404. As members of the human race and devout Christians, it is the responsibility and obligation of us all to offer up our minds and bodies for the fulfillment of God’s commission, for our entire being came from God, and it exists thanks to the sovereignty of God. If our minds and bodies are not dedicated to God’s commission and the just cause of mankind, then our souls will feel ashamed before those who were martyred for God’s commission, and much more ashamed before God, who has provided us with everything.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 2: God Holds Sovereignty Over the Fate of All Mankind

405. How you should treat God’s commissions is extremely important. This is a very serious matter. If you cannot complete what God has entrusted to you, then you are not fit to live in His presence and you should accept your punishment. It is perfectly natural and justified that humans complete the commissions God entrusts to them. This is man’s supreme responsibility, and is just as important as his very life. If you treat God’s commissions lightly, this is a most severe betrayal of God. In this, you are more deplorable than Judas, and should be cursed. People must gain a thorough understanding of how to treat God’s commissions and, at the very least, they must understand: God’s entrusting of commissions to man is His exaltation of man, His special showing of grace to man, it is the most glorious of things, and everything else can be abandoned—even one’s own life—but God’s commissions must be completed.

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

406. There is no correlation between the duty of man and whether he receives blessings or suffers misfortune. Duty is what man ought to fulfill; it is his heaven-sent vocation, and he should perform it without seeking recompense, and without conditions or reasons. Only this can be called performing one’s duty. Receiving blessings refers to the blessings a person enjoys when they are made perfect after experiencing judgment. Suffering misfortune refers to the punishment a person receives when their disposition does not change after they have passed through chastisement and judgment—that is, when they are not made perfect. But regardless of whether they receive blessings or suffer misfortune, created beings should fulfill their duty, doing what they ought to do, and doing what they are able to do; this is the least that a person, a person who pursues God, should do. You should not perform your duty only to receive blessings, and you should not refuse to perform your duty for fear of suffering misfortune. Let Me tell you this one thing: Man’s performance of his duty is what he ought to do, and if he is incapable of performing his duty, then this is his rebelliousness. It is through the process of performing his duty that man is gradually changed, and it is through this process that he demonstrates his loyalty. As such, the more you are able to perform your duty, the more you will be able to gain a greater amount of the truth, and the more practical your expression shall become. Those who merely go through the motions in performing their duty and do not seek the truth shall be eliminated in the end, for such people do not perform their duty in the practice of truth, and do not practice truth in the performance of their duty. They are those who remain unchanged and will suffer misfortune. Not only are their expressions impure, but everything they express is evil.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Difference Between the Ministry of God Incarnate and the Duty of Man

