358. After several thousand years of corruption, man is numb and dull-witted; he has become an evil demon that opposes God, to the extent that man’s rebelliousness toward God has been documented in the books of history, and even man himself is incapable of giving a full account of his rebellious behavior—for man has been profoundly corrupted by Satan, and has been led astray by Satan such that he knows not where to turn. Even today, man still betrays God: When man sees God, he betrays Him, and when he cannot see God, so too does he betray Him. There are even those who, having witnessed God’s curses and God’s wrath, still betray Him. And so I say that man’s reason has lost its original function, and that man’s conscience, too, has lost its original function. The man that I look upon is a beast in human attire, he is a venomous snake, and no matter how pitiable he tries to appear before My eyes, I will never be merciful toward him, for man has no grasp of the difference between black and white, of the difference between truth and non-truth. Man’s reason is so benumbed, yet still he wishes to gain blessings; his humanity is so ignoble yet still he wishes to possess the sovereignty of a king. Who could he be the king of, with reason such as that? How could he with such a humanity sit atop a throne? Man truly has no shame! He is a conceited wretch! For those of you who wish to gain blessings, I suggest you first find a mirror and look at your own ugly reflection—do you have what it takes to be a king? Do you have the face of one who could gain blessings? There has not been the slightest change in your disposition and you have not put any of the truth into practice, yet still you wish for a wonderful tomorrow. You are deluding yourself! Man, who was born into such a filthy land, has been infected by society to a severe extent, he has been conditioned by feudal ethics, and he has received the education of “institutes of higher learning.” The backward thinking, corrupt morality, debased life outlook, despicable philosophy for worldly dealings, utterly worthless existence, and base customs and day-to-day life—all of these things have been severely intruding upon man’s heart, and have been severely damaging and attacking his conscience. As a result, man grows ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him. Man’s disposition becomes more ruthless by the day, and there is not a single person who will willingly give up anything for God, not a single person who will willingly submit to God, and even less is there a single person who will willingly seek the appearance of God. Instead, man pursues pleasure to his heart’s content under the power of Satan, and corrupts his flesh in the mire with abandon. Even when they hear the truth, those who live in darkness have no desire to practice it, and they aren’t inclined to seek even when they see that God has already appeared. How could a depraved mankind like this have any margin for salvation? How could a decadent mankind like this live in the light?

Changing man’s disposition starts with knowledge of his essence and through changes in his thinking, nature, and mental outlook—through fundamental changes. Only in this way will true changes be achieved in the disposition of man. The root cause of corrupt dispositions arising in man is Satan’s misleading, corruption, and poison. Man has been bound and controlled by Satan, and he suffers the egregious harm that Satan has inflicted upon his thinking, morality, insight, and reason. It is precisely because the fundamental things of man have been corrupted by Satan, and are utterly unlike how God originally created them, that man opposes God and cannot accept the truth. Thus, changes in man’s disposition should begin with changes in his thinking, insight, and reason that will change his knowledge of God and his knowledge of the truth. Those who were born in the most deeply corrupted of all lands are even more ignorant of what God is, or what it means to believe in God. The more corrupted people are, the less they know the existence of God, and the poorer their reason and insight are. The source of man’s opposition and rebelliousness against God is his corruption by Satan. Because of Satan’s corruption, man’s conscience has grown numb; he is immoral, his thoughts are degenerate, and he has a backward mental outlook. Before he was corrupted by Satan, man naturally submitted to God and submitted to His words after hearing them. He was naturally of sound reason and conscience, and of normal humanity. After being corrupted by Satan, man’s original reason, conscience, and humanity grew numb and were impaired by Satan. Thus, he has lost his submission and love toward God. Man’s reason has become aberrant, his disposition has become the same as that of an animal, and his rebelliousness toward God is ever increasing and growing more grievous. Yet man still neither knows nor understands this, and merely opposes and rebels persistently. The revelations of man’s disposition are the expressions of his reason, insight, and conscience; because his reason and insight are unsound, and his conscience has grown supremely numb, thus his disposition is rebellious against God. If man’s reason and insight cannot change, then changes in his disposition are out of the question, as is aligning with God’s intentions. If man’s reason is unsound, then he cannot serve God and is unfit for use by God. “Normal reason” refers to submitting to and being loyal to God, to yearning for God, to being absolute toward God, and to having a conscience toward God. It refers to being of one heart and mind toward God, and not deliberately opposing God. Having an aberrant reason is not like this. Since man was corrupted by Satan, he has come up with notions about God, and he has had no loyalty to God or yearning for Him, to say nothing of a conscience toward God. Man deliberately opposes God and passes judgments on Him, and, furthermore, hurls invective at Him behind His back. Man passes judgment on God behind His back, with clear knowledge that He is God; man has absolutely no intention at all of submitting to God, and merely keeps making demands and requests of Him. Such people—people who have aberrant reason—are incapable of knowing their own despicable behavior or of regretting their acts of rebellion. If people are capable of knowing themselves, then they have regained a little of their reason; the more that people are rebellious against God and yet do not know themselves, the less sound of reason they are.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

