Intro

At some point we’ve all felt defeated and discouraged in our Christian life. Stuff happens, and sometimes we need extra encouragement, but do you wonder why our Christian lives are so up and down? Cycles of alternating joy and dryness with no end in sight, and even less of a solution to it all? Many people might say, “that’s just how the Christian life is.” But Watchman Nee disagrees. In the book “Faith, Fact, and Experience,” Nee breaks down our Christian life into three categories and illustrates our place among each. He uses simple yet accurate illustrations to show the unique relationship between the accomplished facts of God, the faith of a believer, and the subsequent experience in their spiritual life. In the final parts of the book, Nee pinpoints several common experiences believers have, and provides solutions to their root causes, all while healthily elevating the reader’s perspective on the matter. 

The content of this book is simple and well suited to new believers, but at the same time contains profound insights that will surely be helpful to mature believers too.

Fact:

The foundation of one’s Christian life has to rest in the “facts.” These are the accomplished works of Christ. His death, resurrection, redemption, victory, and ascension are all completed works! They are true whether or not we believe them; they are objective regardless of how we feel; and they are constant in spite of the ebbs of life. A handful of “facts” are mentioned briefly, and two are spoken of in more detail. The purpose of this section is not to get a list of all the facts in the Bible, but to point out a principle: that there are things we can be sure of; things we trust that guide our attitude and behavior. 

• The Assurance of Salvation – Our salvation is a matter of truth, not a matter of feeling.
  • “We know that we have eternal life and are saved, not by the way we feel, but by what the Word of God says” (30).

• The Timelessness of the Cross – The Cross is ever new, ever fresh, and ever effective.
  • “And I saw in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain” (Rev. 5:6)

Faith

Imagine that you need a babysitter and are deciding whom to ask to take on such a job. It’s an important task, so you don’t want just anyone, but only someone whom you are comfortable putting your trust into. As you consider your friends and those you know, do you ask yourself, “Do I have faith in this person? Or, how can I trust this person more?” Of course not! The questions you ask are, “Is this person trustworthy? Is he reliable? Does he keep his word?” The source of our trust does not come from what we think, but of who they are. The person that they are will show that they are trustworthy. Faith doesn’t require jumping through hoops to make our brains trust someone else, but if that person literally is trustworthy, then we will trust them spontaneously. 

The source of our faith is not from ourselves. The source of our faith is God. We should not ask ourselves, “do I have faith? Is my faith sufficient?” Instead we should ask, “Is God trustworthy? Does God keep his promises?” “Faith is not something produced from within. It is a trust that arises out of the fact that the other party is honest, stable, trustworthy, and reliable. Therefore, what is lacking is not greater faith, but a greater God” (55).

Nee continues this thought with several short chapters on different aspects of living by faith. Living by faith is dependent on facts, and should not be swayed by our feelings or experiences of any time. 

“…the righteous shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17).

Experience

The final section of the book deals with real and relatable experiences of the Christian life. To those who are sick of overarching, generic Christian advice, Watchman Nee dives deep into the real experience of Christians, and even describes my own experiences with incredible accuracy. These chapters are illuminating and convicting, but when our pride is hurt, we are able to come to the Lord in a quiet way, really open to what He has to say.

One chapter I found particularly interesting and relatable was “bribing the conscience.” 

“Many times, our conscience tells us clearly through intuition what is God’s will, where it lies, and what it requires of us. But we are reluctant in submitting to it! The one thing that the flesh fears the most is the will of God… When the urging becomes ineffective, the rebukes of the conscience follow. This feels terrible! If one allows his conscience to work, his heart will become uneasy, and he will feel terrible! This is truly unbearable. In order to avoid the condemnation of the conscience and, at the same time, continue to disobey God’s will, one has to bribe the conscience” (145).

Bribing the conscience can involve, making excuses, drowning out the conscience, or half-heartedly “obeying” in order to silence the accusations of the conscience. Oh how real this is to me, and frankly humiliating to see it so plainly on the page. How selfish I’ve been.

Nee says the solution is to have a fresh evaluation of God’s will. To exercise a deeper rejection of our self, and self-deception. “If we would give up our act of bribing the conscience and live in God’s will day by day, we would find ourselves living in a new realm” (149). 

Conclusion

Overall, I think this book is really solid. I think it is one of Watchman Nee’s easier books to read, but still insightful and packed with those heavy hitting metaphors and analogies that really drive his points home. This can be a great intro book to Watchman Nee’s ministry for someone who might not be ready for another book of his, The Normal Christian Life. I highly recommend this book to college-aged and new believers. I would also consider recommending this book to believers who are struggling with a gap between their Bible knowledge and their Christian experience. This book should help balance out any believer by helping to develop a more solid understanding of the objective facts, and a deeper reality of the subjective experiences of God.