Two Principles of Living (*TPL)

The Finest of the Wheat: Volume 1 (CFP - white covers): An Accurate Translation of Watchman Nee

Translator's Notes

As was intimated in the Preface [The Finest of the Wheat], there are a few excerpts from Watchman Nee’s works appearing in The Finest of the Wheat which—though previously translated and published in English—have for this present publication been derived from new translations made from the pertinent sections of the original or subsequent Chinese-language editions of his works. These several works, whose Chinese titles have been transliterated into English, are indicated by an asterisk (*) in the following Code List of Nee Published Materials that has been provided for the readers’ use by Christian Fellowship Publishers. It will be noticed, too, that full bibliographical data have been given for each item listed in the Code (with the abbreviation, NY: CFP, standing for New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers).

It should be added here that the codes for these published items excerpted from which have been compiled and/or edited by Dr. Kinnear are marked with a dagger (†) for easy identification, while all other codes listed (except ROS) are for those titles of Mr. Nee’s published material whose copyrights belong to Christian Fellowship Publishers.

Troy's Notes

What the translator is saying here, and I do appreciate, is that the version of TPL previously translated into English and used by the Living Stream Ministry cult is lacking, rough, sloppy; so it had to be retranslated correctly from the original. Not all sections of it were retranslated for public use for reasons stated below. Because of the sloppier translations of Watchman Nee's writings from LSM, they are substantially longer (up to 30% sometimes). We should not overlook such embellishments. Therefore, let's take the smaller portion. There is another reason for doing this: because the information comes from a person's note taking (rather than a direct transcript or from Nee's magazines) who later became part of the lsm/lc cult after Nee was jailed for life (1953), and subsequently the little flock rejected the lsm/lc cult. Watchman Nee did not publish TPL himself in 1952, and the LSM version was published sometime much later.

—*TPL 3-7, 11, 13, 15-16, 18-20 TWO PRINCIPLES OF LIVING (Taipei: Gospel Book Room, 1952). A booklet-length publication in Chinese. A new translation of excerpted selections.

Please remember that the principle of right and wrong, good and evil, is not Christianity. It speaks, rather, about life . . . Once a person has accepted the Lord Jesus and received a new life, a marvelous thing happens to him, which is, that a principle of life is added to him. Yet through ignorance, he may set aside this life principle and follow the right and wrong principle instead.

What does following the principle of right and wrong mean? Whenever anything confronts you, you ask the question whether or not it is right and good or wrong and evil. Many people adopt this mode of living. You are already a Christian, and yet you decide after careful consideration that because this or that is good and right, you can do it. Because you choose to do only the good and right, you deem yourself a proper Christian.

But the word of God declares: "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, humanity can only distinguish between good and evil. Ethical man chooses the good and rejects the evil. This, however, is not Christianity. The latter is not a judgment of outward good or evil according to a fixed set of criteria: that was true of the Old Covenant: that was the law: that, in fact, is still the religion of the world today. It is indeed morality and ethics, but it is not true Christianity.

The LSM TPL version reads, "Christianity does not have an outward good and an outward evil," whereas CFP TPL reads, "The latter is not a judgment of outward good and evil." The former is rough, while the latter is more accurately said and softer. In CFP, there is a personal touch, "Ethical man chooses," whereas in LSM, "It is merely choosing" impersonally.

What is Christianity? Christianity is life. It does not ask whether a thing is right or wrong, it asks instead what your inner life says: it is a matter of how the new life which God has given us addresses the situation. How very strange that what most people see and consider is only the outward criterion of good and evil. Yet that which God has given us is not an external standard. Christianity is not a new religion possessing a new Mount Sinai or a new set of the Ten Commandments. It is not a religion that puts forward a few commandments of do’s and don’ts. It does not raise the question of right and wrong or good and evil. It is instead the life within you speaking to the situation. If you sense a rightness inside you about a given situation or proposed course of action and there are life, power and anointing within, then you know you can proceed in life. Judging by human eyes, there are many things seemingly right and good; yet strangely, the life within you does not respond but rather shivers and is withered.

The word of God tells us that our Christian living is governed by inner life, not by outward considerations of good and evil. For the people of the world, though, the peak of their living principle is but that of good and evil. What difference will there be if we Christians should live according to that same principle? Just here, then, is where we are different from the people of the world: we are not governed by outside criterion or by outward law: we do not talk about morality or ethical concepts: we do not judge good and evil according to man’s criticism or viewpoint: we hold instead to but one principle today, which is the principle of the inner life. If the life within me is powerful and living, I will do or say this or that. But if that life in me be cold or shriveled up, I cannot do or say it. My principle of living is governed by the inward and not the outward. This principle alone is true, all the rest are false. . . . Only when the Spirit of God moves within a person can he tell what is really right. When there is life, a thing is right; when there is no life, it is wrong. So that right or wrong is not judged by any outside criterion but by the inner life.

With this question resolved, immediately you see that to be a Christian you not only cannot do evil, you cannot even do good: you can only do what is of life. Here, then, are evil, good, and life. Yet to be a Christian does not mean that he is to do good things and things of life. No, it means that a Christian can do neither evil nor good things. For God has 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." Good and evil are linked together here. They together constitute one way to live, and the inner life constitutes another totally different way. A Christian, therefore, must reject good as well as evil. For there is a standard even higher than good, and it is called the criterion of life. . . .

LSM reads, "we must avoid all that is merely good". CFP reads, "you cannot even do good". Even our good is vain if not led by the Spirit. This is different than saying we must avoid all that is merely good - this statement is lacking! It is not that merely the good must be avoided, but that it is lacking because it was not preceded by the Spirit. I prefer the softer wording of CFP. In the CFP version, it was also found not necessary to accuse some brother for not listening who was younger than some Brother Wu. Perhaps such anecdotes were not meant to be repeated, taken in notes and published!

One of the greatest mistakes among many of God’s children is that their right or wrong is determined by what they see, by their own background or by their many years of past experience. Here, they do not know the true way of arriving at right or wrong. Please remember that the Christian life is lived according to the inner life. What many do before God is to consider the outside factors. Their decisions or judgments, therefore, are all according to the outward. Life, however, is altogether different. It is known by those with life. . . .

On the Mount of Transfiguration are (1) Moses who represents the outward moral standard, and (2) Elijah who represents the outward human standard. One is of the law, the other is of the prophets. Both the standard of the law and that of the prophets are present on the Mount. During the Old Testament time, the loudest voices came from the law and the prophets. But now on the Mount God seals both their mouths. There God tells Peter that the standard for Christian living today is to be found in Christ, in Him who dwells within us. We are now only to hear Him! (see Matt. 17.1-8) Accordingly, the issue is no longer a matter of right or wrong; it is now a matter of whether the life within approves or disapproves. There may be many things you say you can do, but the inner life will not let you; and as a consequence, you cannot and will not do them. . . .

LSM adds, "No one should determine whether a matter is right or wrong by some outward standard," whereas CFP does not include this thought. In other words, CFP would suggest that not all outward standards are completely dismissed. Sometimes a point can be carried too far; this stretch by a leeist is not what Nee is saying I believe. LSM adds, "On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses was present, representing the outward, moral standard, and Elijah was present, representing the outward, human standard." Should we go so far as to say this? Is Elijah really representing human standards, or is he representing the prophets only? We still have prophets today, and the moral law is still with us, as Jesus came to fill up the law: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" (Matt 5.17). 

What is the Sermon on the Mount? What are the instructions of Matthew 5-7? Let me say here that these three chapters inform us that it is not enough just to be right. Jesus’ teaching here on the Mount is that we who are His followers must do till the life which God has given us is satisfied. Why should a Christian turn the other cheek after being smitten on the first cheek? Is it not good enough if he keeps silent and does not revile after initially being smitten? Would that not be an indication of great discipline? Yet Jesus intimates by His teaching that the inner life regards this passivity as insufficient. When a follower of Christ turns the other cheek, it shows that he has neither anger nor hate inside and that he is able to bear further ill-treatment. Life is humble. Life is able to turn the other cheek. This is the way of life.

