The Seven Criteria for Attaining Salvation

Now we will talk about the seven criteria for attaining salvation. This is very crucial. The first criterion is that one must become an honest person, who is able to pursue the truth and put the truth into practice, is not crooked or deceitful and does not tell lies or cheat. This criterion of being an honest person is very critical.

If you want to attain salvation, you must be an honest person. You must become an honest person. This is one of the criteria for salvation. If you have believed in God for many years, yet you are still a treacherous person, you still tell lies and you still deceive others, what does this indicate? You are not someone that pursues the truth, you have not fulfilled the criteria for salvation and you are still part of the corrupt human race. If someone has believed in God for a few years and he becomes increasingly honest, less and less treacherous and crooked, tells less lies, deceives and cheats less, puts the truth into practice more and more, truly fulfills his duties more and more, is more and more capable of love and is more and more capable of fulfilling duties and paying the price, that means that he is dependable. He does practical things and says the truth. Other people trust him and other people commend and admire him. This kind of a person is very good. He is never after his own benefit. He considers God’s chosen people, he cares about God’s will, he is charitable, he keeps on paying a price, he does not seek for his own gain, he is selfless and he has integrity. Is it a good thing to be this sort of a person? Do you want to become this sort of a person? If so, pursue the truth and be an honest person. Work hard to achieve this goal of being an honest person. It’s no good if you are afraid of speaking the truth because you will be humiliated. You would be better off if you suffer humiliation but do not tell lies. You would be better off having yourself judged by others but do not tell lies and deceive people. You must have this sort of will. Sometimes, the things you say may be of no benefit to other people. Still, it is better that you do not say them and do not tell lies. Can you adhere to this principle of not telling lies? What are the principles when it comes to not telling lies? First, “If I am able to profit off of a lie, or to gain fame and have others praise me by telling a lie, I would rather forsake my flesh and not tell a lie. If I would suffer humiliation and have others look down upon me by not telling a lie, I would rather suffer humiliation and not tell lies.” You must have this sort of a principle. “Even if I were to take a loss, I would not tell a lie. Instead, I would tell the truth. Even if I would be bullied, I would still tell the truth. Even if others disparage me and look down upon me, I would still tell the truth.” This is what it means to truly forsake the flesh. “Even if I were to take a loss by telling the truth, I would still tell the truth. Even if I could benefit by lying, I would rather forfeit the opportunity of that benefit than tell a lie.” If you have this sort of aspiration, it is guaranteed that you can become an honest person. If you do not have this sort of aspiration, if you are always seeking advantages and if you are always seeking fame and status, you will not be able to become an honest person. The second criterion is that one must fulfill their duties loyally for God. The most important point in regard to this is to perform one’s duties without going through the motions or entering into a transaction with God but to do them in order to repay God’s love and live out the likeness of a genuine human being to honor God. These two things are enough. “In order to repay God’s love, I will be loyal to God. In order to live out the true likeness of a human being, I will not go through the motions and I will put the truth into practice. In order to honor God, I will endure any suffering and I will pay any price.” If you do these things, you will be able to fulfill your duties loyally for God. This is the second criterion for attaining salvation. The third criterion is that one must have a heart that reveres God, accept God’s observation in all things and keep far away from all evil people and evil actions. Someone said, “Why is it that I do not have a heart that reveres God? Why can I not feel it?” Now, how does a heart that reveres God come about? You must accept judgment and chastisement of God’s words. Afterward, if you still reveal some corruption and you are still capable of doing evil, pray to God for His curse and punishment to befall you. Thereby, you will develop a heart that reveres God. You say, “I am worthless. Without judgment, chastisement or punishment, I will never have a heart that reveres You. Please help me develop a heart that reveres You.” This is how you should pray. Once God’s discipline befalls you a few times and you truly see the way that God does things, truly acknowledge that there is a God and that God’s disposition cannot be offended, at that moment, you will develop a heart that reveres God. Seeing is believing. Is this the way that you need to pray? Do you dare pray in this way? If you do not dare pray like this, it means you are not able to pay the price. You would be better off to endure some punishment and suffering and pay a price so that you can have a heart that reveres God. A heart that reveres God is very precious. You must have many years of experience before you can have it. Once one instance of judgment and chastisement makes you see God’s deeds and see that God’s disposition truly cannot be offended, afterward, would you still dare offend God? Would you still dare resist God? You will receive protection due to a heart that reveres God. A heart that reveres God is truly valuable! If you do not have a heart that reveres God, you will be able to do anything. You will be capable of doing all sorts of bad things and you will associate with anyone. Once someone has a heart that reveres God, he will be cautious with his words and actions. He will keep his distance from evil people and evil actions, he will choose to submit to the truth and he will choose to put the truth into practice. He will then be capable of doing some positive things and some practical work. In this way, he will receive God’s protection and he will be after God’s heart. If one does not have a heart that reveres God, he will absolutely not have salvation. This is a 100% certainty. This is in accordance with God’s words. God’s words say that only those that truly revere God can attain salvation. If you do not have a heart that reveres God, you will absolutely not be able to attain salvation. The fourth criterion is that one must understand the truth and have the ability to discern so that they can triumph over Satan’s temptations and break away from Satan’s influence. Why must one have the ability to discern? This can prevent them from being deceived by Satan. People are controlled by Satan because they have been deceived by Satan. If it is unable to deceive you, will it be able to constrain and control you? Therefore, if you want to triumph over Satan, you must understand the truth and have the ability to discern. What are the results that you can attain through having the ability to discern? The results are that Satan will be unable to deceive you. Whatever government, novel, television program, heresy or false theory you encounter, you can easily discern whether it is from evil spirits or whether it is fallacy or rubbish, and you can pay no heed to and reject it if it is so. It will all be resolved. It is that simple. Satan will be unable to deceive you and it will be unable to control you. Now, all those who have been deceived and controlled by false leaders and antichrists, why have they been deceived and controlled? These people worship false leaders and antichrists. These people look up to them, have blind faith in them and think that whatever they do is correct. These people think that whatever they say is in accordance with the truth and that it is all accurate. That is why these people listen to these false leaders and antichrists. That is why they uphold and follow them. The result is that they have been deceived by Satan and are controlled by Satan. Once someone has been deceived or controlled by Satan, they live under Satan’s domain, right? Presently, in China, so many people are bullied, controlled and deceived by the great read dragon but still feel that the great red dragon is right, and they sing praises to the great red dragon. Do these people have the ability to discern Satan? As a result, these people will never be able to break away from the great red dragon’s influence. In the very end, they will be destroyed along with the great red dragon. They will be buried along with the great red dragon. This is what their fate will be. Since they work hard for the great red dragon, they should die. Since they do not have that good fortune, they do not accept the true way. They are destined to die. They are destined to endure suffering and be destroyed. This is their only fate. Therefore, although some people oppose the great red dragon and unmask the great red dragon, it is just an internal dispute. They are on the same battle front as the great red dragon. They resist God. Even if they oppose the great red dragon, they do not accept the true way. Doesn’t it mean that they belong to the great red dragon? In order to possess the ability to discern Satan, you must possess the truth and understand the truth. You must pursue the truth. The more you pursue the truth, the more that you will understand the truth, and the more that you can discern Satan’s essence, Satan’s evil doctrines, Satan’s fallacies and Satan’s conducts and deeds, the easier it will be for you to break away from Satan and forsake Satan. This will result in your triumph over Satan. Satan will not be able to deceive you and control you. You won’t listen to Satan. You will hate Satan, curse Satan and forsake Satan. Isn’t this basically triumphing over Satan? If one can triumph over Satan, that means that one is able to break away from Satan’s influence. For example, an antichrist or a false leader appears in a church. He starts talking about all sorts of his theories, perspectives and experiences. After he finishes, everyone says, “Good, not bad. There is some truth to it.” When someone that genuinely understands the truth hears what this antichrist or false leader has to say, they say, “Incorrect. It contains no truth.” They are able to discern him. What about the false leader or antichrist? When he sees this, he thinks, “Everybody thinks that what I say is good. It’s just this person that thinks it is not good. It is just he that is cold toward me. He can see through me and he can discern. I’m quite afraid