407. God works to manage and save humankind. Of course God has requirements of people, and these requirements are their duty. It is evident that people’s duty arises from God’s work and His requirements of humankind. Regardless of what duty one performs, it is the most proper thing they could do, the most beautiful and just thing among humankind. As created beings, people ought to fulfill their duty, and only then can they receive the approval of the Creator. Created beings live under the Creator’s dominion, and they accept all that is provided by God and everything that comes from God, so they should fulfill their responsibilities and obligations. This is perfectly natural and justified, and was ordained by God. From this it can be seen that, for people to fulfill the duty of a created being is more just, beautiful, and noble than anything else done while living on earth; nothing among humankind is more meaningful or worthy, and nothing brings greater meaning and worth to the life of a created person, than fulfilling the duty of a created being. On earth, only the group of people who truly and sincerely perform the duty of a created being are those who submit to the Creator. This group does not follow worldly trends; they submit to the leadership and guidance of God, only listen to the words of the Creator, accept the truths expressed by the Creator, and live by the words of the Creator. This is the truest, most resounding testimony, and it is the best testimony of belief in God. For a created being to be able to fulfill the duty of a created being, to be able to satisfy the Creator, is the most beautiful thing among humankind, and is something that should be spread among them as a tale to be praised. Anything the Creator entrusts to created beings should be unconditionally accepted by them; for humankind, this is a matter of both happiness and privilege, and for all those who fulfill the duty of a created being, nothing is more beautiful or worthy of being remembered—it is something positive. And as for how the Creator treats those who can fulfill the duty of a created being, and what He promises them, this is a matter for the Creator; it is no business of created humankind. To put it a little more plainly and simply, this is up to God, and people have no right to interfere. You will get whatever God gives you, and if He gives you nothing, then there is nothing you can say about it. When a created being accepts God’s commission, and cooperates with the Creator to perform their duty and do what they can, this is not a transaction or a trade; people should not try to trade expressions of attitudes or actions and behaviors to gain any promises or blessings from God. When the Creator entrusts this work to you, it is right and proper that, as created beings, you accept this duty and commission. Is there anything transactional about this? (No.) On the Creator’s side, He is willing to entrust to each and every one of you the duties that people ought to perform; and on the created humankind’s side, people should gladly accept this duty, treating it as their life’s obligation, as the value they should live out in this life. There is no transaction here, this is not an equivalent exchange, much less does it involve any reward or other statements that people imagine. This is by no means a trade; it is not about exchanging the price people pay or the hard work they provide when performing their duty for something else. God has never said that, and it should not be understood in this way by people. The Creator gives humankind a commission, and a created being, having received from the Creator the commission God gives, undertakes to perform their duty. In this matter, this process, there is nothing transactional; it is quite a simple and proper thing. It is just as with parents, who, having given birth to their child, raise them without conditions or complaints. As for whether the child grows up to be filial, their parents had no such requirements since the day they were born. There isn’t a single parent who, after giving birth to a child, says, “I’m only raising him so that he’ll serve and honor me in the future. If he won’t honor me, I’ll throttle him to death right now.” There is not a single parent like this. So, judging from the way parents raise their children, it is an obligation, a responsibility, right? (Yes.) Parents will go on raising their child, no matter if they are filial or not, and whatever the hardships, they will raise them until they become a grown adult, and hope for the best for them. There is nothing conditional or transactional in this responsibility and obligation that parents have for their child. Those with relevant experience can understand this. Most parents have no required standards for whether their child is filial. If their child is filial, they will be a bit more cheerful than they would otherwise be, and they will be a bit happier in their old age. If their child is not filial, they will just let that be the case. This is how most parents who are relatively open-minded will think. All in all, whether it’s parents raising their children or children supporting their parents, the matter is one of responsibility, of obligation, and it falls within a person’s expected role. Of course, these are all petty matters compared to a created being’s performance of their duty, but of the matters of the human world, they are among the more beautiful and just ones. Needless to say, this applies even more to a created being’s performance of their duty. As a created being, when one comes before the Creator, they ought to perform their duty. This is a very proper thing to do, and they should fulfill this responsibility. On the condition that created beings perform their duties, the Creator has done even greater work among humankind, He has carried out a further step of work on people. And what work is that? He provides humankind with the truth, allowing them to gain the truth from God as they perform their duties and thereby cast off their corrupt dispositions and be purified, come to satisfy God’s intentions and embark on the right path in life, and, ultimately, be able to fear God and shun evil, attain complete salvation, and no longer be subjected to Satan’s afflictions. This is the final effect that God intends to achieve by getting humankind to perform duties. Therefore, during the process of performing your duty, God does not merely make you see one thing clearly and understand a little truth, nor does He merely let you enjoy the grace and blessings you receive by performing your duty as a created being. Rather, He allows you to be purified and saved, and, ultimately, come to live in the light of the face of the Creator.

—The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Seven)

408. When a person accepts God’s commission, God has a standard for judging whether their actions are good or bad and whether the person has submitted, and whether the person has satisfied God’s intentions and whether what they do is up to standard. What God cares about is the person’s heart, not their actions on the surface. It is not the case that God should bless someone as long as they do something, regardless of how they do it. This is a misunderstanding people have about God. God looks not just at the end result of things, but places more emphasis on how a person’s heart is and how a person’s attitude is during the development of things, and He looks at whether there is submission, consideration, and the desire to satisfy God in their heart.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I

