their disposition can be seen within a few years. However, if you are able to weigh things based on your degree of entry into these four indicators, you can figure out your own circumstances. As long as these four indicators are grasped, then there will be a path of practice and entry for pursuing a dispositional change, and you will be entirely able to safely and securely gain perfection from God. Next, let’s talk about the specific states and the importance of the four indicators of a change in disposition.
The first indicator is entering into being an honest person. Being an honest person is the precondition for dispositional change. It is also its foundation, and it can be said that it is the most basic element of being a person. Being an honest person is the most foundational, most critical thing for pursuing a change in disposition, and the first step that takes a decisive role. This is why one must first become an honest person in order to enter onto the right track in the pursuit of a dispositional change. Most people don’t understand—why does it have to start with being an honest person? Can’t it start from obeying God? It can’t start from being devoted to God? The truth is that it’s not that that’s not okay, but that it’s not realistic. If that were put into practice, it would not be in line with the objective law, and it would be a waste of effort. Starting one’s experience and entry with being an honest person has to do with a very important issue, which is that for a belief in God, a proper relationship with God must be established first, and one must know what a creature’s position should be and what kind of reason they should possess. This isn’t a simple thing. It is critical to first take care of the things that a person should at least be equipped with. This is because if someone is not a right person, then they will have no way to communicate with God and gain the work of the Holy Spirit, nor will they be able to properly perform their duty. If they are not a right person, they cannot be favored by God because He likes honest people and hates deceitful people. As long as someone is a right person—an honest person, they will not try to fool God, and will not deal with Him perfunctorily. This is the only way to gain the work of the Holy Spirit, establish a proper relationship with God, live in front of Him, genuinely pray to Him, and properly carry out one’s duty. This is entering onto the right track of belief in God. Of course it’s not the case that people should only begin pursuing each aspect of the truth once they have become a completely honest person; this is the first step of practice. That is why beginning pursuing a change in disposition with becoming an honest person completely conforms to God’s will. Believers in God must be clear that being a person is a foundational thing, while pursuing the truth and dispositional change to achieve service and testimony to God is built on the foundation of being an honest person. If that’s something that you can’t achieve, then you will fail in everything that you do—you cannot be successful. Only after you have become an honest person can your expenditure, your service, and your testimony be successful. There are some people who were leaders or workers in the house of God for many years, but because they were so deceitful and were not honest people, leading them to do many evil deeds, they were eliminated from God’s house. There are many examples of this, and all the eliminated ones were eliminated mainly because they were not honest people. If you fail at being a person, you fail at everything. If you succeed at being a person, nothing is difficult to accomplish. Any believer in God who doesn’t ultimately become an honest person must be eliminated. Only someone who is already a right person can establish a proper relationship with God, and can easily gain the work of the Holy Spirit and step onto the path of being perfected. Disregarding becoming an honest person is the greatest mistake, and it is the root of failure in belief in God. Since believing in Jesus, I have paid mind to the issue of truth in words. Jesus said: “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Matt 5:37). I had fellowship on this very issue with quite a few well-known preachers. At that time, I already paid mind to resolving the issue of truth in words. Under normal circumstances I would always speak truthfully. Under special circumstances, I used another method just as a last resort, for the sake of acing with wisdom. After experiencing God’s work in the last days, I became entirely clear on the significance of being an honest person. God loves honest people and hates deceitful people because God is faithful and the devil is a liar. After people have been corrupted by Satan, they become full of lies. There is nothing the corrupt will not lie about; even all their words are adulterated with lies. They all become expert fibbers and master liars. It is clear to see that Satan has corrupted mankind into demons. It is very hard to judge which of corrupt mankind’s words are true and which are false. Corrupt mankind is not worthy of trust at all. If people cannot be honest, it is very difficult for them to take the right path of faith in God. They are unfit to see the face of God and to serve God. Being an honest person means speaking the truth, being real in your deeds, and being free of lies or adulteration. It is being devoted to God in your duty, and not trying to fool Him. It means preferring humiliation over lies. The standard for being an honest person is what follows. No lies come out of your