359. Until people have experienced God’s work and understood the truth, it is Satan’s nature that takes charge and dominates them from within. What, specifically, does that nature entail? For example, why are you selfish? Why do you protect your own position? Why do you have such strong feelings? Why do you enjoy those unrighteous things? Why do you like those evils? What is the basis for your fondness for such things? Where do these things come from? Why are you so happy to accept them? By now, you have all come to understand that the main reason behind all these things is that Satan’s poison is within man. So what is Satan’s poison? How can it be expressed? For example, if you ask, “How should people live? What should people live for?” people will answer, “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” This single phrase expresses the very root of the problem. Satan’s philosophy and logic have become people’s life. No matter what people pursue, they do so for themselves—and so they live only for themselves. “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost”—this is the life philosophy of man, and it also represents human nature. These words have already become the nature of corrupt mankind and they are the true portrait of corrupt mankind’s satanic nature. This satanic nature has already become the basis for corrupt mankind’s existence. For several thousand years, corrupt mankind has lived by this poison of Satan, right up to the present day. Everything that Satan does is for the sake of its own desires, ambitions, and aims. It wishes to surpass God, to break free of God, and to seize control of all things created by God. Today, such is the extent that people have been corrupted by Satan: They all have satanic natures, they all try to deny and oppose God, and they want to control their own fates and try to oppose the orchestrations and arrangements of God. Their ambitions and desires are exactly the same as Satan’s. Therefore, man’s nature is Satan’s nature. In fact, many people’s mottos and aphorisms represent human nature and reflect the essence of human corruption. The things that people choose are their own preferences, and they all represent people’s dispositions and pursuits. In every word a person says, and in everything they do, no matter how disguised it is, it cannot cover up their nature. For example, the Pharisees usually preached quite nicely, but when they heard the sermons and truths expressed by Jesus, rather than accepting them, they condemned them. This exposed the Pharisees’ nature essence of being averse to and hating the truth. Some people speak quite prettily and are good at disguising themselves, but after others associate with them for a while, the others find that their nature is deeply deceitful and dishonest. After a long time of associating with them, everyone else discovers their nature essence. In the end, the others draw the following conclusion: They never speak a word of truth, and are deceitful. This statement represents such people’s nature and it is the best illustration and proof of their nature essence. Their philosophy for worldly dealings is to not tell anyone the truth, as well as to not trust anyone. Man’s satanic nature contains a great deal of satanic philosophies and poisons. Sometimes you yourself are not even aware of them, and do not understand them; nevertheless, every moment of your life is based on these things. Moreover, you think that these things are quite correct and reasonable, and not at all mistaken. This suffices to show that Satan’s philosophies have become people’s nature, and that they are living in complete accordance with them, thinking this way of living to be good, and without any sense of repentance at all. Therefore, they are constantly revealing their satanic nature, and they are constantly living by Satan’s philosophies. Satan’s nature is humanity’s life, and it is humanity’s nature essence.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. How to Walk the Path of Peter

