Reckoning

 Reckoning

January 30, 2025

Yesterday we were considering Watchman Nee’s four steps to living the Normal Christian Life: Knowing, Reckoning, Presenting yourself, and Walking in the Spirit. Today we will explore the second point, Reckoning.

Romans 6:11 (KJV)

11 Likewise reckonye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:10-11 (NASB)

10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to Godin Christ Jesus.

Watchman Nee explains that the Greek word translated “Recon” or “Consider” (g3049. λογίζομαι logizomai) is an accounting term that means to consider as fact, or make a proper accounting of a fact. He says that accounting is the only endeavor in which humans can be perfect. If you have $20 in your pocket and someone gives you a dollar, you now have $21; no more, no less. In the same way he states that when Paul says you should reckon yourself dead to sin, that that is an act of faith in which you acknowledge the fact that you are indeed dead to sin. It’s easier to say than to understand or to do. What he is basically saying is that freedom from sin comes from accepting the truth that your old self died on the cross with Christ, and no accusation from the enemy can cancel that fact. This death is a death to the old nature in ourselves that has a propensity to sin. Becoming alive to God is to come into a new nature, a new life in Christ.

He discusses the implications of this in detail, so I will only be able to provide a summary here. One analogy that he uses to explain the new nature is to state that the nature of wood is to float. If you place it in water, it will naturally float, because it’s nature is to float. That is like our new life in Christ whose nature is to not sin. It is not that it is impossible to sin, but it is not in the new life’s nature to sin. Back to the wood block; it can be forced to sink if you grab It with your hand and force in under water. That is like giving into temptation and giving into sin. It is not in your new nature to sin, but it is possible to force (or allow) yourself to sin.

According to Watchman Nee, the secret of resisting temptation, living according to your new nature, and not giving into sin, is to abide in Christ. Jesus taught on this as recorded in John 15:

John 15:4

4 Abide inMe, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

As the life of the branch comes from receiving sap from the main trunk, so our life comes from being attached and receiving sustenance from Christ. This process starts with “reckoning” where we, by faith, consider that we are in fact dead in Christ, and we then live for Him when we abide in Him, remaining attached to Him and receiving new life continually. 

The Biblical term for this is “sanctification”. This literally means “to become holy” or “to be separated unto God”. Sanctification is often misinterpreted to mean keeping a set of rules in your own strength, but Nee teaches that this is entirely backward. In the world, progress comes from becoming stronger and stronger, but in the Kingdom of God, success in sanctification comes from becoming weaker and weaker. In fact, we can only be truly successful in living the normal Christian life when we reckon ourselves dead to sin. It doesn’t make sense to our rational mind, which is why it takes faith “to Know” and “to Reckon”. 

This is certainly an incomplete explanation, so I urge you to study Romans yourself and also to read “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchman Nee. Once you understand what is taught there,  you will be on your way to living a successful and “normal” Christian life.