mouth, you do not muddle through your duty, there is not an iota of attempting to fool God in your words or deeds, there are no machinations or evil intentions in your heart, you are absolutely devoted and obedient to God, and you worship God only and not Satan. Only then can you be called an honest person. Those who muddle through their duty and try to fool God are not honest people, and neither are those who frequently display corruption and lie. Those who lack the work of the Holy Spirit are not honest people, either. People’s lies, deceitfulness, and trickery are too abundant, and without being an honest person, there is no way to establish a proper relationship with God, and there is no way to be utilized by God. Even if someone performs their duty and serves God, God will not favor them. How could a deceitful person not muddle through things and try to fool God? Isn’t the essence of doing those things being an enemy of God? So if you can truly be an honest person, your pursuit of being saved and perfected by God can be fulfilled. If you cannot be an honest person, your hope of being saved and perfected by God is nothing but a dream. This is how important it is to be an honest person! It is enormously significant and all too important for being saved! Entering into being an honest person is the first indicator for a change in disposition. If you want to know whether or not you’ve had a change in your life disposition, first take a look at whether you’re an honest person, and you will know. If you’re not yet an honest person, then your disposition has not changed. If you have become an honest person, then you’ve had some initial success in your dispositional change. Only an honest person can easily accept the truth and put it into practice; only an honest person can be favored and blessed by God; only an honest person is good enough to serve and testify to God; only an honest person can officially step onto the path of being perfected; only an honest person can serve God with devotion, satisfy Him, and be after His heart. Anyone who cannot be an honest person absolutely cannot genuinely pursue the truth, and they particularly cannot achieve any change in their life disposition. Once someone has been successful at becoming an honest person, being saved and having a change in disposition are no longer an issue. Without that, in their belief in God, being saved, being perfected, and having a dispositional change are impossible things. They are doomed to fail in their belief in God. Only someone who is an honest person can become a right person. When a person has a conscience and reason, and has dignity and integrity, they have the likeness of a human being, are able to establish a proper relationship with God, and can obtain much work from the Holy Spirit. Then their perfunctoriness toward God as well as their resistance and rebellion against Him will be greatly reduced; it will be easy for them to step onto the path of being saved and perfected. Therefore, being an honest person is the precondition for achieving dispositional change. It is the root and the foundation of being a person. Being able to be an honest person or not is directly related to a person’s final outcome and their destiny. If someone has believed in God for many years but has not become an honest person, if they are still deceitful, then they have completely failed and cannot accomplish a single thing. They cannot even be a loyal service-doer. Leaders and workers at all levels have been eliminated because they weren’t honest people, they were unable to pursue the truth, and in nature they were too bad, too evil, leading to them lacking the work of the Holy Spirit and being exposed. God has required many times that people be honest; it is clear that this is deeply significant. Since no man has understood God’s will, they all disregard this most important of issues—being an honest person.
The second indicator of a change in disposition is a transformation in one’s perspective on things. This indicator is directly related to a change in disposition. People should first know that a transformation in their perspective is entirely due to achieving an understanding of the truth. If people are not completely clear on the truth, then how could their deeply entrenched satanic philosophies, absurd views, and conceptions be changed? Someone can’t change their perspective just because they want to. If that were the case, people wouldn’t need to pursue the truth, but could just obey God at will. People’s various satanic philosophies and fallacies are overcome through the truth, which is why a transformation in their perspectives must also rely on understanding the truth. Anyone who has been pursuing the truth for any length of time will discover that their perspectives are different from those of the people of the world, that they are out of sync. This shows that some of their old perspectives have begun to change, but it’s not enough if they still lack fundamental change and have not had a thorough transformation. Thinking back to when they had first accepted God’s work, most people developed many conceptions and a lot of resistance when reading God’s words or listening to fellowship. But after experiencing God’s work for a few years, when they read His words and read fellowship, they have many fewer conceptions and much less resistance. This is a shift in their internal conceptions and perspectives, and it is something that happens without realizing it. The more someone pursues the truth, the greater the change in their perspectives on things will be. And then one day, when they read