360. How do you understand man’s nature? The most important thing is to discern it from the perspective of man’s worldview, life view, and values. Those who are of devils all live for themselves. Their life view and maxims mainly come from Satan’s sayings, such as “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “Man dies for wealth as birds do for food,” and other such fallacies. All these words spoken by those devil kings, great ones, and philosophers have become man’s very life. In particular, most of the words of Confucius, who is touted by Chinese people as a “sage,” have become man’s life. There are also the famous proverbs of Buddhism and Taoism, and the classic sayings that various famous figures have often repeated. These are all summations of Satan’s philosophies and Satan’s nature. They are also the best illustrations and explanations of Satan’s nature. These poisons that have been infused into the heart of man all come from Satan, and not the least bit of them comes from God. Such devilish words are also in direct opposition to God’s word. It is absolutely clear that the realities of all positive things come from God, and all negative things that poison man come from Satan. Therefore, you can discern a person’s nature and to whom they belong by looking at their life view and values. Satan corrupts people through the education and influence of national governments and of the famous and the great. Their devilish words have become man’s life and nature. “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost” is a well-known satanic saying that has been instilled into everyone, and this has become man’s life. There are other words of philosophies for worldly dealings that are also like this. Satan uses each nation’s traditional culture to educate, mislead, and corrupt people, causing mankind to fall into and be engulfed by a boundless abyss of destruction, and in the end, people are destroyed by God because they serve Satan and resist God. Some people have served as public officials in society for decades. Imagine asking them the following question: “You’ve done so well in this capacity, what are the main famous sayings that you live by?” They might say, “The one thing I understand is this: ‘Officials do not make things difficult for those who bear gifts, and those who do not flatter accomplish nothing.’” This is the satanic philosophy their career is based on. Are these words not representative of such people’s nature? Unscrupulously using any means to obtain position has become their nature, officialdom and career success are their goals. There are still many satanic poisons in people’s lives, self-conduct, and behavior. For example, their philosophies for worldly dealings, their ways of doing things, and their maxims are all filled with the poisons of the great red dragon, and these all come from Satan. Thus, all things that flow through people’s bones and blood are of Satan. All of those officials, those who hold power, and those who are accomplished have their own paths and secrets to success. Are such secrets not perfectly representative of their nature? They have done such big things in the world, and no one can see through the schemes and intrigues that lay behind them. This shows just how insidious and venomous their nature is. Mankind has been profoundly corrupted by Satan. Satan’s venom flows through the blood of every person, and it can be said that man’s nature is corrupt, wicked, antagonistic, and in opposition to God, filled by and immersed in the philosophies and poisons of Satan. It has become, entirely, the nature essence of Satan. This is why people resist God and stand in opposition to God. People can easily come to know themselves if their nature can be dissected in this way.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. How to Know Man’s Nature

361. How do you understand human nature? Understanding your nature actually means dissecting the things deep within your soul—the things within your life, and all the logic and philosophies of Satan you have been living by—which is the life of Satan that you have been living by. Only by unearthing the deep-down things within your soul can you understand your nature. How can these things be unearthed? They cannot be unearthed or dissected through a mere one or two matters. Many times, after you are finished doing something, you still have not come to an understanding. It could take three or five years before you are able to gain even a tiny bit of realization or understanding. So, in many situations you must self-reflect and come to know yourself. You must dig deep and dissect yourself, in accordance with God’s words, in order to see any results. As your understanding of the truth grows more and more profound, you will gradually come to know your own nature essence through self-reflection and self-knowledge.

To know your nature, you must gain understanding of it through a few things. First, you must have a clear understanding of what you like. This does not refer to what you like to eat or wear, rather, it means the kinds of things you enjoy, the things you envy, the things you worship, the things you pursue, and the things you pay attention to in your heart, the types of people you enjoy coming into contact with, and the types of people you admire and idolize in your heart. For example, most people like people of great standing, people who are elegant in their speech and deportment, or like those who speak with a glib tongue or those who put on an act. The aforementioned is about what people they like to interact with. As for the things people enjoy, these include being willing to do certain things that are easy to do, enjoying doing things that others think are good and that people would approve of and praise. In people’s natures, there is a common characteristic of the things they like. That is, they like people, events, and things that others are envious of due to outward appearances, they like people, events, and things that look very beautiful and luxurious, and they like people, events, and things that make others worship them. These things that people are fond of are great, dazzling, gorgeous, and grand. People all worship these things. It can be seen that people do not possess any of the truth, nor do they have the likeness of genuine human beings. There is not the slightest degree of significance in worshiping these things, yet people still like them. These things that people like seem especially good to those who do not believe in God, and they are all things that people are especially willing to pursue. … The things that people pursue and yearn for belong to worldly trends, these things are of Satan and devils, they are detested by God, and devoid of any truth. The things that people are inclined to yearn for allow their nature essence to be unearthed. People’s preferences can be seen in the way they dress. Some people are willing to wear attention-grabbing, colorful clothing, or bizarre outfits. They are willing to wear accessories no one else has worn before, and they love things that can attract the opposite sex. That they wear these clothes and accessories shows the preference they have for these things in their lives and deep within their hearts. The things they like are not dignified or decent. They are not things a normal person should pursue. In their affection for them, there is unrighteousness. Their outlook is exactly the same as that of worldly people. One cannot see any part of this that coheres with the truth. Therefore, what you like, what you focus on, what you worship, what you envy, and what you think about in your heart every day are all representative of your nature. Your predilection for these worldly things is enough to prove that your nature is fond of unrighteousness, and in serious situations, your nature is wicked and incurable. You should dissect your nature in this way: Examine what you are fond of and what you forsake in your life. You might be good to someone for a time, but this does not prove that you are fond of them. What you are truly fond of is precisely what is in your nature; even if your bones were broken, you would still enjoy it and could never forsake it. This is not easy to change.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. What Should Be Known About Transforming One’s Disposition