409. No matter what duty you are performing, you must seek the truth principles, understand God’s intentions, know what His requirements are with regard to the duty in question and understand what results you should achieve in the performance of that duty. Only in so doing can you come to act with principles. In performing your duty, you absolutely cannot go by your personal preferences, doing whatever you would like to do, whatever you would be happy doing, or whatever would make you look good. This is acting in accordance with one’s own will. If you rely on your own personal preferences in the performance of your duty, thinking this is what God demands, and that this is what will make God happy, and if you forcibly impose your personal preferences on God or practice them as though they were the truth, observing them as if they were the truth principles, then is this not a mistake? This is not performing your duty, and performing your duty in this way will not be remembered by God. Some people do not understand the truth, and they do not know what it means to fulfill their duties well. They feel that they have made effort and put their heart into it, rebelled against their flesh and suffered, but why then can they never do their duty in a way that is up to standard? Why is God always dissatisfied? Where have these people gone wrong? Their mistake was to not seek out God’s requirements, and instead act according to their own ideas—this is the reason. They treated their own desires, preferences, and selfish motives as the truth, and they treated them as though they were what God loved, as though they were His standards and requirements. They saw what they believed to be correct, good, and beautiful to be the truth; this is wrong. In fact, even though people might sometimes think something is right and that it accords with the truth, that does not necessarily mean that it accords with God’s intentions. The more people think something is right, the more cautious they should be and the more they should seek the truth to see whether what they are thinking meets God’s requirements. If it precisely runs counter to His requirements and counter to His words, then it is unacceptable even if you think it is right, it is but a human thought, and it will not accord with the truth no matter how right you think it is. Whether something is right or wrong must be determined based on God’s words. No matter how right you think something is, unless there is a basis for it in God’s words, it is wrong and you must discard it. It is acceptable only when it accords with the truth, and only by upholding the truth principles in this way can your performance of your duty be up to standard. Just what is duty? It is a commission entrusted by God to people, it is part of the work of God’s house, and it is a responsibility and obligation that should be borne by every one of God’s chosen people. Is duty your career? Is it a personal family matter? Is it fair to say that once you have been given a duty, this duty becomes your personal business? That is absolutely not the case. So how should you fulfill your duty? By acting in accordance with God’s requirements, words, and standards, and by basing your behavior on the truth principles rather than on human subjective desires. Some people say, “Once a duty has been given to me, is it not my own business? My duty is my charge, and is what I am charged with not my own business? If I handle my duty as my own business, doesn’t that mean I will do it properly? Would I do it well if I didn’t treat it like my own business?” Are these words right or wrong? They are wrong; they are at odds with the truth. Duty is not your own personal business, it is God’s business, it is part of God’s work, and you must do as God asks; only by performing your duty with a heart of submission to God can you be up to standard. If you always perform your duty according to your own notions and imaginings, and according to your own inclinations, then you will never be up to standard. Only ever performing your duty as you wish is not performing your duty, because what you are doing is not within the scope of God’s management, it is not the work of the house of God; you are, instead, engaging in your own enterprise, carrying out your own tasks, and so this is not remembered by God.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Seeking the Truth Principles Can One Perform One’s Duty Well

410. For some people, no matter what issue they encounter when performing their duties, they do not seek the truth, and they always act according to their own thoughts, notions, imaginings, and desires. From start to finish, they are satisfying their own desires, and their corrupt dispositions are in control over their actions. They may appear to have always been performing their duties, but because they have never accepted the truth, and they have failed to do things according to the truth principles, ultimately, they do not gain the truth and life and they become laborers worthy of the name. So, what are such people relying on when performing their duties? They are relying neither on the truth nor on God. That bit of truth that they do understand has not taken up sovereignty in their hearts; they are relying on their own gifts and talents, on whatever knowledge that they have acquired as well as on their own willpower or good intentions, to perform these duties. And with this being the case, will they be able to perform their duties in a way that is up to standard? When people rely on their naturalness, notions, imaginings, expertise, and learning to perform their duties, although it may appear as if they are performing their duties and not committing evil, they are not practicing the truth, and have not done anything that is satisfactory to God. There is also another problem that cannot be ignored: During the process of performing your duty, if your notions, imaginings, and your own will never change and are never replaced with the truth, and if your actions and deeds are never done in accordance with the truth principles, then what will the final outcome be? You will have no life entry, you will become a laborer, thus fulfilling the words of the Lord Jesus: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name have cast out devils, and in Your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22–23). Why does God call these people who exert effort and who labor evildoers? There is one point we can be sure of, and that is that no matter what duties or work these people do, their motivations, impetus, intentions, and thoughts arise entirely from their own desires, and they are wholly in order to protect their own interests and prospects, and also to safeguard their own face and status, and to satisfy their vanity. Their considerations and calculations are all centered around these things, there is no truth in their hearts, and they do not have a heart that fears and submits to God. This is the root of the problem. Today, in what way is it crucial for you to go about your pursuit? In all things, you must seek the truth, and you must perform your duty properly according to the intentions of God and what God asks. If you do, you shall receive God’s approval. So what, specifically, is involved in performing your duty according to what God asks? In all you do, you must learn to pray to God, you must reflect on what intentions you have, what thoughts you have, and whether these intentions and thoughts are in line with the truth; if they are not, they should be put aside, after which you should act according to the truth principles, and accept God’s scrutiny. This will ensure that you put the truth into practice. If you have your own intentions and aims, and are well aware that they violate the truth and are at odds with God’s intentions, yet still do not pray to God and seek the truth for a solution, then this is dangerous, it is easy for you to commit evil and do things that oppose God. If you commit evil one or two times and repent, then you still have hope of salvation. If you keep committing evil, then you’re a doer of all manner of evils. If you still can’t repent at this point, then you’re in trouble: God shall cast you to one side or abandon you, which means you are at risk of being eliminated; people who commit all manner of evil deeds will surely be punished and eliminated.