God’s words and fellowship, they will be completely free of conceptions. Whatever they read will seem practical, and they will enjoy all of it. Before they know it, they will have understood many truths, have had more and more of an understanding of God, and they will be able to fully obey all of God’s work and the work arrangements of His house. That is when a person’s perspectives have undergone a complete transformation. When someone’s experience of God’s work has reached this point, will they still develop conceptions about God? Will they still make judgments on God? Their resistance to God will naturally decrease, and their obedience to God will naturally increase. That is why a transformation in one’s perspectives on things is an indicator for a change in disposition. If you want to know whether or not your disposition really has changed, first take a look at how much your perspectives have changed. If you still harbor conceptions about God’s words and God’s work, if your thoughts and perspectives are still not consistent with but instead contradict or in conflict with God’s words, or even if you doubt God, that shows that your perspectives have not changed much. It can be determined that you have not gained a change in your life disposition. A transformation in perspectives is a sign of understanding the truth. When someone really understands the truth, the first achievement is a transformation in their perspectives. This is a preliminary achievement that the truth attains in people. As their understanding of the truth deepens, their life disposition is gradually changed. Mankind began to be corrupted after accepting Satan’s perspectives and fallacies; after believing and accepting Satan’s lies, they began to rebel against and resist God. Therefore, God works to release people from the delusions of Satan’s fallacies through the truth. When someone really understands the truth from God’s words, they will naturally begin to repudiate Satan’s fallacies, and as their understanding of the truth deepens, they will be able to use the truth to criticize and refute all of Satan’s absurd and preposterous theories. This way their perspectives can be completely transformed. In the past, they had lived based on the fallacies and lies fed to them by Satan, but now they have begun to live based on God’s words and the truth, and to turn their backs on Satan and obey God. As such, a transformation in their perspectives on things leads to a change in their life disposition. A transformation in perspectives is the beginning of a change in life disposition, and a transformation in perspectives is achieved entirely through understanding the truth. If someone has understood the truth, then their change in perspective will follow suit, leading to a change in their life disposition. Those skilled at speaking literal words and doctrines have not changed in their perspectives and are particularly unable to have a change in their life disposition. This shows that they have not really understood the truth, and they are not people who understand the essence of God’s words.
The truth is very real, and very profound. It’s not easy for people to fathom it—no wonder no one dared to explain what the truth actually is for thousands of years. No matter how arrogant Satan and the demons are, they do not dare say that they are the truth. The great and famous people in the world particularly do not dare to say that they are the truth, and that is because they do not possess the truth. The truth originates with God, and it is only Christ who is the truth, the way, and the life. Only those who have been saved and perfected by God have the slightest understanding of the truth, but their perspectives and life disposition have undergone enormous change. This is the power of God’s words, and it is the power of the truth. Thus, the significance of gaining the truth is terribly profound, terribly enormous. What it brings to mankind is a change in their life disposition and all of God’s salvation. This is immeasurable for humans. If someone who pursues the truth achieves a great transformation in their perspectives, it can be said that their life disposition has already begun to change. The greater a person’s change in their perspectives is, the greater their change in their life disposition will be. So a change in a person’s perspectives is the second indicator of a change in their life disposition, and it is a sign to weigh whether or not they have had a change in their life disposition. Only those who have had a complete transformation in their perspectives are fully free of conceptions about God and have begun to truly understand God. Their resistance to and rebellion against God lessen and lessen, and everything that is incompatible with God also fades away. This is having already been purified. Having a complete transformation in perspective means that a person has understood quite a bit of the truth, which is the only way to have this outcome. If someone’s perspectives are entirely in line with God’s words and they come entirely from the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit, this shows that they have already entered into God’s words. When their perspectives have completely transformed, they will no longer have conceptions about or resistance to God, nor will they doubt God. Only then are they a person who truly obeys and worships God. If someone’s perspectives are completely in accord with God’s words and with Christ’s viewpoints, then there is hope for them to achieve compatibility with God, and achieving a change in disposition is just around the corner.
