Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing

By Gangqiang, United States

I came to Singapore on my own in 2007 to try to make a living. Singapore is really hot year-round, so I was sweating buckets every day at work. It was utterly miserable, and on top of that I was in a completely unfamiliar place without any family or friends—life felt so dull and tedious. One day in August, I received a gospel leaflet on my way home from work which read: “But the God of all grace, who has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10). I felt warmth in my heart upon reading these words. After that, I went to church with a brother, where the enthusiastic reception from the brothers and sisters, who asked after my well-being, made me feel the warmth of family which I hadn’t had in a long time. My eyes suddenly welled up with tears—I felt just like I had come home. From then on, every Sunday going to church was a must for me.

I was baptized that December, officially stepping onto the path of faith. In one church service, I heard the preacher reading from chapter 18, verses 21–22 of Matthew: “Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus said to him, I say not to you, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Hearing this, I thought to myself: “How can the forgiveness and patience of the Lord Jesus be so great? He forgives people seventy times seven times. If men could really do this, then there would be no fighting, but just love and warmth!” I was very moved by the Lord’s words, and I resolved to act in accordance with His teachings.

Two or three years later, my boss put me in charge of managing a construction site, so I put all my energy into work and stopped attending gatherings as regularly. I was later introduced by a friend to a Mr. Li, a business financier, and we set up a construction company together. I was very happy, and was determined to really throw myself into it. I then got totally into the vortex of money and stopped going to church for gatherings altogether. I wanted projects to be done well to win others’ praise for my competence, so I became more and more demanding of workers. I would reprimand them whenever I saw that they had done something that wasn’t right or wasn’t up to my requirements. The team leader was often brought to tears by my abuse. The workers were afraid whenever they saw me and would even hide from me. Even people who used to be good friends became cold toward me and no longer wanted to confide in me. Seeing this was very distressing. The Lord Jesus instructs us to forgive others seventy times seven times, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. However, I had not put this into practice in the slightest, not even once. How was that being a Christian? I knew that I was sinning and I often prayed to the Lord, confessing and repenting. I resolved to change. But whenever something came up, in spite of myself I would still sin. I was really vexed.

In August of 2015, we suspended business operations because the company was not doing well, and I went back home. Depressed and miserable, I just drank and gambled all day. When my wife told me I should stop drinking, I would just yell at her: “It’s my money, I earned it, and I’ll spend it however I want….” There was nothing she could do, so she would just sit there and cry. Each time that I gave vent to my anger, I felt remorseful and I hated myself, but I just couldn’t rein myself in. By that time I had completely lost all Christian propriety; my behavior and conduct were entirely the same as a nonbeliever’s.

In my pain and helplessness, I went back to church to attend gatherings again. Over that period, I was constantly praying to the Lord Jesus: “Oh, Lord! I’ve done so many things I didn’t want to do, I’ve said so many things that hurt others. I’ve been living in sin and rebelling against You. Each time that I sin, I’m remorseful and really hate myself, but I can’t ever control myself! I confess my sins by night, but then by day I fall back into my old ways and sin again. Oh, Lord! I beseech You to save me, what can I do to break free from sin?”

On New Year’s Day of 2016, I set foot on American soil—I had come to New York to make some money. I kept going to church in my free time and also joined a prayer group, reading the Bible and praying with other brothers and sisters. There, I became acquainted with a sister called Qinglian. One day, Sister Qinglian gave me a call to say there was some good news she wanted to share with me. I said, “What’s the good news?” She said, “There’s a missionary visiting. Do you want to go hear her speak?” I said, “Great! Where is it?” She then arranged a time for me to go to her house.

I went to Sister Qinglian’s house on that day. Several other brothers and sisters were there, and after meeting and exchanging greetings, we all began to discuss the Bible. Sister Zhao’s fellowship was very enlightening and it was really edifying for me. I then told her about my constant sinning and confessing, and the pain of being unable to rid myself of sin, and I sought her help. In fellowship, she said that even after we have begun to believe in the Lord, we still sin all the time, and that living life in the never-ending cycle of sinning by day and confessing by night, never able to rid ourselves of it, was not a problem that afflicted me alone. Rather it was a problem shared by all believers. Sister Zhao then had us watch a video of some recitations of God’s words. These were the words: “Man’s disposition should be changed starting from the knowledge of his substance and through changes in his thinking, nature, and mental outlook—through fundamental changes. Only in this way will true changes be achieved in the disposition of man. Man’s corrupt disposition stems from his being poisoned and trampled upon by Satan, from the egregious harm that Satan has inflicted upon his thinking, morality, insight, and sense. It is precisely because these fundamental things of man have been corrupted by Satan, and are utterly unlike how God originally created them, that man opposes God and does not understand the truth. Thus, changes in man’s disposition should begin with changes in his thinking, insight and sense that will change his knowledge of God and his knowledge of the truth” (“To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

I was really moved, thinking, “Isn’t it me they are talking about? I always look down on others, scolding them for this or yelling at them for that. I lack morality and reason, and have lost any vestige of saintly decorum.” These words all pierced me to the core of my being. I had never read anything like it before, nor had I heard any preacher deliver that kind of sermon. I had been distressed by my constant sinning, but still hadn’t been able to break free from the constraints of sin. These words showed me the path to leaving sin behind, and I marveled: This is so well put. Who could have written them?

Sister Zhao told me that this was the word of God, that the Lord Jesus had already returned in the flesh, and He was currently doing the work of judging and cleansing people through His word in the last days. I simply didn’t dare believe my own ears. What believer is not longing for His return? Suddenly hearing this news of the Lord’s return, I was so excited that I was somewhat at a loss: Had the Lord truly returned? I eagerly asked her to continue with her fellowship. Sister Zhao said, “The Lord Jesus has truly returned, and He is Almighty God—the incarnated Christ in the last days. He has expressed all truths to purify and save mankind, and has started to do the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. He will thoroughly save us from the domain of Satan, who have been bound up by our satanic nature and living in sin from which we cannot extricate ourselves. Ultimately we’ll attain full salvation and be obtained by God. In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus only performed the work of redemption; He redeemed us from sin and absolved our sins so that we would no longer be condemned under the law. Although the Lord absolved our sins, He did not pardon our satanic nature or our satanic dispositions. The arrogance, craftiness, selfishness, greed, maliciousness, and other corrupt dispositions still exist within man. These are things which go deeper and are more stubborn than sin. It is precisely because these satanic dispositions and satanic nature have not been resolved that we continue to sin in spite of ourselves, and we even commit sins that are more serious than violating the law. As for the Pharisees back then, wasn’t the reason why they resisted and condemned the Lord, to the point where they even crucified Him, that man’s sinful nature had not been resolved? In fact, we all have a deep appreciation of this because we are ourselves controlled by these corrupt dispositions. So, we often tell lies, act deceitfully, are arrogant and conceited, and reprimand others condescendingly. We know clearly that the Lord demands that we pardon others and love our neighbor as ourselves, and yet we do not put this into practice. People scheme against each other, scramble for fame and gain, and are unable to get along harmoniously. During times of illness, natural or man-made disasters, we still blame God, and we even deny or betray God. These facts show that if we do not resolve our satanic nature and satanic dispositions, then we will never be able to escape this circular life of sinning and confessing, then confessing and sinning. Therefore, to thoroughly save man from sin, it is necessary for God to perform a stage of His judgment and cleansing work to resolve our sinful nature. This is the only way we can be purified and fully saved by God, and be obtained by Him. Let’s read a few more selections from Almighty God’s words and you’ll understand.”