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

411. Any duty you perform involves life entry. Whether your duty is rather regular or erratic, dull or lively, you must always attain life entry. The duties some people perform are rather monotonous; they do the same thing every day. However, when performing them, the states these people reveal are not all that homogenous. Sometimes, when in a good mood, people are a bit more diligent and do a better job. Other times, due to some unknown influence, their corrupt satanic dispositions stir up mischief in them, causing them to have improper views and be in bad states and bad moods; this results in them performing their duties in a perfunctory manner. People’s internal states are constantly changing; they can change at any place and any time. No matter how your state changes, it is always wrong to act based on your mood. Say you do a bit better when you are in a good mood, and a bit worse when you are in a bad mood—is this a principled way of doing things? Will this allow you to perform your duty in a way that is up to standard? No matter what their mood, people must know to pray before God and seek the truth; only in this way can they refrain from being constrained and swayed to and fro by their moods. When performing your duty, you should always examine yourself to see if you are doing things according to principle, if your performance of your duty is up to standard, whether or not you are simply doing it in a perfunctory manner, whether you have tried to shirk your responsibilities, and whether there are any problems with your attitude and the way you think. Once you have self-reflected and these things become clear to you, you will have an easier time fulfilling your duty. No matter what you encounter while performing your duty—negativity and weakness, or being in a bad mood after being pruned—you should treat it properly, and you must also seek the truth and understand God’s intentions. By doing these things, you will have a path to practice. If you wish to do a good job in performing your duty, then you must not be affected by your mood. No matter how negative or weak you are feeling, you should practice the truth in everything you do, with absolute strictness, and sticking to the principles. If you do this, then not only will other people approve of you, but God will like you, too. As such, you will be a person who is responsible and who shoulders a burden; you will be a genuinely good person who actually performs your duties up to standard and who fully lives out the likeness of a genuine person. Such people are purified and achieve real transformation when performing their duties, and they can be said to be honest in God’s eyes. Only honest people can persevere with practicing the truth and succeed in acting with principle, and can perform their duties up to standard. People who act with principle perform their duties meticulously when they are in a good mood; they do not work in a perfunctory manner, they are not arrogant and they do not show themselves off to make others think highly of them. When they are in a bad mood, they can complete their everyday tasks just as earnestly and responsibly, and even if they encounter something that is detrimental to the performance of their duties, or that puts a bit of pressure on them or causes a disturbance while they perform their duties, they are still able to quiet their hearts before God and pray, saying, “No matter how big a problem I come up against—even if the sky comes tumbling down—as long as I am alive, I am determined to do my best to fulfill my duty. Every day I live is a day in which I must perform my duty well, so that I am worthy of this duty bestowed upon me by God, as well as this breath He has put in my body. Regardless of how much difficulty I might be in, I will set it all aside, for fulfilling my duty is of the utmost importance!” Those who are not affected by any person, event, thing, or environment, who are not constrained by any mood or external situation, and who put their duties and the commissions with which God has entrusted them first and foremost—they are the people who are loyal to God and who genuinely submit to Him. People like this have attained life entry and have entered the truth reality. This is one of the most genuine and practical expressions of living out the truth.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Life Entry Begins With the Performance of Duty

412. No matter what God asks of you, you need only work toward it with all your strength, and I hope you will be able to show your devotion to God before Him in these final days. As long as you can see God’s gratified smile as He sits upon His throne, even if this moment is the appointed time of your death, you should be able to laugh and smile as you close your eyes. You must, while you’re alive, do your final duty for God. In the past, Peter was crucified upside down for the sake of God; but you should satisfy God in these final days, and exhaust all your energy for His sake. What can a created being do for God? You should therefore give yourself up to God in advance, for Him to orchestrate you as He wishes. As long as it makes God happy and pleased, then let Him do as He will with you. What right do men have to speak words of complaint?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Interpretations of the Mysteries of “God’s Words to the Entire Universe,” Chapter 41

