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NeitherFirstnorLast · 12-11-2012, 09:10 PM

Chapter 3 Cont'd: Lee on Ethics - Doing what comes Spiritually

The God-Men, pages 70-71

"A sensuous ethic results naturally from a theology embracing sensuous sanctification. Witness Lee's ethic is based on the sensate experience of God rather than on conformity to Scripture. For Lee, holiness is irrelevant to matters of obedience, faith, fruitfulness, or moral action. It is a spiritual essence: possessing God's life.

"Holiness is not a matter of action, but a matter of nature, for holiness is God's nature. It is not what we do, but how much we have been mingled with God." (WL, The Vision of God's Building, pg 208). "It is because behaviour and life are things which definitely belong to two different worlds.... Some believers may be very reverential and devout before God; they dare not be disrespectful or loose in their behaviour and action. We cannot say these expressions are not good, but neither are they the growth of life." (WL, The Knowledge of Life, pg 184).

In no case... are the guidelines of Scripture to be consulted rather than turning inward. Lee considers the ethical standards found in the Bible as possibly helpful hints, but never definitive guidelines... Yet most Christians see that if sin were divorced from biblical judgements and if holiness were divorced from biblical criteria, it would be possible to "do good" and sin, or "do evil" but not sin. One can conceive of immature believers whose standard of conduct plunges far below the ethical code of the law, but who remain oblivious to the disparity. In Witness Lee's ethical system, sin is truly sin only when the Spirit convicts such a person and then he or she voluntarily disobeys that "leading".

According to Lee, a believer may be exemplary in conduct, pious, zealously serving God, abounding in gifts and power, but living an unspiritual, unethical life. "Even if you are scriptural, you are still wrong; if you are fundamental, you are still wrong.... There is no law, no teaching, no regulations - only Jesus.... Go to Jesus and ask Him. See what your living Jesus would say." (WL, Christ vs Religion, pg 63-64).

************************

Jesus Christ is Risen; He IS alive - and what He spoke is recorded in the book that you all have on your shelves at home. What He said wasn't left wanting for lack of footnotes until the mid 1970's. His Word is complete - finished - the canon of Scripture was closed; and whoever adds or subtracts from His Word is damned (Rev 22:18-19). If you want to know what He had to say, you need to read it for yourself - and you need to trust that He can lead you into all Truth without the help of any footnotes.

Don't trust your feelings "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9.

Do you know how many tens of thousands of saints have died to put the precious Word of God in your hands - in words you can read? Do you not know that it was the expository preaching from that Book that finally liberated thousands and began a Reformation that transformed the face of Christianity from an autocratic system headed by a man who claimed to be Christ's unique Vicar with absolute authority in the only "real church" on Earth to save a genuine Body of Believers willing to take up their cross for you... for us... for Him. Don't give another man (or his minions) that kind of power and authority. Christ is the head of Church; He can speak for Himself.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6.

12-11-2012, 09:10 PM	#286
NeitherFirstnorLast Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 348	Our Reading Continues Chapter 3 Cont'd: Lee on Ethics - Doing what comes Spiritually The God-Men, pages 70-71 "A sensuous ethic results naturally from a theology embracing sensuous sanctification. Witness Lee's ethic is based on the sensate experience of God rather than on conformity to Scripture. For Lee, holiness is irrelevant to matters of obedience, faith, fruitfulness, or moral action. It is a spiritual essence: possessing God's life. "Holiness is not a matter of action, but a matter of nature, for holiness is God's nature. It is not what we do, but how much we have been mingled with God." (WL, The Vision of God's Building, pg 208). "It is because behaviour and life are things which definitely belong to two different worlds.... Some believers may be very reverential and devout before God; they dare not be disrespectful or loose in their behaviour and action. We cannot say these expressions are not good, but neither are they the growth of life." (WL, The Knowledge of Life, pg 184). In no case... are the guidelines of Scripture to be consulted rather than turning inward. Lee considers the ethical standards found in the Bible as possibly helpful hints, but never definitive guidelines... Yet most Christians see that if sin were divorced from biblical judgements and if holiness were divorced from biblical criteria, it would be possible to "do good" and sin, or "do evil" but not sin. One can conceive of immature believers whose standard of conduct plunges far below the ethical code of the law, but who remain oblivious to the disparity. In Witness Lee's ethical system, sin is truly sin only when the Spirit convicts such a person and then he or she voluntarily disobeys that "leading". According to Lee, a believer may be exemplary in conduct, pious, zealously serving God, abounding in gifts and power, but living an unspiritual, unethical life. "Even if you are scriptural, you are still wrong; if you are fundamental, you are still wrong.... There is no law, no teaching, no regulations - only Jesus.... Go to Jesus and ask Him. See what your living Jesus would say." (WL, Christ vs Religion, pg 63-64). ************************ Jesus Christ is Risen; He IS alive - and what He spoke is recorded in the book that you all have on your shelves at home. What He said wasn't left wanting for lack of footnotes until the mid 1970's. His Word is complete - finished - the canon of Scripture was closed; and whoever adds or subtracts from His Word is damned (Rev 22:18-19). If you want to know what He had to say, you need to read it for yourself - and you need to trust that He can lead you into all Truth without the help of any footnotes. Don't trust your feelings "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9. Do you know how many tens of thousands of saints have died to put the precious Word of God in your hands - in words you can read? Do you not know that it was the expository preaching from that Book that finally liberated thousands and began a Reformation that transformed the face of Christianity from an autocratic system headed by a man who claimed to be Christ's unique Vicar with absolute authority in the only "real church" on Earth to save a genuine Body of Believers willing to take up their cross for you... for us... for Him. Don't give another man (or his minions) that kind of power and authority. Christ is the head of Church; He can speak for Himself. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6.