Starting from today, God will formally perfect those who have no religious notions, who are willing to set aside their old selves, and who obey God in a simple-hearted way. He shall perfect those who long for the words of God. These people should stand up and serve God. In God there is endless abundance and boundless wisdom. His amazing work and precious words await enjoyment by even greater numbers of people. As it stands, those with religious notions, those who assume seniority, and those who cannot put themselves aside find it hard to accept these new things. The Holy Spirit has no opportunity to perfect these people. If a person has not resolved to obey, and does not thirst for the words of God, then they have no means of accepting these new things; they will simply become more and more rebellious, more and more crafty, and will thus end up on the wrong track. In doing His work now, God will raise up more people who truly love Him and can accept the new light, and He will completely cut down the religious officials who presume upon their seniority; He does not want a single one of those who stubbornly resist change. Do you want to be one of these people? Do you perform your service according to your own preferences or what God requires? This is something you must know for yourself. Are you a religious official, or are you a newborn babe made perfect by God? How much of your service is commended by the Holy Spirit? How much of it will God not even bother to remember? How great a change in your life has there been as a result of all your years of service? Are you clear about all this? If you are truly of faith, you will cast aside your old religious notions from before, and will serve God better in a new way. It is not too late to stand up now. Old religious notions can forfeit a person’s entire life. The experience a person acquires can cause them to stray from God and do things their own way. If you do not put such things aside, they will become stumbling blocks to the growth of your life. God always perfects those who serve Him, and does not cast them out lightly. If you truly accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, if you can put aside your old religious practices and rules, and cease to use old religious notions as the measure of God’s words of today, only then will there be a future for you. But if you cling to old things, if you still treasure them, then there is no way you can be saved. God takes no notice of such people. If you really wish to be made perfect, then you must resolve to completely relinquish everything from before. Even if what was done before was right, even if it was God’s work, you must still be able to put it aside and stop clinging to it. Even if it was clearly the work of the Holy Spirit, done directly by the Holy Spirit, today you must put it aside. You must not hold onto it. This is what God requires. Everything must be renewed. In God’s work and God’s words, He makes no reference to the old things that went before, He does not dig into the old almanac; God is a God who is always new and never old, and does not cling even to His own words from the past—which shows that God does not follow any rules. So if you, as a human being, always cling to the things of the past, if you refuse to let them go, and rigidly apply them in a formulaic manner, while God no longer works using the means that He did before, then are your words and actions not disruptive? Have you not become an enemy of God? Are you willing to let your entire life go to wrack and ruin over these old things? These old things will make you into someone who obstructs God’s work—is that the kind of person you want to be? If you truly do not want that, then quickly stop what you are doing and turn around; start all over again. God will not remember your past service.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Religious Service Must Be Purged