The Courageous Counselor:
How and Why to Use Scripture to Address Root Needs in Counseling
“I am just a biblical counselor.” I have heard this statement made over and over again. For some reason we as biblical counselors may at times feel inferior to our secular counterparts. We need not feel this way. We need to be courageous in our counseling for we approach situations from a spiritual standpoint through the power of the authoritative Word of God.
The secular psychology movement has no firm foundation. It is truly based on the shifting sands of man’s polluted philosophy. They discount the spiritual. They look at mankind in the physical or biological realm as a collection of bio-chemical and neuro-electrical reactions. Thus, they promote a faulty view of man with three main unscriptural presuppositions:
#1 Man is only an advanced animal.
#2 Man is basically good, or at worst a blank slate.
#3 Man is autonomous: able to solve his problems.
We are to refuse this humanistic philosophy, which can actually be harmful, because it is “after the tradition of men” and “after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Secular psychology looks at the physical and emotional sides of life. We, as biblical counselors, look at the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life making us more complete or holistic in our counseling approach. We are more comprehensive in our assessments and recommendations because we look at the entire individual, prioritizing the spiritual, and we rely on the Word of God as our source of wisdom.
We may assess and advise with authority because we depend on the principles and precepts of the Word of God. We don’t speak with hesitation as the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did but we speak authoritatively, with grace, mercy, and love, all based on the Scriptures (Mark 1:22).
The ultimate goal of biblical counseling is spiritual, relational, and personal maturity evidenced in desires, thoughts, motives, behaviors, and emotions that increasingly reflect Christlikeness (Ephesians 4:17 – 5:2). This personal change must be centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Biblical counseling centered on our Lord Jesus Christ and anchored in Scripture offers the only lasting hope and loving help to a fallen and broken world.
Biblical counseling gets to the heart of personal and interpersonal problems by bringing to bear the truth, mercy, and power of God’s grace (John 1:14). There is no true restoration of the soul and there are no truly God-honoring relationships without understanding the 2 desperate condition we are in without the Lord Jesus Christ and apart from experiencing the joy of deliverance from that condition through God’s grace and mercy.
Our desire is to point the counselee to a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and not a program or philosophy. Our trust is in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit of God as the only hope to fundamentally change a person’s heart. We encourage a personal, powerful, and passionate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, not a system of self-salvation, self-management, or self-actualization (John 14:6). We seek to lead struggling, hurting, sinning, and confused people to the hope, resources, strength, and life that are available only in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.
Why can we act and advise so definitively? Because the Word of God is authoritative, sufficient, and relevant (Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 4:4; Hebrews 4:12-13). The Scriptures, carefully applied, offer God’s comprehensive wisdom. Through the Scriptures we learn Who God is, who we are, the problems we face, how people change, and God’s provision for that change. There is no other source of knowledge and wisdom that equips us to counsel in ways that transforms the human heart (Psalm 19:7-14; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3). The wisdom given to use in the Bible is helpful and healthy. The Bible addresses the sin and suffering of all people in all situations.
Biblical counseling is a perceptive application of God’s truth and wisdom, as found in the Scriptures, to our complex lives (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:6; Philippians 1:9-11). Biblical counseling requires the counselor to understand Scripture, people, and situations (2 Timothy 2:15). As biblical counselors we must consistently walk in the Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to make us more Christlike as well as grow in our knowledge of the Word of God and in the skill to practically apply the Bible to distinct daily situations. Scripture alone teaches a perspective and way of looking at life by which we can think biblically about all circumstances we face.
Commitment to the sufficiency of God’s Word results in counseling that demonstrates the relevancy of the Bible. Biblical counseling offers a practical approach to daily life that is uniquely effective in the real world where people live and relate (1 John 3-11-24). The Bible calls us to use wise methods that minister in Christ-centered ways to the unique life situations of specific people (Proverbs 15:23; 25:11). We are to counsel what is helpful for building others up according to the need of the moment, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29). We want to affirm what is biblical and wise. We need biblical counselors that are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16).
We need biblical counselors whose sessions are Scripture-saturated and gospel guided (2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:15-16). For our counseling to be worthy of the name of Christ, we must be conscientiously and comprehensively committed to the sufficiency of Scripture for understanding and resolving all of the non-physical personal and relational sin-related difficulties of man.