362. The key to achieving a change in disposition is to know one’s own nature, and this must be done according to God’s exposure. Only in God’s words can a person come to know their hideous nature, the various poisons of Satan that lie within their nature, their foolishness and ignorance, and the fragile and negative elements in their nature. After you thoroughly know these things, and you are truly able to hate yourself, rebel against the flesh, persist in practicing God’s words, persist in pursuing the truth while doing your duty to achieve dispositional change, and become someone who truly loves God, you will have embarked upon the path of Peter. Without the grace of God or the enlightenment and guidance from the Holy Spirit, it would be difficult to walk this path, for without the truth, people cannot rebel against themselves. Walking Peter’s path of being perfected primarily depends on having resolve, having faith, and relying on God. Furthermore, a person must submit to the work of the Holy Spirit and never stray from God’s words in all things. These are the crucial aspects which may never be violated. During the course of their experiences, it is very difficult to know oneself, and without the work of the Holy Spirit, no results will come. To walk the path of Peter, a person must focus on knowing themselves and on transforming their disposition.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three

363. On one hand, during God’s trials man comes to know his deficiencies and to see that he is insignificant, contemptible, and lowly, that he has nothing and is nothing; on the other hand, during the trials God sets up some environments for man so that within them, man is better able to experience the loveliness of God. Although the pain is great, and sometimes insurmountable—even reaching the level of crushing grief—having experienced it, man sees how lovely God’s work in him is, and only upon this foundation is there born in man true love for God. Today man sees that with the grace, love, and mercy of God alone, he is incapable of truly knowing himself, and much less is he able to know the substance of man. Only through both the refinement and judgment of God, and during the process of refinement itself, can man know his deficiencies, and know that he has nothing.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God

364. The key to self-reflection and knowing yourself is this: The more you feel that in certain areas you have done well or done the right thing, and the more you think you can satisfy God’s intentions or are able to boast in certain areas, then the more it is worth knowing yourself in those areas and the deeper it is worth digging into them to see what impurities exist in you, as well as what things in you cannot satisfy God’s intentions. Let us take Paul as an example. Paul was especially knowledgeable, he suffered a lot when he preached and worked, and many people particularly adored him. As a result, after completing much work, he assumed there would be a crown set aside for him. This caused him to go farther and farther down the wrong path, until finally he was punished by God. If he had reflected upon and dissected himself at the time, then he would not have thought in the way that he did. In other words, Paul had not focused on seeking the truth in the words of the Lord Jesus; he had only believed in his own notions and imaginings. He had thought that merely by doing some good things and exhibiting some good behaviors, he would be approved of and rewarded by God. In the end, his own notions and imaginings blinded his heart and covered the truth of his corruption. But people were not able to discern this, and had no knowledge of these matters, and so before God had exposed this, they had always set Paul as a standard to aim for, an example to live by, and regarded him as an idol they sought and longed to be. Paul’s case is a warning to every one of God’s chosen people. Especially when we who follow God can suffer and pay the price in our duties and as we serve God, we feel that we are devoted and love God, and at times like this, we should reflect on and understand ourselves even more concerning the path we are taking, which is very necessary. This is because what you think is good is what you will determine to be correct, and you will not doubt it, reflect on it, or dissect whether there is anything in it that resists God. For example, there are people who believe themselves to be extremely kind-hearted. They never hate or harm others, and they always lend a hand to a brother or sister whose family is in need, lest their problem go unsolved; they have great goodwill, and do everything in their power to help everyone they can. Yet they never focus on practicing the truth, and they have no life entry. What is the result of such helpfulness? They put their own lives on hold, yet are quite pleased with themselves, and extremely satisfied with all they have done. What is more, they take great pride in it, believing that in all they have done, there is nothing that goes against the truth, that it will definitely satisfy God’s intentions, and that they are true believers in God. They see their natural kindness as capital and, as soon as they do so, they take it for granted as the truth. In reality, all they do is human good. They do not practice the truth at all, for what they do is before man, and not before God, and less still do they practice according to God’s requirements and the truth. Therefore, all their deeds are in vain. Nothing they do is practicing the truth or God’s words, let alone following His will; rather, they use human kindness and good behavior to help others. In summary, they do not seek God’s intentions in everything they do, nor do they act in accordance with His requirements. God does not approve of this kind of good behavior of man; to God, it is to be condemned, and does not merit His remembrance.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Recognizing One’s Own Wrong Views Can One Truly Transform

