VIII Questions and Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible | The Church of Almighty God

Question 7: I’ve studied the Bible for more than 20 years. I found that although the Bible had more than 40 authors in different times, what they wrote has no mistake. This shows that God is the true author of the Bible. The Bible is from the Holy Spirit.

Answer: You mentioned the Bible had more than 40 authors. And you think there is no mistake. Is there really no mistake? Let’s fellowship about this issue. Actually, Christ of the last days, Almighty God, has disclosed these mysteries to us. Almighty God’s words say, “The genealogy of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament begins by saying that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and David, and the son of Joseph. The Gospel goes on to say that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin; in other words, Jesus was not Joseph’s son and was not descended from Abraham and David. But the record in the genealogy forcedly relates Jesus to Joseph. It goes on to describe the birth of Jesus, saying that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that His mother was a virgin, and so He was not Joseph’s son. But the genealogy clearly states that Jesus was the son of Joseph. Because it was meant to be Jesus’ genealogy, the Gospel lists forty-two generations. When it goes to the generation of Joseph, it hurriedly adds that Joseph was Mary’s husband in order to establish Jesus’ descent from Abraham. Isn’t this a contradiction? The genealogy, with a list of Joseph’s ancestors, is clearly Joseph’s, but Matthew insists that it is Jesus’; doesn’t that therefore deny the fact of Jesus’ conception by the Holy Spirit? So, isn’t the genealogy written by Matthew from human mind? It is even something ridiculous! From this it is obvious that the book was not at all wholly from the Holy Spirit” (“Concerning the Bible (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). From God’s words, we know that the genealogy written by Matthew wasn’t something of God’s will. How can God have a genealogy? Matthew knew that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit but still wrote a genealogy for Him, saying that He was the offspring of David and the son of Joseph. Wasn’t he denying that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit? Jesus had nothing to do with Joseph. Matthew’s words are contradictory. Obviously, writing this genealogy is not from the Holy Spirit but from man’s will. Let’s have a look at John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am.” How can we explain this? Here we see that Jesus’ genealogy is from man’s will. It was written by Matthew after 50 A.D. The Holy Spirit didn’t directly instruct Matthew to write it.

VI Questions and Answers About Salvation and Final Salvation | Eastern Lightning

Question 1: The Bible says, “For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation” (Romans 10: 10). We’ve been saved through our faith in Jesus Christ. Remember: Once saved, always saved. When He comes, we will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Answer: “Once saved, one is always saved and will enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is how we interpret God’s work. But it is totally against God’s word. Lord Jesus never said one can enter the kingdom of heaven after being saved by faith, but that only he who does the will of the heavenly Father will enter. Only the word of Lord Jesus is the authority and the truth. Man’s imagination is not the truth, not the standard of entering the kingdom of heaven. We say that we are “saved by faith.” But “being saved” only means our sins are forgiven; we won’t be condemned or put to death by the law. It doesn’t mean that we can follow God’s way, break away from sin and be holy, nor that we can enter the kingdom of heaven. We are forgiven of our sins “by faith,” but the sinful nature still remains. We can still sin and resist God, living in a circle of sinning and confessing. How can such people enter the kingdom of heaven? The Bible says no man shall see the Lord without holiness. If a habitual sinner can enter the kingdom of heaven, it’s against the real situation in the kingdom of heaven. Do we dare say there are filthy and corrupt habitual sinners in the kingdom of heaven? Have we ever heard of a filthy evil person in the kingdom of heaven? The Lord is righteous and holy. Would He let a habitual sinner into the kingdom of heaven? Jesus once said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant stays not in the house for ever: but the Son stays ever” (John 8:34-35). Therefore, people bound by sin and who aren’t holy can’t enter the kingdom of heaven. If they can enter because they’re saved by faith, then why did the Lord Jesus say “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven”? Why did He say He would separate sheep from goats and tares from wheat? Therefore, “entering the kingdom of heaven after being saved by faith” is untenable. This point of view contradicts the word of the Lord Jesus!

from the movie script of Stinging Memories

From in“Classic Questions and Answers on the Gospel of the Kingdom Selections” | Eastern Lightning

Introduction：

    Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

Does the “judgment in the last day” spoken of in the Bible refer to Almighty God’s work of the last days?