413. Today, what you are required to achieve are not additional demands, but the duty of man, and that which should be done by all people. If you are incapable of even doing your duty, or of doing it well, then are you not bringing trouble upon yourselves? Are you not courting death? How could you still expect to have a future and prospects? The work of God is done for the sake of mankind, and the cooperation of man is given for the sake of God’s management. After God has done all that He is supposed to do, man is required to be unstinting in his practice, and to cooperate with God. In the work of God, man should spare no effort, should offer up his devotion, and should not indulge in numerous notions, or sit passively and await death. God can sacrifice Himself for man, so why can man not offer his devotion to God? God is of one heart and mind toward man, so why can man not offer a little cooperation? God works for mankind, so why can man not perform some of his duty for the sake of God’s management? God’s work has come this far, yet still you see but do not act, you hear but do not move. Are not such people the objects of perdition? God has already devoted His all to man, so why, today, is man incapable of earnestly performing his duty? For God, His work is His first priority, and the work of His management is of the utmost importance. For man, putting God’s words into practice and fulfilling God’s requirements are his first priority. This you should all understand.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Work and Man’s Practice

414. Man’s performance of his duty is, in actuality, the accomplishment of all that is inherent within man, which is to say, that which is possible for man. It is then that his duty is fulfilled. The defects of man during his service are gradually reduced through progressive experience and the process of his undergoing judgment; they do not hinder or affect man’s duty. Those who cease to serve or yield and fall back for fear that there may be drawbacks to their service are the most cowardly of all. If people cannot express what they ought to express during service or achieve what is inherently possible for them, and instead go through the motions, they have lost the function that a created being should have. Such people are what are known as “mediocrities”; they are useless refuse. How can such people be called created beings in the true sense? Are they not corrupt beings that shine on the outside but are rotten within? If a person calls themselves God yet is unable to express the being of divinity, do the work of God Himself, or represent God, they are undoubtedly not God, for they have not the substance of God, and that which God can inherently achieve does not exist within them. If man loses what is inherently attainable by him, he can no longer be considered man, and he is not worthy to stand as a created being or come before God and serve Him. Moreover, he is not worthy to receive the grace of God or to be watched over, protected, and made perfect by God. Many who have lost the trust of God go on to lose the grace of God. Not only do they not hate their evil deeds, but they brazenly propagate the idea that the way of God is incorrect, and the rebellious ones even deny the existence of God. How can such people, who are possessed of such rebelliousness, be entitled to enjoy the grace of God? Those who do not fulfill their duty are very rebellious against God, and owe much to Him, yet they turn around and lambaste that God is wrong. How could such kind of person be worthy of being made perfect? Is this not the precursor to being eliminated and punished? People who do not do their duty before God are already guilty of the most heinous of crimes, for which even death is an insufficient punishment, yet they have the gall to argue with God and match themselves against Him. What is the worth of perfecting such people? When people fail to fulfill their duty, they should feel guilt and indebtedness; they ought to hate their weakness and uselessness, their rebelliousness and corruption, and moreover, ought to give their life to God. Only then are they created beings who truly love God, and only such people are worthy of enjoying the blessings and promise of God, and of being made perfect by Him. And what of the majority of you? How do you treat the God who lives among you? How have you performed your duty before Him? Have you done all you were called upon to do, even at the expense of your own life? What have you sacrificed? Have you not received much from Me? Can you discern? How loyal are you to Me? How have you served Me? And what of all that I have bestowed upon you and have done for you? Have you taken measure of it all? Have you all judged and compared this with what little conscience you have within you? Who could your words and actions be worthy of? Could it be that such minuscule sacrifice of yours is worthy of all I have bestowed upon you? I have no other choice and have been wholeheartedly devoted to you, yet you harbor wicked intentions and are half-hearted toward Me. That is the duty you’ve performed, the meager function you’ve served. Is this not so? Do you not know that you have utterly failed to perform the duty of a created being? How can you be considered a created being? Is it not clear to you what it is you are expressing and living out? You have failed to fulfill your duty, but you seek to gain the tolerance and bountiful grace of God. Such grace has not been prepared for ones as worthless and base as you, but for those who ask for nothing and gladly sacrifice. People such as you, such mediocrities, are utterly unworthy of enjoying the grace of heaven. Only hardship and interminable punishment shall accompany your days! If you cannot be devoted to Me, your fate shall be one of suffering. If you cannot be accountable to My words and My work, your outcome will be one of punishment. All grace, blessings, and the wonderful life of the kingdom shall have nothing to do with you. This is the end you deserve to meet and a consequence of your own making!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Difference Between the Ministry of God Incarnate and the Duty of Man