Spirit
In Nee/Lee’s anthropology, the human spirit is the innermost part of the person—the organ of contact with God, through which the Holy Spirit operates to dwell and work God’s life in the believer.
Tripartite constitution: Spirit, Soul, Body
Nee/Lee defend the tripartite view against psychologists and theologians who divide the person into only two parts (soul and body):
The so-called psychologists divide man into two parts: the metaphysical and the physical. But Scripture tells us that within man, besides the soul, there is also the spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says not only “soul” but “spirit and soul.” The spirit and the soul are two things and are different.
This distinction is not speculative but practical and soteriological. The spirit and soul are two different realities—and which dominates determines whether a person meets God or remains in their own nature.
Spirit as organ of contact with God
The spirit is the innermost, subtle part of the person where God operates:
When a man uses his spirit to touch the Spirit, he touches life. When he touches the Spirit, he touches life, and when he obeys the Spirit, he experiences life.
The spirit is the organ of divine encounter-experience. This is not intellect (which belongs to the soul); it is a deeper sense, an inner feeling through which the person perceives God’s subtle operation.
Regeneration of the spirit
Nee/Lee teach that the human spirit is originally dead—inactive, closed off from God:
Originally our spirit was dead, but at the moment we believed, God’s Spirit touched our spirit; thus our spirit gained God’s life and was made alive.
This happens not gradually but instantaneously. In the moment of faith, God’s Spirit plants God’s life into the human spirit. The spirit is “born again”—it becomes the vessel in which God operates.
Spirit as workplace of life-growth
Once regenerated, the spirit becomes the center of spiritual growth. Nee/Lee teach:
The spirit is our dwelling where God’s life works. Heart, conscience, emotion, mind, will are channels through which this life flows. Block one channel, and God’s life does not flow through.
The spirit is workshop; everything that comes from it (heart, conscience, emotion, mind, will) are channels. Pastorally: when spiritual growth stalls, the believer must examine these channels—what blockage hinders the spirit?
Spirit versus Soul in experience
The two may feel similar, but produce very different results. The soulish person lives from mind, emotion, or will. The spiritual person first touches the Spirit and experiences God’s operation:
A soulish person is often what is called a “good person.” He is frequently blameless in people’s eyes. But when a person is spiritual, he can distinguish and receive the things of God’s Spirit.
Morality offers no guarantee; only spiritual operation—through the spirit—guarantees real contact with God.
Source: Watchman Nee & Witness Lee, The Knowledge of Life (Living Stream Ministry, 1973), chapter 8.