I am just a biblical counselor.” I have heard this statement made time and again. For some reason, biblical counselors at times feel inferior to their secular counterparts.
We need not feel this way. Rather, we have every reason to be courageous in our counseling, for we approach situations with the incredible resource of the powerful, sufficient, authoritative Word of God.
Why Scripture Is Sufficient
The secular psychology movement has no firm foundation, for it is based on the shifting sands of man’s philosophy. Secular counselors discount the spiritual. They look at mankind in only 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 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 own problems.
All three of these presuppositions directly counter the truths of God’s Word, and we must refuse any philosophies that spring from these polluted streams. These philosophies are actually harmful because they are “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. But biblical counseling looks at the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life, making it more complete in its approach. Truly biblical counseling is more comprehensive in its assessments and recommendations because it has a more accurate worldview, prioritizing one’s relationship with God and the formation of Christlikeness while relying on the Word of God as its source of wisdom.
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 Christ and His Word. Biblical counseling centered on the Lord 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 desperate condition we are in without 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—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, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)—not a system of self-salvation, self-management, or self-actualization. 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, how to interpret the problems we face, how people change, and what is God’s provision for that change. There is no other source of knowledge and wisdom that equips us to counsel in ways that transform the human heart
(Psalm 19:7–14; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:3). The wisdom given to us in the Bible is helpful and healthy. The Bible addresses the sin and suffering of all people in all situations.
How We Use Scripture
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).
Helpful and transformative biblical counseling requires that the counselor 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 relevance of the Bible to everyday life and the current needs of one’s soul. 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 who are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ or the Word of God and 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 difficulties of man.