The answer from God’s word:

“Some believe that God may sometime come to earth and appear to man, whereupon He shall personally judge the whole of mankind, testing them one by one without anyone being omitted. Those who think in this way do not know this stage of work of incarnation. God does not judge man one by one, and does not test man one by one; to do thus would not be the work of judgment. Is not the corruption of all mankind the same? Is not the substance of man all the same? What is judged is mankind’s corrupt substance, man’s substance corrupted by Satan, and all the sins of man. God does not judge the trifling and insignificant faults of man. The work of judgment is representative, and is not carried out especially for a certain person. Rather, it is work in which a group of people are judged in order to represent the judgment of all of mankind. By personally carrying out His work on a group of people, God in the flesh uses His work to represent the work of the whole of mankind, after which it is gradually spread. The work of judgment is also thus. God does not judge a certain kind of person or a certain group of people, but judges the unrighteousness of the whole of mankind—man’s opposition to God, for example, or man’s irreverence against Him, or disturbance of the work of God, and so on. What is judged is mankind’s substance of opposition to God, and this work is the work of conquest of the last days. The work and word of the incarnate God witnessed by man are the work of judgment before the great white throne during the last days, which was conceived by man during times past. The work that is currently being done by the incarnate God is exactly the judgment before the great white throne. The incarnate God of today is the God who judges the whole of mankind during the last days. This flesh and His work, word, and entire disposition are the entirety of Him. Although the scope of His work is limited, and does not directly involve the entire universe, the substance of the work of judgment is the direct judgment of all mankind; it is not work that is undertaken only for China, or for a small number of people. During the work of God in the flesh, although the scope of this work does not involve the entire universe, it represents the work of the entire universe, and after He concludes the work within the work scope of His flesh, He will immediately expand this work to the entire universe, in the same way that the gospel of Jesus spread throughout the universe following His resurrection and ascension. Regardless of whether it is the work of the Spirit or the work of the flesh, it is work that is carried out within a limited scope, but which represents the work of the entire universe. During the last days, God appears to do His work using His incarnate identity, and God in the flesh is the God who judges man before the great white throne. Regardless of whether He is the Spirit or the flesh, He who does the work of judgment is the God who judges mankind during the last days. This is defined based on His work, and is not defined according to His external appearance or several other factors. Although man has conceptions of these words, no one can deny the fact of the incarnate God’s judgment and conquest of all mankind. Regardless of how it is evaluated, facts are, after all, facts. No one can say that ‘The work is done by God, but the flesh is not God.’ This is nonsense, for this work can be done by no one except God in the flesh. … Because the one who is judged is man, man who is of the flesh and has been corrupted, and it is not the spirit of Satan that is judged directly, the work of judgment is not carried out in the spiritual world, but among man. No one is more suitable, and qualified, than God in the flesh for the work of judging the corruption of man’s flesh. If judgment were carried out directly by the Spirit of God, then it would not be all-embracing. Furthermore, such work would be difficult for man to accept, for the Spirit is unable to come face-to-face with man, and because of this, the effects would not be immediate, much less would man be able to behold the unoffendable disposition of God more clearly. Satan can only be fully defeated if God in the flesh judges the corruption of mankind. Being the same as man possessed of normal humanity, God in the flesh can directly judge the unrighteousness of man; this is the mark of His innate holiness, and of His extraordinariness. Only God is qualified to, and in the position to judge man, for He is possessed of the truth, and righteousness, and so He is able to judge man. Those who are without the truth and righteousness are not fit to judge others. If this work were done by the Spirit of God, then it would not be victory over Satan. The Spirit is inherently more exalted than mortal beings, and the Spirit of God is inherently holy, and triumphant over the flesh. If the Spirit did this work directly, He would not be able to judge all of man’s disobedience, and could not reveal all of man’s unrighteousness. For the work of judgment is also carried out through man’s conceptions of God, and man has never had any conceptions of the Spirit, and so the Spirit is incapable of better revealing the unrighteousness of man, much less of completely disclosing such unrighteousness. The incarnate God is the enemy of all those who do not know Him. Through judging man’s conceptions and opposition to Him, He discloses all the disobedience of mankind. The effects of His work in the flesh are more apparent than those of the work of the Spirit. And so, the judgment of all mankind is not carried out directly by the Spirit, but is the work of the incarnate God.”

from “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

God is ever unchanging. Then how can the Lord Jesus change His name to Almighty God?

