Nee/Lee — Hamartology
b5 — Basic Elements of Christian Life, Volume 3
The Principle of Sin as a Third Category (Eph. 2:1-3)
In chapter 1 (“Two Principles of Living”), Watchman Nee introduces a threefold classification of principles of living. Alongside the principle of right and wrong and the principle of life, he names the principle of sin as one of three basic modes by which people live:
“You could say that everyone in the world can live according to at least three principles: they can live by sin, or they can live by right and wrong, or they can live by life.”
Source: Nee, ch. 1, §“Two Principles of Christian Living”
He expounds the principle of sin with reference to Eph. 2:1-3:
“Many people live on earth by following the lusts of their flesh. They are sons of wrath who are bound by the fashions of the world. They live and act according to the operation of the evil spirits in their hearts. Their principle for living is that they live by sin (Eph. 2:1-3).”
Source: Nee, ch. 1, §“Two Principles of Christian Living”; Eph. 2:1-3
Interpretation: Nee employs Eph. 2:1-3 not as a definition of original sin in the classical sense but as a description of a functional principle — the modus operandi of the unregenerate person. Sin is here a governing principle of life, not primarily a forensic debt.
The Two Trees: Good and Evil as an Alternative Sin-Category (Gen. 2)
Nee introduces a second hamartological distinction: living by the principle of good and evil is also a wrong principle — even when it involves doing good things. He grounds this in the two trees of Gen. 2:
“The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:9b).
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17).
Source: Nee, ch. 1, opening citations; Gen. 2:9b, 16-17
Nee concludes that Christianity is not a matter of an outward standard of good and evil but of inward life:
“God said, ‘Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die’ (Gen. 2:17). At the most, this practice is only a discerning of good from evil. At best, it is merely choosing and rejecting. This is not Christianity.”
Source: Nee, ch. 1, §“The Meaning of Following the Principle of Right and Wrong”; Gen. 2:17
Interpretation: Nee interprets the fall in Gen. 2 as the introduction of a wrong principle of living, not merely as a moral transgression. Eating from the tree of knowledge represents choosing an external ordering system (good/evil) rather than inward life — a view consistent with his broader pneumatological anthropology.
Repentance for Good Deeds — Sin as the Absence of Life
Nee expands the concept of sin: not only moral transgressions require repentance; ‘good’ actions that do not flow from the inward life also require it:
“A Christian should not only repent before God for the sins he has committed; often, he must repent before God for the good things he has done.”
Source: Nee, ch. 1, §“Our Living and Actions Must Be According to the Leading of Life”
Nee illustrates this with an autobiographical example: he gave a brother money out of human charity, not from life — and afterward had to confess:
“Even though I had given the brother money, I had to bow before God, confess my sin, and ask His forgiveness when I reached home.”
Source: Nee, ch. 1, §“Our Living and Actions Must Be According to the Leading of Life”
Interpretation: Nee functionally defines sin as acting without or outside the inward life. This is a distinctive element of his hamartology: the contrast between moralism (doing good) and Christianity (living from Christ). Sin thus encompasses the ‘good’ that is done from the human self.
Repentance as Metanoia — Etymology and Function (Witness Lee)
In chapter 2 (“The Way to Build Up the Church”), Witness Lee provides an etymological and functional treatment of repentance:
“In order to exercise our spirit to pray, we must repent. The word repentance in Greek means ‘to turn the mind.’ When we repent by turning our mind away from other things to the Lord, our conscience will be exercised to bear witness where we are wrong and concerning what we specifically need to confess. By repentance we turn our mind to the Lord, and by confession we exercise our conscience.”
Source: Lee, ch. 2, §“The Way to Pray”; Eph. 3:14-17 (contextual background)
Lee links repentance (metanoia = turning of the mind) with confession (conscience-act) as a twofold opening of the heart:
“It is by repentance and confession that the two main parts of the heart, the mind and the conscience, are opened. Then the gateway to the spirit is opened so that the Lord may come in more and more in order to fill and strengthen our spirit.”
Source: Lee, ch. 2, §“The Way to Pray”
Interpretation: Lee presents repentance not primarily as moral acknowledgment of guilt but as a psychic-pneumatic movement: turning the mind from the self toward Christ. Confession is the corresponding act of conscience. Together they open the inner gateway for the indwelling of Christ (Eph. 3:17). This connects with the soteriological and pneumatological lines established in b3 and b4.
Confession as Opening the Spirit to Christ
Lee further unfolds the function of confession as the key to Christ’s full indwelling of the heart:
“When we repent and confess in this way, our emotion will follow with love to the Lord, and our will then will choose to seek the Lord. This means that the whole heart is exercised and opened so that the spirit is free to receive more of Christ. Then the Lord, as the living Spirit, will infill and strengthen our spirit; and spontaneously, Christ will make His home in our heart.”
Source: Lee, ch. 2, §“The Way to Pray”; Eph. 3:17
“Because Christ is imprisoned in our spirit, we need to repent by turning our mind to Him. Then we must confess our sins and tell the Lord how much we love Him and choose to seek Him. By doing this, our whole heart is opened for Christ to fill and strengthen our spirit.”
Source: Lee, ch. 2, §“Christ Making His Home in Our Hearts”
Interpretation: In Lee’s hamartology-adjacent pneumatology, confession of sin is not a forensic endpoint (debt settled) but a functional starting point: opening the inner door so that Christ can spread from the spirit into the heart. The entry-side (confession) and the outcome-side (indwelling) are inseparably joined.