Watchman Nee & Witness Lee — Doctrine of God
b3 — Basic Elements of Christian Life, Volume 1
Nature of God — God is Spirit
Nee/Lee take John 4:24 as the foundational verse for the doctrine of God: God is Spirit, and man can only contact Him in his spirit.
“First of all, we must see what kind of substance God is. 1 Cor. 15:45, 2 Cor. 3:17, John 14:16-20, and John 4:24 tell us that God is Spirit.”
(Ch. 5, p. 39)
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit. The first ‘Spirit’ is capitalized, referring to the divine Spirit, God Himself. The second spirit is not capitalized because it refers to our human spirit.”
(Ch. 5, p. 39)
Source: John 4:24.
Interpretation: For Nee/Lee, God’s nature as Spirit is not speculative-metaphysical but functional-soteriological: it determines which organ man needs in order to contact Him.
God’s Plan — Expression Through Man
God created man with the purpose of expressing Himself through him. This is the starting point of both anthropology and theology proper in Nee/Lee.
“God desires to express Himself through man (Rom. 8:29). For this purpose, He created man in His own image (Gen. 1:26). Just as a glove is made in the image of a hand to contain a hand, so also man is made in the image of God to contain God. By receiving God as his content, man can express God (2 Cor. 4:7).”
(Ch. 1, p. 7)
“Man was created not merely to contain food in his stomach, or to contain knowledge in his mind, but to contain God in his spirit (Eph. 5:18).”
(Ch. 1, p. 7)
Sources: Rom. 8:29; Gen. 1:26; 2 Cor. 4:7; Eph. 5:18.
Interpretation: The imago Dei is interpreted by Nee/Lee as a structural capacity to ‘contain’ God, not primarily as moral or rational likeness.
God’s Dispensing — Imparting Life Through the Spirit
The central movement in Nee/Lee’s theology is that God dispenses Himself as life into the human spirit through the life-giving Spirit.
“Christ died on the cross to redeem man (Eph. 1:7)…in resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) so that He could dispense His unsearchably rich life into man’s spirit (John 20:22; 3:6).”
(Ch. 1, p. 8)
“The God within us is not only God, but Jesus Christ. Whatever Christ is, whatever He did, and whatever He obtained and attained have all been included in this life-giving Spirit. Now this life-giving Spirit has come into us and is mingled with our spirit, thereby joining us to Him as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).”
(Ch. 5, p. 40)
Sources: Eph. 1:7; 1 Cor. 15:45; John 20:22; John 3:6; 1 Cor. 6:17.
Interpretation: The ‘dispensing’ theology is Nee/Lee’s distinctive contribution to the knowledge of God: God is not merely an object of faith or a self-subsistent being, but actively present as the Spirit who dwells in and dispenses Himself through the human spirit.
Righteousness of God
Nee/Lee develop God’s righteousness as the foundation of His throne and as the basis for the security of salvation.
“Our God is a righteous God. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne (Psa. 89:14). If God were to be unrighteous, His throne would lose its foundation.”
(Ch. 2, p. 14)
“God is bound by His own law to judge sin.”
(Ch. 2, p. 14)
“Now when we believe in Christ, His death is counted in God’s sight as our own. Thus, our debt of sin is righteously paid, and we are saved. The same righteousness which formerly called for our condemnation now calls for our justification.”
(Ch. 2, p. 15)
Sources: Psa. 89:14; Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4.
Interpretation: God’s righteousness functions here as the guarantee of salvation’s security: because the debt was paid righteously, God cannot demand it again.
Love of God — Eternal and Unconditional
“He loved us with an eternal love (Jer. 31:3). His grace was toward us in eternity past, before the world began (2 Tim. 1:9). When Christ loves us, He loves us to the uttermost (John 13:1). No sin, failure, or weakness on our part can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:35-39).”
(Ch. 2, p. 13-14)
“It was not love from our side that saved us, but love from His (1 John 4:10).”
(Ch. 2, p. 13)
Sources: Jer. 31:3; 2 Tim. 1:9; John 13:1; Rom. 8:35-39; 1 John 4:10.
Immutability of God
“It [our salvation] is rooted and grounded in a God who is unchanging in His love and faithfulness toward us (Mal. 3:6). James 1:17 says, ‘The Father of lights, with whom is no variation or shadow cast by turning.’ Lamentations 3:22-23 says, ‘His compassions do not fail; they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.‘”
(Ch. 2, p. 15-16)
Sources: Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17; Lam. 3:22-23.
Interpretation: God’s immutability is pastorally motivated in Nee/Lee: it guarantees the security of salvation over against the changeableness of human experience.
Omnipotence of God
“Jesus said, ‘I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father…is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand’ (John 10:28-29). The hand of the Father and the hand of the Lord Jesus are two strong hands holding us fast.”
(Ch. 2, p. 15)
Source: John 10:28-29.
Trinitarian Confession
In the appendix ‘About Two Servants of the Lord’, Nee/Lee formulate their Trinitarian creed:
“God is the only one Triune God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—equally co-existing and mutually coinhering from eternity to eternity.”
(Appendix, p. 46)
Interpretation: The phrase ‘equally co-existing and mutually coinhering’ (gelijkwaardig naast elkaar bestaand en in elkaar inwonend) is characteristic of Nee/Lee and emphasizes both the equality and the perichoretic unity of the three Persons.
Immanence — God Dwelling in the Human Spirit
“The preceding verses have made it clear that God now dwells in our spirit. However, remember that the God within us is not only God, but Jesus Christ.”
(Ch. 5, p. 40)
“When we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came with Christ as life to quicken and regenerate our spirit, and from that time He dwells within our spirit (John 4:24; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17).”
(Ch. 5, p. 40)
Sources: John 4:24; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17.
Interpretation: Nee/Lee emphasize radical immanence: God does not dwell ‘alongside’ the believer, but in his spirit, as one spirit with him (1 Cor. 6:17).