The answer from God’s word:

“Each time God arrives on earth, He shall change His name, His gender, His image, and His work; He does not repeat His work, and He is always new and never old. When He came before, He was called Jesus; could He still be called Jesus when He comes again this time? When He came before, He was male; could He be male again this time? His work when He came during the Age of Grace was to be nailed to the cross; when He comes again will He still redeem mankind from sin? Will He still be nailed to a cross? Would that not be a repetition of His work? Did you not know that God is always new and never old? There are those who say that God is immutable. That is correct, but it refers to the immutability of God’s disposition and substance. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His substance has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change. If you say that the work of God always stays the same, then would He be able to finish His six-thousand-year management plan? You merely know that God is forever unchanging, but do you know that God is always new and never old? If the work of God never changed, then could He have brought mankind to today? If God is immutable, then why is it that He has already done the work of two ages? His work is always progressing forward, and so His disposition is gradually revealed to man, and what is revealed is His inherent disposition. In the beginning, God’s disposition was hidden from man, He never openly revealed His disposition to man, and man had no knowledge of Him, so He used His work to gradually reveal His disposition to man, but this does not mean that His disposition changes in each age. It is not the case that God’s disposition is constantly changing because His will is always changing. Rather, because the work of God is carried out in different ages, His inherent disposition in its entirety is gradually revealed to man, so that man is able to know Him. But this is by no means proof that God originally has no particular disposition and His disposition has gradually changed with the passing of the ages—such belief is nonsense. God reveals to man His inherent, particular disposition, what He is, according to the passing of the ages. The work of a single age cannot express the entire disposition of God. And so, the words ‘God is always new and never old’ are in reference to His work, and the words ‘God is immutable’ are in regard to what God inherently has and is. Regardless, you cannot define the six-thousand-year work in one point, or portray it with mere static words. Such is the stupidity of man. God is not as simple as man imagines, and His work will not stop in one age. Jehovah, for example, will not always stand for the name of God; God also does His work under the name of Jesus, which is a symbol of how God’s work is always progressing forward.

Some people believe that one must believe in God according to the Bible. Can one be saved by believing in God in the Bible?

Bible Reference:

“Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life” (John 5:39-40).

The answer from God’s word:

“Only the work of God can save man. The Bible cannot save man, it has not changed at all for several thousands of years, and if you worship the Bible you will never gain the work of the Holy Spirit.”

from “Concerning the Bible (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Why do people always use the Bible to define God? Why is it wrong to define God within the Bible?

The answer from God’s word:

“The Bible has been accompanying man for several thousand years of history, and people all treat it as God, and in the last days people even replace God’s place with the Bible, which is a thing greatly loathed by God. So, in His leisure time, God has to make clear both the inside truth and the origin of the Bible. If not, in man’s heart the Bible can still take the place of God, and people will still condemn and measure God’s doings with the letters of the Bible. By explaining the substance and structure of the Bible and the flaws in it, God is not denying the existence of the Bible or condemning the Bible, but giving a proper and appropriate statement about it and showing what the Bible really is, correcting people’s erroneous knowledge about the Bible, so that they all can have an accurate view about the Bible, no longer worship the Bible, and no longer lose the direction—considering blindly believing in the Bible as believing in God and worshiping God, and even daring not to face the true background of the Bible and the flaws in it. After people all have a pure knowledge of the Bible, they will cast it off without any misgiving and accept God’s new word boldly. … Here, the truth God wants to tell man is that no theory or fact can replace God’s practical work and word, and no thing can take the place of God. If one cannot break away from the trapping of the Bible, then he can never possibly come before God. If one wants to come before God, he needs to first sweep away all the things in his heart that can replace God. Thus God will be satisfied. Although here God only gives explanations about the Bible, you should not forget that apart from the Bible, there are many other erroneous things that man truly worships, and that the only things that man does not worship are those truly from God. God just takes the Bible as an example to remind everyone: Do not take the wrong way, and do not go to extremes and fall into confusion again while you believe in God and receive God’s word.”

from A Brief Introduction to Part Three of The Word Appears in the Flesh

How do God’s three stages of work deepen stage by stage and cause man to be saved?

        The answer from God’s word:

“The work of managing mankind is divided into three stages, which means that the work of saving mankind is divided into three stages. These three stages do not include the work of creating the world, but are rather the three stages of the work of the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom. The work of creating the world was the work of producing the whole of mankind. It was not the work of saving mankind, and bears no relation to the work of saving mankind, for when the world was created mankind had not been corrupted by Satan, and so there was no need to carry out the work of mankind’s salvation. The work of saving mankind only began once mankind had been corrupted, and so the work of managing mankind also only began once mankind had been corrupted.”

from “Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh