The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

Overview

The Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the believers in Rome.  He had never been to Rome and wanted to encourage the believers in their faith.  Paul shares with his friends what to believe as Christians, and tells them how a fully devoted follower of Jesus behaves.

Watchman Nee (1903-1972) is remembered for his leadership of an indigenous church movement in China as well as for the books that continue to enrich Christians throughout the world.  Beginning in the 1930’s, he helped establish local churches in China that were completely independent of foreign missionary organizations and were used to bring many into the kingdom of God.  From them came many of the house churches that continued a faithful witness when Western Missionaries were forced to leave the country.  Arrested in 1952, and found guilty of a large number of false charges, Watchman Nee was imprisoned until his death in 1972.

The Purpose of this course is:

To challenge each participant to claim the promises of God’s Word that through the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit each one of us may live as “more than conquerors” through Jesus Christ.

The focus of the study will be LIFE APPLICATION—how we can take what we learn and apply it to our daily lives.  The world doesn’t need better-informed Christians—it needs more Christians who act like Jesus!

Introduction

The Letter to the Romans

Author:  The Apostle Paul.  Romans 1:1 tells us the letter is from Paul, and no voice in the early church ever raised questions about his authorship of the letter.

Date and Place of Writing:  Probably written in A.D. 57  (Less than 30 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.).  Probably written in either Corinth or Cenchrea (about six miles from Corinth).

Recipients:  The Christians who belonged to the church in Rome.  While the church was primarily Gentile by background, there must have been a substantial Jewish minority, due to the content of Romans 4:1; chapters 9-11.

Major Theme:  The basic gospel, God’s plan of salvation and righteousness for all people—Jew and Gentile alike.  This is more than a book about justification, as it includes the broader ideas of guilt, sanctification and living in the Spirit.

Purpose:  Paul had several purposes in writing this letter:  

  1. To introduce himself and prepare the way for a coming visit to Rome and part of a proposed mission to Spain. (1:10-15; 15:22-29);

  2. To present the basic system of salvation to a church that had not received apostolic teaching;

  3. To explain the relationship between Jew and Gentile in God’s overall plan of redemption, since the Jewish believers were being rejected by the Gentile believers in Rome, over the Jewish believers’ insistence on observing Jewish dietary laws and sacred days.  (14:1; 2-6).

Special Characteristics:

  1. The most systematic of Paul’s letters, which reads more like an elaborate theological essay than a letter

  2. Emphasis on Christian doctrine. . Paul focuses on sin, salvation, grace, faith, righteousness, justification, sanctification, redemption, death and resurrection.

  3. Widespread use of OT quotations – more than typical of Paul’s letters.

  4. Deep concern for Israel—present status, her relationship to the Gentiles, and her final salvation.

Outline

I.  Introduction (1:1-15)

II. Theme:  Righteousness from God (1:16-17)

III. The Unrighteousness of all Humanity (1:18-3:20)

                             i.      Gentiles (1:18-32)

                             ii.      Jews (2:1-3:8)

                             iii.      Summary:  All People (3:9-20)

IV. Righetousness Imputed:  Justification (3:21-5:21)

                             i.      Through Christ (3:21-26)

                             ii.      Received by Faith (3:27-4:25)

                                    1. The principle established (3:27-31)

                                    2. The principle illustrated (ch. 4)

                              iii.      The Fruits of Righteousness (5:1-11)

                              iv.      Summary:  Man’s Unrighteousness Contrasted with God’s Gift of Righteousness (5:12-21)

   V. Righteousness Imparted:  Sanctification (chs 6-8)

                                i.      Freedom from Sin’s Tyranny (ch. 6)

                                ii.      Freedom from the Law’s Condemnation (ch. 7)

                                iii.      Life in the Power of the Holy Spirit (ch. 8)

    VI. God’s Righteousness Vindicated:  The Problem of the Rejection of Israel (chs.9-11).

                                i.      The Justice of the Rejection (9:1-29)

