I

Why exactly do you believe in God? Most people are still muddled when it comes to this question. They always have two entirely different viewpoints about the practical God and the God in heaven, which shows that they believe in God not in order to submit to Him, but to receive certain benefits, or to escape the suffering that disaster brings; only then are they somewhat submissive. Their submission is conditional—their personal prospects are the precondition of their submission; they submit because they have no alternative. So, just why do you believe in God? If it’s solely for the sake of your prospects and your fate, then it would be better if you did not believe in Him. Belief such as this is self-deception, self-reassurance, and self-admiration.

II

If your faith is not built upon the foundation of submission to God, then you will ultimately be punished for opposing Him. All those who don’t seek submission to God in their faith are people who oppose God. God asks that people seek the truth, that they thirst for His words, eat and drink His words, and put them into practice, all so that they may achieve submission to God. If that is your true intention, then God will surely exalt you, and will surely be gracious toward you. This is undoubtable and unchangeable. If your intention is not to submit to God, and you have other aims, then all that you say and do—even your prayers before God, and going even further, your every move—will be in opposition to Him.

III

Even if your words are gentle and you are mild-mannered, even if your every move and expression seem proper to others, as if you were a submissive person, when it comes to your intentions and your views about faith in God, every one of your actions is in opposition to God, it’s doing evil. People who appear as obedient as sheep, but whose hearts harbor evil intentions, are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They directly offend God, and God will not spare a single one of them. The Holy Spirit will reveal each and every one of them and show everybody that all those who are hypocrites will, with certainty, be spurned by the Holy Spirit.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. In Your Faith in God You Should Submit to God