The third indicator of a change in disposition is entering into true obedience to God. Corrupt humanity has not been able to be truly obedient to God, and even for those most faithful in their belief in God, their obedience has been too limited, and a far cry from true obedience. To achieve genuine obedience one must possess true understanding of and reverence for God; genuine obedience is built entirely upon the foundation of knowing and revering God. The principles behind what people do are based on their notions of right and wrong as well as considerations of what is beneficial for them. People not only have their own thoughts, but they have also been corrupted by Satan, so in a situation where they are unsure if it will be beneficial to them or not, they will not obey anyone else. For example, when people perform their duty, they are completely aware that muddling through it is cheating God, but they still do that. This is an issue of man’s nature and disposition. Since all people have a principle of survival of being self-serving and self-interested, and no one holds a principle of survival of being truth-serving and God-serving, their nature is to resist and betray God. Even if they believe in and serve Him, they just carry out some transactions for the sake of their own interests and goals. This is the root of people’s inability to truly obey God. Only with true knowledge of God and complete understanding of His will, as well as genuine confidence in God’s faithfulness and promises can people truly obey God. It’s clear how difficult it is for people to achieve obedience to God. In people’s imaginations, they believe that obeying God comes with the risk of being imprisoned or being killed, that it means the risk of having their family torn apart or being left by their family, that it means the risk of suffering the pain of being rejected by the world. This is why people feel that obeying God is too great of a difficulty. In fact, that’s not the case at all. Obeying God is not nearly as dreadful as people imagine. God’s work is most practical and most reasonable. For example, in God’s first incarnation, God gave Jesus thirty years to prepare and mature, and only once He was fully able to take on the task of redeeming mankind did He begin to work. Everything that God does is what man is able to bear, just as the Lord Jesus said in the Age of Grace: “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:30). Obeying God is putting His words into practice, and doing things based on God’s intentions. Obeying God is practicing according to God’s words and the principles of the truth that you understand in your heart. When you should forsake the flesh and your own will, you forsake them. When you clearly know that something is not in line with the truth, you do not do it. You give up things that go against your conscience and reason. Where is the risk in that? Putting the truth into practice is the safest thing, and it is the thing that is most blessed by God. All those with experience know that after frequently practicing the truth, it’s no longer difficult, and that it entirely becomes a matter of course. Of course, God makes requirements of people based upon their stature, and different people’s stature can vary. God has never forced something on someone that is beyond their capability, and He has never compelled them to do anything. If you don’t practice the truth that you are capable of practicing, the Holy Spirit will reproach and discipline you. This is what you deserve. If the Holy Spirit didn’t discipline people this way, we would never be able to change. When someone truly understands the truth, if they don’t put it into practice they feel unsettled and accused by their own conscience. When they seriously rebel against God, the pain in their spirit is even greater. Only if someone is able to put the truth into practice will they experience true peace and joy. This is why practicing the truth is a peaceful, joyful thing that brings people comfort and happiness. It’s just like what unbelievers say about the joy of helping others and giving to charity. For those who are able to put the truth into practice, true suffering occurs only when they stop doing it! The degree to which someone is able to obey God is determined based on the degree to which they understand the truth and their stature. Whenever someone is able to properly obey God—be it His words, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or the arrangements of the house of God, they are able to obey all of it—that is a person whose disposition has begun to change. When someone’s obedience to God becomes greater and more thorough, this shows that their change in life disposition has also become greater. One can see whether a person’s life disposition has changed based on the degree of their obedience to God. This is completely accurate.
If you want to know whether or not your life disposition has changed, first take a look at whether you are someone who truly obeys God, and you will know. This is because those with a change in disposition are those who obey God, and only those who truly obey God are those with a true change in their life disposition, and are those who have been gained by God. When God does not rest assured regarding some of those who serve Him, it means that they are not yet someone who is obedient to God, who have been gained by Him. God’s mind is only fully at ease regarding those He has gained, and those He can place full confidence in. You can ascertain whether someone is reliable based on how obedient they are to God. If they are a person who genuinely obeys God, others will trust in them, and only then will the house of God promote and utilize them. If a person cannot genuinely obey God, then they are not a reliable person. They are someone who betrays God, so how could they be trustworthy? Being able to truly obey God is not a simple matter at all. If they don’t really understand some truths and have some genuine understanding of God, if they have not undergone a few years of trials and refinement, then they absolutely cannot achieve true obedience of God. Some people think: As long as we have resolve and can give up everything, isn’t that being truly obedient to God? And other people think: As long as we do whatever the house of God would have us do, isn’t that being truly obedient to God? In fact, people’s resolve and enthusiasm can only achieve sporadic obedience. It is far from true obedience. True obedience refers to obedience within one’s life and within one’s spirit. It is the obedience that enables one to stand witness and humiliate Satan, and the obedience that causes one to forsake the flesh and choose the correct path. It is the obedience of satisfying God without hesitation at a critical moment, and the obedience of being ready to be cast off by the world in order to do God’s will. It is the obedience of Jesus bearing the cross on His back, walking to Golgotha. Only this kind of obedience is true obedience. It absolutely is not the obedience occasionally achieved on a whim; anyone who does not possess the truth or have a genuine understanding of God certainly cannot achieve this. There are several manifestations of surface-level obedience: obedience on trivial things, occasional obedience, obedience for one’s own profit, obedience with the intention of gaining blessings, obedience based on one’s own ideas, and obedience when one is moved by the work of the Holy Spirit. These superficial states of obedience all lack the essence of obedience, which is why they cannot be called true obedience. True obedience is not subject to the influence of people’s motives, benefit, moods, or environments. It is entirely based on the truth, and God’s will and requirements, and it is carried out dutifully to satisfy God. It contains no human impurity, and it is not subject to the constraints of any person, event, or thing. It is obedience that comes entirely from one’s instinct of life. Achieving this kind of obedience is entirely based on practical stature from gaining the truth and a change in disposition. In a person’s experience of pursuing a change in disposition, if they have discernment regarding a state of true obedience of God, they will know whether or not they are someone who is truly obedient to Him, and they will know whether they actually have a change in life disposition or not. This is completely accurate. The indicator of true obedience to God is of utter importance for pursuing a change in disposition.