Many confess that Matthew 5-7 is hard and impossible. I would acknowledge that none of us can follow these teachings, for they ask of us our very natural life. The crux of the matter is this: that in you and me there is another life and that that life will not be satisfied unless we do what the Lord has taught. No matter how seriously your brother or sister sins against you, you have no peace if you cannot kneel down and pray for him or her. However good it is to endure patiently, you find no rest within if you do not keep the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.

Hence these teachings on the Mount do no less than show us how to satisfy God’s life in us in all that we do. Then there will be rest and joy. The whole matter of our walk revolves around whether we follow life or follow right and wrong. If we truly know God’s word, we quickly discern the fact that all believers who judge according to the principle of right and wrong—and live accordingly—are faulty in their earthly walk. . . .

Several times is mentioned the divine life in the LSM version. This is not wrong, but did Watchman Nee actually use the term is the question put before us? That is why it was subsequently not used to stay true to Nee's writings [if this is not the correct reason, someone can show in the original Chinese the word Divine being used as an adjective to the word "life" in us].

Let me say again that our way before God does not lie in following the principle of good and evil but in following the principle of the inner life. Whatever is done in life is worthwhile, whatever is not done in life—even should it be good—is condemned. Christians ought not only to confess before God because they have sinned. Many times they also need to confess because of having done good things. This is due to the fact that our living principle is not a matter of discerning between good and evil but of distinguishing between life and death. When there is life—that is to say, when life inwardly arises—what we do is right. If life does not arise, or if there is no anointing in us, then we have to confess and ask God for forgiveness, irrespective of our having done right or wrong.

Consequently, Paul declared, "I judge not mine own self. . . . : but he that judgeth me is the Lord" (1 Cor. 4.3b,4b). Many do not understand what this means. Actually, it is very simple. If there is an outward standard of right or wrong, it is quite easy to judge whether or not I am right or wrong. But Paul did not judge by this outward principle; hence, he could only say, "I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord" (vv.3b-4). At the judgment seat of Christ, it is the Latter who will judge me. Also, said Paul, there is a life within leading me. So that in 2 Corinthians he further explained by declaring: "we walk by faith, not by sight" (5.7). In other words, asserted Paul, we do not judge by an external law that can be seen; instead, we judge by the leading of the Lord within us.

The LSM version uses the word "appearance" which is not in any of the major Bible versions. All the major Bible versions use the word "sight" (2 Cor. 5.7). This is a small matter, but the point remains, the LSM bible takes independent liberties not recognized in any major Bible version.

We learn this lesson before God. Let us never stop at the standard of right and wrong. I do not wish to suggest here that the standard of right and wrong is not good. Of course it is good! But for the Christian, that principle of living is not good enough. Christian living rises above the principle of right and wrong. If we live by the life of God we shall see that what He requires of us is higher than the demands of law. In view of this, to be a Christian is really quite a simple matter. The answer to all issues in life that confront us is, what does God say in us about them? Naturally there will be light within shining upon us. Please keep in mind that regeneration is a fact—that God dwelling in us through the Lord Jesus is also a fact. The Lord constantly manifests himself in us. May we therefore continually say to God, "Give me grace that I may live by the tree of life and not by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." May we always be attentive to what the life within us says. If we live by this principle, we will experience a great change in ourselves. Due to our living by the standard of right and wrong and not by that of life, many problems have arisen and many things are being done badly. If we should now take the standard of life, however, all these will be resolved.

My personal experience with leeists is that they lack a conscience for the double talking they find themselves in so often which comes from adding things that are not in the original writings: e.g. "things which are right are not always right." This addition to Nee's writings was placed between, "rises above the principle of right and wrong" and "If we by the life of God" Further additions are made in bad English, "Lord, it is wrong for us to live by discerning right from wrong. May we see that discerning right from wrong is sin and death, because only those who live in death can do this." This is carrying the point to the extreme, beyond what Watchman Nee said. With much thanks, we are grateful to the Holy Spirit working in the translator at CFP.