18 Some people say, “We will be holy as long as we pursue hard. Jesus has not come back and we still have time to pursue holiness.” Why is such a saying not right?

The answer from God’s word:

    "People are forgiven of their sins through God's incarnation; it is not that they have no sins within. People, after sinning, can be forgiven through the sin offering, but they have no way to solve the problem of how to be free from sinning, to completely cast off their sinful nature, and to be transformed in their sinful nature. People are forgiven of their sins because of God's work of crucifixion, but they are still living in their old corrupt satanic disposition. Thus, God has to save people completely from their corrupt satanic disposition, so that their sinful nature will be completely cast off and no longer develop and their disposition can be transformed. For this, God has to let people understand the way to grow in life, the way of life, and the pathway to be transformed in their disposition, and have them practice according to this way, so that they can be transformed in their disposition gradually and live under the shining of the light, and that everything they do can be after God's heart, and they can cast off their corrupt satanic disposition, break away from Satan's influence of darkness, and come out of sins completely. Only then will they have received a full salvation. When Jesus did his work, people's knowledge of him was still vague and obscure, and they always believed that he was the Son of David and said that he was a great prophet and he was the merciful Lord who atoned for man's sins. Some were healed of their sicknesses by touching the edge of his garment by faith, the blind could receive sight, and the dead could be raised. But people could not discover the deep-rooted corrupt satanic disposition within them and did not know how to cast it off. People received a lot of grace, such as, fleshly peace and joy, the whole household being blessed through one member believing in the Lord, the healing of sicknesses, and so on. Besides that, they had good deeds and godly appearance. Those who could live by these would be qualified believers. Only such believers could go to heaven after their death, that is, be saved. But when these people were alive, they did not understand the way of life at all but just kept committing sins and confessing them, and they did not have the way to be transformed in their disposition. In the Age of the Grace people were just in such a situation. Have they been saved completely? No! So, after that stage of work has been accomplished, there is still a stage of work of judgment and chastisement. In this stage, it is to purify people through the word so that they can have ways to go on. If God still drove out demons in this stage, it would produce no results and would be meaningless, because people's sinful nature could not be cast off and they could only remain at the basis of being forgiven of their sins. People have been forgiven of their sins through the sin offering, because the work of the cross has ended and God has triumphed over Satan. But people's corrupt disposition still remains within them and they still can commit sins and resist God, and God has not gained mankind. So in this stage, God discloses people's corrupt disposition by his word and lets them practice according to proper ways. The work done in this stage is more significant and produces greater results than the work done in the former stage, because now the word directly supplies people's life so that their disposition can be thoroughly renewed, and it is a more thorough work. So, the final incarnation has completed the significance of God's incarnation and has completely accomplished God's management plan of saving man."

from "The Mystery of Incarnation (4)" in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   "You lack a process in your believing in God. You have only been redeemed but have not been transformed. To be after God's heart, you need God to personally work to transform and purify you. Otherwise, you, who have only been redeemed, cannot possibly be holy. Then you will not be qualified to enjoy the good blessings with God, because you miss one stage in God's work of managing man, that is, the crucial stage of transforming and perfecting man. So, you, a sinner who has just been redeemed, cannot directly inherit God's inheritance."

from "A Statement About Address and Identity" in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   "When Jesus came among men, he did many works. But he only accomplished the work of redeeming all mankind and was only man's sin offering, and he did not rid men of all their corrupt disposition. To completely save men from Satan's influence, it not only requires Jesus to be the sin offering to bear men's sins, but also requires God to do a greater work to completely rid men of their disposition corrupted by Satan. So, after men's sins were forgiven, God has again returned in the flesh to lead men into the new age and begin the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought mankind into a higher state. All those who submit under his dominion will enjoy higher truth, receive greater blessings, truly live in the light, and receive the truth, the way, and the life."

from "Preface" to The Word Appears in the Flesh

    "They think: Since it is the work of judgment, God must be very majestic-looking and very imposing when doing it, while those who receive judgment must be wailing loudly, begging for mercy on their knees. The scene at that time must be very spectacular and very exciting…. Everyone imagines God's work of judgment to be very miraculous. But have you ever known this: When God has already started the work of judgment among men, you are still lethargically asleep in your cozy nest; when you think that God's work of judgment formally starts, it will already be the time God renews heaven and earth. At that time, you may have just understood the meaning of human life, but God's merciless work of punishment will have brought you who are sunk in sleep into hell. At that time, you will suddenly become awakened, realizing that God's work of judgment has already ended.

… You believe in God but do not search for the truth, do not seek God's will, and do not love the way that brings you closer to God. Then I say that you are one who escapes the judgment and you are a puppet, a betrayer, that runs away from the great white throne. God will not let off any rebel that runs away from his eyes. Such people will suffer a severer punishment. Those who come before God to accept judgment and are purified will live in God’s kingdom forever. Of course, this is a future thing."

from "Christ Does the Work of Judgment with the Truth" in The Word Appears in the Flesh