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Biblical Counseling A Way of Life and a Ministry

July 17, 2015 | by: Scott Denny | 0 comments

We all do it.

Whenever a Christian friend of ours is struggling in life we find ourselves sitting in their living room or in a coffee shop offering them some biblical advice, counsel or wisdom. We pull out a very practical and applicable bible passage and help our friends see what God says about their circumstances and troubles.

graceforus-biblical-counseling-002We may even offer them hope by reminding them about biblical truths from the Psalms or the Gospels or other books in the Bible.

The reality for many of us, whether we realize it or not, is we regularly give biblical counsel to people we know and love.

That kind of counsel, counsel from God’s Word, where we seek to give hope and help to our friends is actually a biblical expectation for each believer.

The church, comprised of followers of Christ, is expected by God to be encouragers of one another (Hebrews 10:24-25), speakers of truth to one another (Ephesians 4:15) and exhorters of one another (Hebrews 3:12-13). The presumption through out the New Testament is that the church is speaking truth, gospel truth, to one another out of love for one another for the benefit of one another.

Hebrews 3:12-13 makes clear that calling is for each one of us.
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

The first command in this passage is to ‘Take care’. Literally the idea is to face and look upon what the writer is about to say. What is God’s concern? What is it He would have us understand? He wants us to know that the condition of the human heart is susceptible to drift away from the living God (v.12).

Why is this so?

The human heart due to the fall of Adam is polluted by the presence and power of sin (Romans 5:12). However, through the miracle of the new birth, the Christian is given a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and is set free from the power and reign of sin (Romans 6:7). But beloved we are not set free from the presence of sin, and therefore we struggle, and we are tempted by our own desires that war within our own hearts (Galatians 5:17; James 1:14, 15).

It is because of this battle that God exhorts his people with a second command in this passage, “Encourage one another” (v.13). But how are we to encourage one another? What is it we are to say? What are we to tell a single mom who is struggling to raise her children? What hope can we give to a dad who’s out of work? What do we tell a friend who’s a harsh man with his wife and children?

  • We point them to a Person, not a system.
  • We point them to Christ.
  • We point them to the One who is sympathetic and who understands our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15).
  • We point them to the One who was tempted in EVERY way that we are YET without sin (Hebrews 2:18).
  • We point them to the One who through his death gave us life and now calls us to walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4).
  • We point them to the One who is merciful and faithful (Hebrews 2:17) and who is able to comfort the brokenhearted (2 Corinthians 1:4).
  • We point them to the One who calls His people to reject ungodliness and put on righteousness (Ephesians 4:22-24).

In short, we encourage one another with the hope and promise and truth of the gospel. We need to speak truth into the lives of each other so that we are not deceived and lead astray by our own sinful hearts that condemn us, accuse us and justify sinfulness. We need each other because quite simply we are blind to our blindness.

I’m a much better dad and husband in my own eyes than I really am. I need help to see my selfishness, pride, envy, etc. If I have no one speaking into my life about the reality of what they see in how I live my life, then I walk in my own blindness and deceitfulness. Thankfully, I have a loving wife and faithful friends who are gracious to help me see what I don’t want to see or cant’ see. They are willing to say hard things because they love me.

Likewise, out of love for Christ and for each other, we must be willing to sit down with each other and lovingly help one another see. We must be willing to provide counsel from the Wonderful Counselor. We must be willing in humility to both receive and give encouragement as a way of life. Our very walks with Jesus depend upon it.

The reality remains, nevertheless, that there are times in people's lives when their own personal sufferings and struggles may go beyond the scope of the body’s godly encouragement and exhortation and may require direct, focused and regular counsel to help them overcome what has ensnared them (Hebrews 12:1). Sometimes, the nature of someone’s blindness is so deep that more than a meeting in your living room is necessary to help someone work through their sin.

It is for that reason that we have spent the past three years developing a biblical counseling ministry that is equipping and training men and women who seek to bring the hope and help of Jesus Christ to those who are hurting and suffering.

In short our biblical counseling ministry seeks to bring the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to bear on a person’s circumstances with the aim of bringing hope, repentance and change into the life of that person.

The ministry is built around four central tenets that are summarized below, but if you’d like a fuller statement of beliefs you can go to our website at graceforus.org/biblical-counseling.

We Believe

We believe that men and women are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28) with a complexity of body and soul (Genesis 2:7). As such biblical counseling must take into account that humanity experiences a full range of the relational, rational, volitional and the physical. Wise counseling must take into account the whole person if we are to seek to understand how to help that person.

We Believe

We believe that all of our behavior arises from hearts that are worshipping either God or something else. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of the heart and address the inner person (Proverbs 4:23; Proverbs 23:7; Mark 7:21-23). God fully understands and rightly weighs who we are, what we do, and why we do it. While we cannot completely understand another person’s heart, God’s word reveals and penetrates the heart’s core beliefs and intentions (Hebrews 4:12-13).

We Believe

We believe that the gospel is the power of God to not only save people from their sins but to also transform the believer through the power of the Holy Spirit to be conformed more and more into the image of Christ, teaching us to deny all ungodliness and live for the glory of God (Romans 1:16; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29; Titus 2:11-12; 1 Corinthians 10:31).

We therefore, point people to a person, Jesus, our Redeemer, and not to a program, theory, or experience. We place our trust in the transforming power of the Redeemer as the only hope to change people’s hearts.

We Believe

We believe that the Bible provides thorough guidance and instruction for faith and life (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3). Therefore, our counseling is based on scriptural principles rather than those of secular psychology or psychiatry.

scott-dennyOver the past couple of years, I have grown increasingly thankful for the men and women who serve in this ministry and have been used by God as instruments of change in the lives of people in this church.

They have spent countless hours being equipped for this ministry, and they have sacrificed precious time away from their own families in order to used by God in the lives of hurting people. Please pray for this ministry and for those who serve in it as they seek to bring the hope and comfort of the Redeemer into the lives of those who are suffering and struggling.

Whether it’s done formally or informally speaking gospel truth into one another’s lives is a biblical expectation that we simply cannot escape. May we seek to encourage one another out of love for another and in humility with each other.

If you’d like to equip yourself to be better prepared for one another ministry consider reading How People Change by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane or Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp. Both are great resources for personal ministry.

If you’d like more information about our biblical counseling ministry contact Scott Denny at scottdenny@graceforus.org.

Scott Denny is one of our pastors here at Grace Bible Church

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