I

God Himself is life, and the truth, and His life and truth coexist. Those who are incapable of gaining the truth shall never gain life. Without the guidance, support, and provision of the truth, you shall only gain words, doctrines, and, even more so, death. God’s life is ever-present, and His truth and life coexist. If you cannot find the source of truth, then you will not gain the nourishment of life; if you cannot gain the provision of life, then you will surely have no truth, and apart from imaginings and notions, the entirety of your body shall be nothing but your flesh—your stench-ridden flesh.

II

Know that the words of books do not count as life, the records of history cannot be enshrined as the truth, and the regulations of the past cannot serve as an account of God’s current words. Only the words expressed by God when He comes to earth and lives among man are the truth, life, God’s intentions, and His current way of working.

III

If you take the records of words spoken by God during ages past and adhere to them today, that makes you an archaeologist. In that case, you’re best described as an expert on historical relics. You always believe in traces of the work that God did in times past, you only believe in God’s shadow left from when He previously worked among man, and only believe in the way that God gave to His followers in former times, but you don’t believe in the orientation of God’s work today, you don’t believe in the glorious countenance of God today, and you don’t believe in the way of truth currently expressed by God. Therefore, you’re undeniably a daydreamer who is completely out of touch with reality. If now you still cling to words that are incapable of bringing life to man, then you’re a hopeless piece of deadwood, for you’re too conservative, too intractable, too impervious to reason!

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life