The fourth indicator of a change in disposition is being able to exalt God and bear witness to Him, and resolve issues of people’s corruption through the truth. This is also an indicator that is directly related to a person’s change in their life disposition, primarily referring to whether or not their expenditure and service have become a testimony for Him. This is the final, and critical indicator of a change in disposition. Once someone has gained the truth, they are without a doubt someone who understands God. Their work and service will naturally become a genuine testimony. When this indicator has been achieved, they are definitely someone whose disposition has changed. You don’t have to wait until a particular trial comes upon someone to see if they bear witness. If you look at whether they are able to exalt God and bear witness to Him as well as use the truth to resolve problems in their day-to-day duty, you will be fully able to see whether this person bears a genuine witness. This is how you can naturally know if someone has had a change in their life disposition. If in general they can’t exalt God and bear witness to Him in their duty, and if they can’t use the truth to resolve problems, then they don’t bear witness, and they won’t be able to do so when trials come upon them, either. If they are able to do these things in general, then it will be easy for them to stand firm in the face of trials. If they usually cannot share fellowship on the truth, when they are faced with trials they cannot possibly just suddenly gain the truth. Gaining the truth is achieved through the accumulation of experience over time. As for someone who doesn’t generally pursue the truth, if they do not completely collapse when a trial comes upon them, they’re not doing too badly, but that absolutely cannot be called bearing a perfect, resounding, genuine witness. Some examples are below. When persecuted by the great red dragon, some shirk their duty, and some even drop out to pursue the world. There are some people who are always muddling through and trying to fool God in their duty, and their work bears no fruit. There are some people who are unable to fully uncover Satan’s schemes when they encounter deception from a false Christ, and they cannot fully speak to the essence of the truth to save others who have been deceived. All of these kinds of people do not have true testimony. Some who do work or preach in service to God cannot use the truth to resolve problems because they cannot fully fellowship on their understanding of God’s words, and cannot see the essence of a problem. This is lacking true testimony in their service of God. Some people, after understanding some letters and doctrines, think a lot of themselves, are unconvinced by anyone else, try to form factions, and engage in power struggles. These people particularly do not have true testimony. All those who have not gained the truth do not have true testimony, and they definitely cannot have true testimony in the face of trials. A person without testimony is a person without a change in life disposition. Without pursuing the truth, how could anyone have true testimony?
God uses the truth to judge and chastise people in order to save and transform them. If, in the end, no change in life disposition can be seen in someone, that shows that they are not someone who pursues the truth, and they have not truly accepted God’s judgment and chastisement. If you ask them, “What kind of judgment and chastisement have you received?” they don’t know what to say. So someone who believes in God but does not pursue the truth is someone who can never have true testimony. When Job was faced with trials he was able to display true faith; this is because he was generally able to genuinely worship God, and he had had true faith for a long time. Abraham agreed to sacrifice Isaac because he had long before recognized God’s almightiness, that God can create something from nothing and cause something to become nothing, and thus he had genuine faith in God. Peter was able to be crucified upside down for God because he had seen God’s true love for mankind, and he had a genuine understanding of Him. All of their testimonies were genuine, and they were entirely built on the foundation of genuine understanding of God. Without that, they could not possibly have true testimony. A true testimony is completely representative of the degree to which someone truly understands God. Their degree of understanding is their degree of testimony. The greater their understanding, the greater their testimony will be. Starting to train right before the battle is of no use. There’s an old saying that puts it well: “Idleness in youth will make you a beggar when you’re old.” If you don’t generally pursue the truth, once trials come upon you, you will not have any testimony. Those who lack the truth feel that shouldering work is very taxing, and their ability falls short of their wishes. They can only do some superficial work; they aren’t capable of taking on essential work in service of God. If no one gets serious with them, they think they are totally able to lead others, but if they are assigned more weighty work, they will be dumbfounded. Even though there are quite a few leaders and workers in the house of God who pursue the truth, there are too few of them who are able to share the essence of the truth in fellowship, and who are able to resolve problems with the truth. Their stature is too small, and they have not achieved being fit for use by God. What God’s house is lacking is those who have a genuine understanding of God, that is, those who can clearly fellowship on the essence of the truth. If someone has neither gained the truth nor achieved genuine understanding of the truth, but they are still arrogant and self-righteous, doesn’t this mean they’ve lost their sense? How does this happen?