of this person.” As a result, this person becomes a thorn in the side of this false leader or antichrist. This antichrist or false leader will think, “Presently, everybody listens to me and they all praise me. It is just that person that is not convinced. It seems that he is able to discern me. It seems that he can see through me. He is not compatible with me. He is my opposition. Fine. I will monitor this person. I will send two people to record what he says behind my back. After I record what he has to say, I will have information I can use against him and then I will unmask and dissect him. I will either put him into Group B or I will expel him. I will remove this thorn in my side. As a result, I can get my own way throughout this church. This church will end up being all mine.” The person that understands the truth will naturally become a thorn in the side of the false leader or antichrist. They will naturally be hated and envied by those that belong to Satan. As a result, those belonging to Satan will come up with plans to beat down, convict and eliminate them. Afterward, a war between good and evil would ensue. What is the result of this war between good and evil? It just so happens that the false leader or antichrist would be revealed and the person that pursues the truth would become perfected. Aren’t these the results of this war? The person that pursues the truth is despised, envied, excluded and oppressed by Satan’s force. As a result, they rise up and battle Satan. During this battle, they seek and understand more and more of the truth and their spiritual stature grows bigger. In the very end, they are able to stand firm. When they stand firm, Satan’s force comes to a realization: “This is not good. This person speaks about the truth too clearly and God’s chosen people are inclined toward him. I have become isolated once more.” What does this mean? God’s chosen people triumphing by relying on God’s words and Satan suffering a humiliating defeat. Without the person that pursues the truth, when the other chosen people are deceived by Satan, they will all topple over, and Satan the devil will achieve its aim. That is why those that truly pursue the truth are able to triumph over Satan’s temptations, and in the end, they will prevail over Satan and break away from Satan’s influence. Those that belong to Satan are afraid of those that truly understand the truth. Those that do not pursue the truth can be deceived by just a few sentences. They can be convinced by just a few sentences. After they have been convinced, the false leader or antichrist will deal with and prune them, and they will be scared of them. The result is that whatever they say, they will listen to it. To those that understand the truth, the false leader or antichrist does not dare make irresponsible remarks. They are very careful and prudent and do not say things that can be used against them, for fear that if those that understand the truth get information that can be used against them and make it public, that will be terrible—everybody will be capable of seeing their true face. That is why they are very careful with what they say, and they become timid. If those that truly understand the truth are silver-tongued, they will not dare to speak. Instead, they will speak words of praise, “Not bad. You pursue the truth very diligently. Press on. God will bless you.” If those that understand a very small amount of the truth have not attained the ability to discern, the false leader or antichrist may try to convince them with some doctrines and then suppress them. As a result, they become confused and say, “I am mistaken. I have a lot of transgressions. You have the truth and you are better than me. I must obey and accept dealing and pruning. I will listen to you.” They are made submissive. They have just understood that small amount of the truth, but before understanding it clearly, they are subdued by Satan. Some people assist them and say to them, “That is a false leader. That is an antichrist. You must stand up.” They reply, “Is that so? That is not possible. I feel that I have a lot of corruption and my corruption is very severe. In fact, it would not be too excessive to say that I myself am a false leader or an antichrist.” If they consider themselves as Satan and they consider the other party as someone that has the truth, haven’t they been deceived? They do not clearly understand the truth. From only one fight with Satan, they have already been deceived and they have been knocked out. If they are clear about the truth, they will humiliate Satan in one round of fighting. Would you have the ability to discern if you have no truth? If you are unable to discern, would you be able to triumph over Satan? If you are unable to triumph over Satan, would you be able to break free from Satan’s influence? If you are unable to break free from Satan’s influence, can you be regarded as someone who has been saved? If you want to attain salvation, is it possible to do so without pursuing the truth? Certainly it is not. The fifth criterion is that one must be able to spread the gospel and bear witness to God, thus bringing people before God and allowing them to submit before God. These results are tremendous. What exactly does this mean? You must be able to spread the gospel and bear witness to God. This is the minimum level of spiritual stature that one must have. If you are someone who has