yielding
Definition
Yielding (overgave) is the first condition for the life that wins according to Watchman Nee. It means the believer “moves out” — setting self aside — so that Christ may live freely. This is not human self-crucifixion (which fails), but accepting God’s verdict on the old man: “not I, but Christ.”
Usage per author
Watchman Nee / Witness Lee
In The Life That Wins (b8), Nee teaches that yielding is the key to the exchanged life. The believer must recognize that he is “utterly useless” as declared by the cross.
“The first condition is, ‘I have been crucified with Christ.’ (…) Although Christ lives in us, we ourselves live in us too. In order to have Christ as our life that wins, we ourselves must move out and let go.” (The Life That Wins, p. 54-55)
“The cross expresses God’s despair of men! It announces His hopelessness towards men! It is God’s way of saying that He can neither repair nor improve us, He can only crucify us.” (The Life That Wins, p. 57)
“We confess that as soon as we believe in the Lord Jesus, He comes to live in us. (…) The issue today is not whether you have Christ in you, since the moment you believed, Christ indeed came to live in you. No, the issue is that you must move away.” (The Life That Wins, p. 55)
Interpretation: Yielding is not passivity, but a conscious act of faith — recognizing that “I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). The law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) works freely when “I” moves out of the way.