Without gaining the truth, a person cannot possibly have perfect testimony, and they absolutely cannot have a change in life disposition. Only those with true testimony for God can achieve this. True testimony is being able to use the truth to resolve all sorts of issues of people’s corruption, allow people to have a genuine understanding of God, and truly bring people in front of God. It is having a genuine understanding of God’s disposition and being able to worship Him, and truly obeying all things that come from Him. It is being able to genuinely love God and repay His love because you have seen His genuine love for mankind and have understood the essence of His love. It is that seeing that Christ is the truth, the way, and the life, and that without Christ mankind would have been destroyed by God long ago, and would no longer exist, you throw yourself into pursuing the truth to become compatible with Christ, and no matter what He does or says, you are able to obey absolutely. It is that recognizing that all of God’s words are the truth and the reality of positive things, that all positive things come out of God, come from God, and that the words of Satan and corrupt mankind are all fallacies to deceive and corrupt people, and all negative things come from Satan—Satan is the ultimate root of all corrupt and evil things, you are able to determine to follow God, always stand on His side, and be willing to rebel against and give up Satan, even at the cost of death. True testimony is being resolved to uphold God’s words and live relying upon them, refusing to accept any of Satan’s fallacies, and always giving praise that God is the truth and righteousness, at all times, and under any circumstances. All these true testimonies are signs and embodiments of a person’s transformation in life disposition, and without these, there is no way to tell if their life disposition has actually changed. True testimony is the revelation of one’s life. Someone who possesses God’s words as their own life has more of the expression and testimony of life the more blows they are subjected to. So a person with true change in life disposition does not fear facing any trials—whether they live or die is in God’s hands, and it is allowed by God. They are not constrained by the fear of death. Although they have weaknesses, they absolutely do not blame God but instead praise Him. Someone with true testimony is someone who has been perfected by God, and those who have been perfected by God must all be proven through undergoing all sorts of trials. All those who have undergone many trials and have gained true testimony are true witnesses for God.
The four indicators of pursuing a change in disposition are the following: being an honest person, a transformation in one’s perspective on things, being able to truly obey God, and bearing a true witness. These are the four markers of a change in disposition. Each one of them is critical; not a single one can be lacking. These four indicators also represent the normal sequence of achieving a change in disposition. It starts from being an honest person and continues to bearing a true witness. This is fully in line with the natural law of development of a change in disposition. Additionally, these four indicators are four aspects of a change in disposition, and they are all critical for people who pursue a change in disposition. If someone shows entry and improvement in all four of these indicators, it shows that they have undergone growth. If they meet the requirements for all four indicators, that shows that they have already experienced a transformation in their life disposition.
The first indicator is being an honest person. This is the most basic thing one should be equipped with for a change in disposition. This is because those who undergo a change in their disposition are upright, honest people. An upright, honest person who has not gained the truth is always seen as an idiot, and is looked down upon. Once an upright, honest person gains the truth, others will look at them in a new light. Pursuit of the truth and a change in disposition is not an easy thing for crooked and deceitful people. It’s not easy for a deceitful person to become an honest person, to speak the truth, or to put into practice being simple and open and opening their hearts to others. It’s a part of their nature that is difficult to shift. But if you want to be saved and perfected through your belief in God, you must first become an honest person. If you do not achieve results in this first step, you will find it even harder to achieve results in each subsequent step. That is, if you’re not an honest person, accepting the truth will be difficult and putting the truth into practice will be more difficult, not to mention becoming someone who is obedient to God. So you must first practice and enter into being an honest person. It is the starting point for being a person; it is the most basic skill for being a person. If you’re not an honest person, don’t even imagine that you can gain blessing and perfection from God. You are not even worthy of being called a human being—you are a deceitful person, a demon. Sooner or later, every person will be exposed for who they really are.