attained salvation but you cannot spread the gospel and bear witness to God, you are useless. You are unable to fulfill other duties well. This is the most fundamental duty. It is the responsibility of each one of God’s chosen people. If a leader or a worker cannot spread the gospel and bear witness to God, what does this indicate? It indicates that this person does not have the reality of the truth. If you cannot spread the gospel and bear witness to God, would you be able to bring people before God? If you cannot spread the gospel and bear witness to God, would you be able to guide God’s chosen people to enter into the reality of the truth? Some people say that it is not possible. Some people say that there are some leaders and workers who are unable to spread the gospel but they do church work. Is this okay? If someone really is unable to spread the gospel and bear witness to God, if he is unable to rescue someone from the influence of religion and bring them before God, if he does not possess this ability, it is for certain that he is unable to guide God’s chosen people to enter into the reality of the truth. This is a certainty. Therefore, when it comes to weighing whether each level of the church’s leaders and workers are able to do practical work well, the minimum criterion would be whether a leader or worker is able to bear witness to God and gain people through spreading the gospel. This is a very crucial criterion. If you are a church leader and you are unable to gain people through spreading the gospel, it indicates that you are not up for the task. You are not qualified to be a church leader. Now what? Should you seek and equip yourself with the truth? You’d better quickly equip yourself with the truth. There are some of you who are being trained by God’s family. Actually, your spiritual stature is not enough. Since you are being trained, you must pursue the truth, make headway, and practice. After you have practiced for one or two years, if you can spread the gospel and bear witness to God and have started to do some practical work, you will be able to walk the path toward being perfected. All leaders and workers must be able to convert people through spreading the gospel. This is a standard. It is also the minimum criterion for attaining salvation. This is not only a criterion for being a leader or a worker, it is also a criterion for attaining salvation. If you go to an area to spread the gospel and you are unable to convert anyone—not only are you unable to convert anyone, but people go away when you say even a few sentences—what does this say about your spiritual stature? People are not even willing to listen to you speak a few sentences. What is the value of your words? What difference is there between what you have to say and old ladies gossiping with each other? Seeing that, people will say, “Isn’t this someone with a mental disorder?” Is this criterion practical? Those that have attained salvation must possess the ability to spread the gospel and bear witness to God. If you do not possess this ability, you must practice. Even if you do not possess it for the time being, if you are someone that pursues the truth, this is an ability that you will possess later. If you do not practice, then you will not be able to learn this ability. The sixth criterion is that, within one’s heart, one must honor God as great. Honoring God as great means that you must have a place within your heart for God and God’s place must be higher than anyone else’s place. If you can honor God as great, not worship man, not look up to man, not follow man, not be constrained or controlled by any man, only worship God, only follow God and only obey God, you will attain salvation. This is one of the criteria for attaining salvation. According to this criterion, those that worship man, follow man, only listen to man, and only obey man do not truly follow God, much less truly obey God. Even though they believe in God, they are constrained by man and live under the domain of Satan. Can this sort of person be saved? There are some people who listen to false leaders. There are some people who listen to antichrists. There are some people who listen to evil spirits and there are some people who listen to certain people such as their elders, relatives or friends. They do not listen to other people and they even do not listen to God. No matter who communicates the truth to them and no matter how well they do so, these people do not listen. They only believe firmly in what one person says. Isn’t this a little vile? Who someone listens to the most is very crucial. Whoever someone listens to the most, that is the person they obey the most and that is the person whom they are most willing to follow. Is that person a man or God? If it is a man, it is troublesome. It means that the person in question is worshiping Satan and revering Satan. If it is God, then this person will be saved and this person is blessed. Think about who you listen to the most. Some people say, “I listen to my husband the most.” Some people say, “I listen to this leader more than I listen to God’s words. To what degree do I listen to this leader? If you read God’s words to me in light of a specific matter, I won’t listen. I will only listen to that person.” If this is the case, you are done for. You will undoubtedly die. Suppose you listen to one particular person in the church. This person is the one you obey