365. Most people have a very superficial understanding of themselves. They do not clearly know the things within their nature at all. They only have knowledge of a few of the corrupt states they reveal, the things they are likely to do, or what shortcomings they have, and this makes them think they know themselves. If they then abide by a few regulations, ensure that they do not make mistakes in certain areas, and manage to avoid committing certain transgressions, they come to think they possess reality in their belief in God and assume that they will be saved. This is nothing but human imaginings. If you abide by those things, will you really become able to refrain from transgressing? Will you have truly attained a change in your disposition? Will you have really lived out the likeness of a human being? Will you truly be able to satisfy God? Absolutely not. This is certain. People should have a high standard in their belief in God: to gain the truth and undergo some changes in their life disposition. This first requires people to put effort into knowing themselves. If a person’s knowledge of themselves is too shallow, this won’t resolve any problems at all, and their life dispositions absolutely will not change. You must know yourself to a profound degree. This means knowing your nature, and knowing what elements it contains, from where these things originate, and where they come from. Moreover, are you actually able to hate these things? Have you seen your own ugly soul and your wicked nature? If you truly see the truth about yourself, you will hate yourself. When you hate yourself and then try to put God’s words into practice, you will be able to rebel against the flesh and gain the strength to practice the truth, and it will no longer feel like a struggle. Why do many people act according to their fleshly preferences? Because they consider themselves to be pretty good, and feel that their actions are quite fitting and justified, without any faults, and even completely correct, and so they act with self-assurance. When they truly know just what their nature is—how ugly, despicable, and pitiful it is—they will stop thinking so highly of themselves and being so arrogant, and they will no longer feel so pleased with themselves. They’ll think, “I must practice some of God’s words with my feet planted firmly on the ground. If not, I won’t measure up to the standard of being human, and will be ashamed to live in God’s presence.” They will truly see themselves as small and truly insignificant. At this point, it will become easy for them to practice the truth, and they will appear somewhat like a human should. Only when a person truly hates themselves are they able to rebel against the flesh. If they do not hate themselves, they will be unable to rebel against the flesh. Truly hating oneself is no simple matter. To do so, there are several things a person must possess. First, a person must possess knowledge of their nature. Secondly, they must see that they’re poor and pitiful, that they’re extremely small and insignificant, and they must see their pitiful, dirty soul. When they come to fully see what they truly are—when this result is achieved—they truly gain knowledge of themselves, and it can be said that their knowledge of themselves is spot on. Only at this point can they hate themselves, even curse themselves, truly feeling that people have been corrupted profoundly by Satan such that they’re devoid of any human likeness. One day, if they truly face the threat of dying, they will think, “This is God’s righteous punishment. God is indeed righteous. I deserve to die!” At this point, they will not voice their grievances, much less complain about God—they will simply feel that they are utterly poor, pitiful, filthy, and corrupt, and that they should be eliminated and destroyed by God, and they will feel that a soul such as theirs is unfit to live on earth. Therefore, they will not complain about or resist God, much less betray Him. But if they do not know themselves, and still consider themselves to be pretty good, then when the threat of dying draws near, they will think, “I have done very well in my faith. I have pursued the truth so hard, sacrificed so much, and suffered so much, but in the end, god is letting me die. I don’t know where god’s righteousness is. Why is he letting me die? If even someone like me has to die, who can be saved? Isn’t the entire human race done for?” First of all, they will have notions about God. Secondly, they will complain about Him and not have any submission whatsoever. They are just like Paul, who did not know himself, even when he was about to die. When God’s punishment comes upon them, it will already be too late.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three