The second indicator is a transformation in one’s perspective on things. That is achieved entirely through accepting the truth and putting it into practice. If you can’t accept the truth, you can’t even think of putting it into practice, and if you don’t put it into practice, you can’t truly understand or know it. Then, you can’t even think of having a transformation in your perspective. When someone truly understands the truth, only then will the truth hold a place in their heart, and only then can they deny, reject, and weed out any notions or fallacies that do not conform to the truth. So only by accepting the truth and putting it into practice can one truly understand and gain the truth, and give it a place in their heart so that it becomes their very life. This is how to achieve a transformation in one’s perspective on things.
The third indicator is being able to be truly obedient to God. True obedience of God is entirely built on the foundation of understanding God, and however much understanding a person has is how much obedience they have. Only someone who truly understands the truth is someone who understands God. When someone understands more of the truth, their understanding of God is also accurate. It means that they truly understand God and are able to truly obey Him. This is an indicator of a change in life disposition. A person who is better able to obey God in the midst of trials and obey Him when faced with the test of different choices is certainly a person with a change in their life disposition. If you obey a little bit, if you obey from time to time, obey when it benefits you in some way, or obey when it’s in line with your notions, this cannot be called true obedience. Anyone who is worthy of being called someone who is truly obedient to God has been made complete by Him, and that is definitely a person with a change in disposition.
The fourth indicator is being able to exalt God, bear witness to Him, and use the truth to resolve issues. A person with true testimony for God is someone who has been perfected, who is just like Peter. They are someone who genuinely loves God and could be crucified upside down for Him. If someone has not had a transformation in their disposition and been perfected by God, then they cannot achieve this kind of testimony. All those with true testimony have gained the truth, and they all live their lives based on God’s words. Each one of them is a person whose existence holds value. They live their lives entirely for the purpose of doing God’s will, and they seek nothing other than that. They know why they were created, and if they cannot carry out God’s commission, they will never be able to rest in peace. They are those who are devoted to God, and absolutely are not service-doers for Satan, or used by the world. Only those who have genuine testimony are of one heart and mind with God. They are the ones gained by Him, and they are the faithful witnesses for Christ.
The four indicators of a change in disposition are the important markers that directly involve a change in disposition. Each of the first three represents one stage, or one aspect of the change, but they do not represent the entirety. Only someone who lives up to the requirements of the fourth indicator is a person with a transformed disposition. Take the first indicator: being an honest person. If that is achieved, it shows that that person is an honest person—a right person, and there is hope for a change in their disposition. If not, if they still aren’t honest, then they absolutely cannot become someone whose disposition has changed. Being an honest person is the doorway to enter into a dispositional change, and if this can’t be done, there’s no hope of achieving the other three indicators. This is absolute. If a person can become an honest person, then there is certainly hope of achieving the other three indicators. This is also absolute. Only an honest person is a right person who has hope of being perfected. This is why in the house of God, the church leaders at all levels who are cultivated and utilized are primarily honest people who pursue the truth and are capable in their work. This is entirely in line with God’s will. In order to pursue a change in disposition, you must first be an honest person. As for how to be a person, you must be honest. This is the only way to be saved by God, and only this kind of person can gain God’s blessings. Only an honest person is able to establish a proper relationship with God and is likely to gain the work of the Holy Spirit so as to be perfected and become someone suited for use by God. Pursuing a change in disposition should start with becoming an honest person. This is entirely in line with what God intends. The truth is that in the process of pursuing the truth and experiencing the perfection of God’s work, all aspects of the truth as well as all aspects of these indicators are pursued in tandem. That is, when someone truly understands the truth, they will experience practical entry into being an honest person, their perspectives on things will shift, and they will also possess reality in their obedience to God. Once a person has understood many truths and has gained a genuine understanding of God, God will have a place in their heart. Then they will start to be able to exalt God, bear witness to Him, use the truth to resolve issues of people’s corruption, and truly lead others. At that time, they will have genuine obedience to and worship for God. This is how people’s life experience gradually deepens. In the end, if it is apparent that their life disposition has undergone a transformation, then that is success in their belief in God. They have been saved, and perfected.
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