Nee/Lee — Hamartology
b3 — Basic Elements of Christian Life, Volume 1
The Fall and Its Threefold Damage
In chapter 1 (“The Mystery of Human Life”), Witness Lee describes the fall as an intrusion into God’s original plan: God created man as a vessel for Himself (Rom. 9:21-24), but before man could receive God as life into his spirit, sin entered into him (Rom. 5:12).
“Sin deadened his spirit (Eph. 2:1), made him an enemy of God in his mind (Col. 1:21), and transmuted his body into sinful flesh (Gen. 6:3; Rom. 6:12). Thus, sin damaged all three parts of man, alienating him from God.”
Source reference: Witness Lee, Basic Elements of Christian Life Vol. 1, ch. 1, §“Man’s Fall”
Interpretation: Lee understands the fall not as an isolated moral act but as structural damage — each part of the tripartite man (spirit, soul, body) was affected and rendered incapable of receiving God.
Total Depravity — The Fallen, Soulish Life
In chapter 5 (“The Key to Experiencing Christ”), Lee articulates the pre-salvation condition as radical fallenness:
“Before salvation we were one hundred percent fallen. We lived in and by this fallen, soulish life, which was absolutely opposed to God.”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 5, p. 42
“But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:14).
Lee concludes that “the natural, soulish life has already been put to the cross (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:6).” The fallen soulish life has been crucified and must be relinquished — not the faculties of mind, will, and emotion as such, but the soul as the center of life.
Source reference: Lee, ch. 5, p. 42
Three Problems of the Fallen Man
In chapter 3 (“The Precious Blood of Christ”), Lee articulates the consequences of the fall as three distinct problems involving three parties:
“Even as a Christian, you still carry around the fallen human life. So day after day, you may still be plagued with these three problems. These three problems involve three parties: God, yourself, and Satan. Toward God, you often sense separation. Within yourself, you often sense guilt. And from Satan, you often sense accusation.”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, introductory section
Sin and Separation from God
The first and most fundamental consequence of sin is separation from God:
“When Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, he immediately hid from God… God is not as much concerned with what sins you may commit, as He is with the fact that your sins separate you from Him.”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, §“Separation from God”
Isa. 59:1-2 is cited: “But your iniquities have become a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
Interpretation: Lee emphasizes not the nature or gravity of individual sins but the relational consequence: sin breaks fellowship with God.
Guilt as a Stain on the Conscience
“Sins offend God on the one hand and defile us on the other. What is guilt? Guilt is the stain of sins on your conscience. When you are young, your conscience is only stained a little. But as you grow older, these stains accumulate. Like a window which is never washed, the conscience grows darker and darker until eventually little light can penetrate.”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, §“Guilt in Your Conscience”
Lee illustrates guilt through the traffic-ticket analogy: the sinner has broken God’s law, owes a debt he cannot pay (Rom. 6:23: “the wages of sin is death”), and carries the record of his offense in his conscience as a constant reminder.
Guilt and Punishment — God’s Righteous Legal Demand
Lee explains the legal dimension of sin through God’s righteousness:
“In the same way, our problem before God before we were saved was a legal one. We had broken God’s law by our sin and had thus incurred the law’s righteous judgment. According to the law of God, where transgression of the law is, death must take place (Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4).”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 2, §“God is Righteous”
Interpretation: God’s righteousness is the foundation of His throne (Ps. 89:14). A God who would ignore sin without atonement would undermine His own throne. This righteous demand makes Christ’s redemption both necessary and — once accomplished — irrevocable: the debt cannot be demanded twice.
Forgiveness of Sin — The Blood of Christ as Sole Remedy
Lee asserts that only one remedy exists for sin:
“There is only one thing in the entire universe that can take away sins—the precious blood of Christ. No amount of prayer, no amount of weeping, no ritual, no penance, no promise to do better, no guilty feeling, no period of waiting—no, nothing but the precious blood of Christ—can remove sins. Hebrews 9:22 says that ‘without shedding of blood is no forgiveness.‘”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, §“Separation from God”
Practical application via 1 John 1:9:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, §§“Separation from God” and “Guilt in Your Conscience”
The blood also cleanses the conscience (Heb. 9:14):
“How much more will the blood of Christ…purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, §“Guilt in Your Conscience”
Interpretation: The Passover type (Ex. 12:13 — “When I see the blood, I will pass over you”) illustrates that the blood works primarily for God’s satisfaction, not for the believer’s feeling. This distinguishes Lee’s approach from a subjective-emotional theory of atonement.
Satan as Accuser — Victory through the Blood
The third problem facing fallen man is Satan’s accusation:
“Satan is the ‘devil,’ which in the original language of the Bible means ‘accuser.’ So Revelation 12:10 refers to him as ‘the accuser of our brothers,…who accuses them before our God day and night.‘”
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, §“Accusation from Satan”
Lee distinguishes God’s enlightening of the conscience (specific, strengthening) from Satan’s accusation (general, paralyzing). The victory over accusation:
“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony.” (Rev. 12:10-11)
Source reference: Lee, ch. 3, §“Accusation from Satan”
Interpretation: The believer is to actively claim the blood against Satan’s accusation — not through repeated confession but through vocal testimony that the blood has fully settled the debt.