the most. No matter what he says, you will listen, regardless if it is wrong. You are completely obedient to this person. Are you someone that can attain salvation? No, you will die for sure. This is something that is evil. If you believe in God, why do you not listen to God? If you read God’s words to religious people, regardless of how clearly you communicate the truth to them, they will not listen. They only listen to their pastor. If you communicate 100 sentences of the truth to them, they will not even listen to one sentence. If the pastor says one sentence, they will listen. Isn’t this a little bit vile? This kind of person is very evil and this is a strange occurrence. Even though the truth is communicated so clearly, they still do not listen. When their pastor says one sentence, they listen. This kind of person will definitely not be saved. They are preposterous and absurd. That is why this verse of God’s words stating that one should honor God as great is to be the reality of man’s life. It is the life that man must possess. It is the truth that man must possess. This verse should become man’s life. This verse of truth, if it does not become a man’s life, if it does not become the reality of a man’s life, that man will not be saved. Honoring God as great is extremely important. This is one of the basic criteria for attaining salvation. The seventh criterion is that one must become someone that has the truth, has humanity, and can do things according to principles to be completely after God’s heart. Does corrupt mankind have humanity? It does not have humanity. What does the salvation of mankind depend on? It depends on accepting the truth. If you can receive God’s words into yourself and if you can allow the truth to become the reality of your life, you will live out the truth and humanity. When you’ve obtained the truth and rely on the truth to live, that will be the highest example of humanity, the genuine humanity. At that point, the essence of your humanity will contain the truth or it will be composed of the truth. That is why the essence of your humanity will be high at that time. Why is it that the life essence of those who have been saved and perfected is higher than that of aliens? It is because they possess a humanity with the truth. Their humanity contains the truth. Therefore, only when you have become someone who has the truth and has humanity will you have truly been saved. If you do not have the truth, you also do not have humanity. If you say that you only have humanity but do not have the truth, your humanity is fake. It is a corrupt humanity. It is not a genuine humanity. Therefore, right now, you must live out a normal humanity with the truth, one generated from the truth. Only this kind of a person is someone who has attained salvation. Now, what must one possess if one is to have the truth and have humanity? One must do things according to principles. If one does things according to principles, one is able to manifest both the truth and humanity because all the truth of God’s words has become the standard and principle of the normal humanity that this person lives out. If you treat people in accordance to God’s words, handle problems in accordance with God’s words and live in accordance with God’s words, then, you are someone that has both the truth and humanity. If you do not live out the essence of the truth at all, your humanity is false. That is the humanity of a corrupt human being. It is not a genuine humanity and it is not the normal humanity that God demands. Therefore, the seventh criterion is that one must become someone that has the truth, has humanity, and can do things according to principles to be after God’s heart.

These seven criteria are absolutely precise. You cannot lack even one of them. You cannot have more than seven either. That is superfluous. These seven criteria are absolutely enough and just enough. Why did I talk about the seven criteria for attaining salvation today? The objective was so that you would have a goal in regard to pursuing the truth and know which results you should be aiming to achieve. In this way, when you pursue the truth, you will be able to attain appropriate results and this will cause you to attain salvation. If you do not have an objective, your pursuit of the truth will be done in areas that are of no use and you will not pursue the truth in areas that are fundamental and crucial. If this is the case, wouldn’t your efforts be wasted? This is similar to having good steel but not using it to create the blade of a knife. Instead, it is wasted on another application. Understood? Work hard to fulfill these seven criteria. Each day, use these seven criteria to examine yourself no matter what issues you come across. As long as these seven criteria have been met and you have some reality of them—you do not need to reach the highest realm or achieve perfection but only need to have entry and possess some reality of them—it will already be enough for you to attain salvation. This is like passing an exam. The passing grade is not 100%. If it were, the majority of people would not pass. All you need to do is pass. If you get 10 or 20%, that is not enough. Similarly, if you only barely meet one or two of these criteria, that won’t do. You must fulfill all seven and gain basic entry into them in order to pass. If you do this, that would be enough. These are the criteria for salvation.