                                ii.      The Cause of the Rejection (9:30-10:21)

                                iii.      Facts That Lessen the Difficulty (ch. 11)

                                          1. The rejection is not total (11:1-10)

                                          2. The rejection is not final (11:11-24)

                                          3. God’s ultimate purpose is mercy (11:25-36)

     VII. Righteousness Practiced (12:1-15:13)

                                   i.      In the Body—the Church (ch. 12)

                                   ii.      In the Word (ch. 13)

                                   iii.      Among Weak and Strong Christians (14:1-15:13)

     VIII. Conclusions (15:14-33)

      IX. Commendation and Greetings (ch. 16)

(Much of the Above information is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.)

Nee’s book is based on Romans chapters 1-8 and 12.  Nee divides the book into the following divisions:

Nee considered a victorious life, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit to be “the normal Christian life.”  He also noted that the “normal” Christian life isn’t very common among Christians.  His book was based on a series of lectures in which he sought to demonstrate how the normal Christian life could become the reality for every Christian.  He did not see the normal Christian life as unattainable, nor as attainable only by a few.  He saw it as the expected norm among followers of Jesus.

His Book is divided into 14 Chapters which are as follows:

  1. The Blood of Christ

  2. The Cross of Christ

  3. The Path of Progress:  Knowing

  4. The Path of Progress:  Reckoning

  5. The Divide of the Cross

  6. The Path of Progress:  Presenting ourselves to God

  7. The Eternal Purpose

  8. The Holy Spirit

  9. The Meaning and Value of Romans Seven

  10. The Path of Progress: Walking in the Spirit

  11. One Body in Christ

  12. The Cross and the Soul Life

  13. The Path of Progress: Bearing the Cross

  14. The Goal of the Gospel

The Blood of Christ is the subject of Romans 1-4 according to Nee, although he focuses mainly on Romans 3 when discussing it.

The Cross of Christ is the focal point of Nee’s book, since it is his premise that when Jesus died on the cross, we died with him, and therefore our sinful nature was “crucified,” making it not only possible but practical for us to claim the new life in the Spirit and live a “normal” Christian life.

As we work our way through Romans and The Normal Christian Life the key will be to apply the truth, not just to learn it, so that the year 2002 will be one in which we grow not only broader in our understanding of the Good News of Jesus, but deeper in living out our commitment to the Mission, Vision and Values of New Life, particularly:

That we will be better equipped to share the new life of Jesus Christ with the world one person at a time,  (and feel better about doing it because our lives will be more consistent with our words.)

That we will be better equipped to live out the irresistible lifestyles emphasized in our vision statement that include being:     passionately committed to Jesus Christ, biblically grounded, morally pure, evangelistically bold, and socially responsible

That we will be better equipped to live out our 30 core values, particularly the 10 core practices: worship, prayer, Bible study, biblical community, spiritual gifts, servant leadership, give away my time, give away my money, give away my faith, and give away my life

and the ten core virtues:

love, hope, faithfulness, joy, peace, patience, integrity (goodness), humility (gentleness), compassion (kindness), peace, and self-control.

The world (especially the world in which we live – the United States of America) desperately needs to see Christians living the faith they claim through Jesus Christ.  It has never been enough for us to know what Jesus said or did, but now, more than ever, it is necessary for us to live the faith if the church is to be and do what God created it to be and do when He sent Jesus to us 2000 years ago!

Back to the study guide for Nee's The Normal Christian Life.


Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from either the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, © 2006 (after Dec. 2, 2007) or the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, © 1996 (before Dec. 2 2007). Both are used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189, All rights reserved. New Life Christian Ministries, Inc. holds CCLI Number 1966192.   Individual copyright information is provided for words of praise songs and hymns used in the Daily Bible Studies.

© 2008 New Life Christian Ministries, Inc.  All materials on this site are provided for God's glory and for the transformation and growth of disciples for Jesus.  If used in any form of communications, please give credit to New Life Christian Ministries, Inc.