I’m summarizing the eight distinctions below, but let me make a few observations. First, notice the depth of analysis. This is no shallow, narrow, superficial diagnosis, but a profound and incisive diagnosis of the human condition.

Second, I was impressed with the sympathy and compassion of the authors; their sensitivity to the complexity of the human condition and the multiple factors that contribute to (but don’t excuse) our sin-choices.

Third, I appreciated the refusal to resort to simplistic answers. As our problem is so deep and multi-faceted, the prescription must be equally profound and multi-layered. “A biblical grasp of sin requires greater counseling dexterity.”

Fourth, I loved the practical application. It wasn’t just a litany of our problems, but the authors continually went to the next step of saying, “Therefore, this is how and what we minister to people.”

Fifth, as the authors write in their conclusion, if sin is our primary problem, pastors should be encouraged that they are qualified and equipped to speak into every human problem. The authors are not advocating a “pastors-only” approach to helping people but as they put it, pastors “should lead the way in the field of people helping.”

Sixth, we have a great lab to test our counseling skills in – OURSELVES. As fellow-sinners, one of the best ways to learn counseling is to learn how to counsel ourselves and to understand and overcome sin with all God’s resources.

Seventh, I felt as if I was hearing the Puritans in modern language – and that’s a compliment! Reading this chapter reminded me of the best Puritan works on the nature of sin, and yet these truths were presented in brief and accessible form. And like the Puritans, the authors point us both to Christ as “the only one more powerful than the cause of human problems” and also to heaven where this great enemy of our lives will be no more.

Eight Vital Distinctions

1. The distinction between the sin we commit and the suffering we experience due to external sin.

We not only sin, we suffer the consequences of sin, and we do so in three ways:

• We are part of a fallen, cursed creation.
• We are sinned against by others
• We reap the consequences of our own sin.

2. The distinction between sin as our inborn condition and sin as our behavior

Not all sin results from deliberate choices for known evil over known good. We must recognize that sin is not just an act or a thought but an inner disposition or state.

3. The distinction between sin as unbelief and sin as rebellion

Here the authors recognize that while some  sin is committed our of stubborn and militant rebellion, others are the result of fear, or unbelief, or even some educational disadvantage.

4. The distinction between sin as desiring forbidden objects and sin as desiring good things too much.

This doesn’t require any explanation, but here’s a thought-provoking comment from this section: “In our experience, most counseling cases today involve good desires that have become overgrown…Our overgrown desires are modern synonyms for idolatry and our aim in counseling is to encourage right worship, and not just eliminate bad behavior” (p. 146).

5. The distinction between sin as internal (concealed) and sin as external (revealed).

“Putting off internal sins calls us to put on Christ-centered attitudes by repenting in private prayer. Putting off external sins calls us to put on Christ-centered actions by repenting in private prayer and then confessing to those we have sinned against.”

6. The distinction between sin as commission and sin as omission.

The authors argue that “we sometimes unwisely focus on commission sins and forget about omission sins, the ones that can often hurt even more deeply.” They also point out that unless sins of omission are dealt with, they almost always end up as big sins of commission.

7. The distinction between sin as rational and sin as irrational.

Recognizing the rational and irrational nature of sin can help us help others by warning us against trying to explain all behavior, and also reminds us that change requires more than just accurate information.

8. The distinction between sin as degenerative and sin as self-contained.

Although we often view sin as self-contained, point-in-time bad choices with no interconnection or momentum, sin is more like a cruel taskmaster that victimizes and controls, or like a disease that takes over our whole system.

Previous Posts in this Series

Introduction: Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling

1. John Piper on Biblical Counseling

2. Charity and Clarity in Counseling 

3. The Counselor’s Role in the Holy Spirit’s Counseling

4. Is the Trinity Relevant in Counseling

5. Counseling and the Grand Narrative of the Bible

6. Biblical Counseling and the Sufficiency of Scripture

7. The Spiritual Anatomy of the Soul

8. Is there a sin gene?

This is an outstanding chapter that could produce a paradigm shift in our counseling, or perhaps return us to where we started out but have drifted from through self-reliance or method-reliance. The most memorable quote of the chapter is:

Rather than asking about the role of the Holy Spirit in counseling, we should be asking about the counselor’s role in the Holy Spirit’s counseling!

Did that give you whiplash?

There are also two excellent sections on (1) praying throughout the counseling session and (2) how the counselor’s skill and method works together with dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

The basic point of the chapter is that while we want to offer quick practical help to suffering people, and we also want to go on to help change some of the messes in people’s lives; if we want to see people themselves changed, we need more than Scripture and skill. We need the Holy Spirit.

I think the best thing I can do to give you a flavor of the chapter is to list some of the quotables.

Quotables

“Counseling that lacks this dependence on the Holy Spirit ceases to be Christian.”

“If the Holy Spirit is the primary counselor, then biblical counseling is not merely a dialogue between a counselor and a counselee. Rather it is a trialogue in which a counselor participates in the Spirit’s work already underway in the counselee.”

“The Spirit is actively engaged in counseling, working directly on the counselor and the counselee, and through each to help the other.”

“The goal of biblical counseling is to promote communication between the Spirit and the counselee.”

“It is the Spirit alone who opens the eyes of our hearts to the revelation of God, and it is He who accomplishes something in us by this revelation.”

“To be counseled biblically is to receive God’s Word more and more deeply as the Spirit drives it deeper into the heart.”

“The Spirit illuminates the Word for believers so that they might understand it spiritually, leading to a knowledge of God and to Christ dwelling in their hearts by faith.”

“The Spirit works to drive the seed that is God’s Word deep into the heart where it will take root and produce life.”

“The Spirit gives us impetus to pray as well as the words and spirit of prayer.”

Previous Posts in this Series

Introduction to Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling
John Piper on Biblical Counseling
Charity and Clarity in Counseling

The core of this chapter is a beautiful exposition of Isaiah 61:1-2 in which Christ is presented as an incredible person, with a definite pattern to His ministry, and a purpose for coming. Thus, if we are to be Christ-centered in our counseling, we must demonstrate and incarnate His person, purpose, and pattern.

The authors use Christ’s counseling of the Samaritan woman in John 4 as a pattern for our own.

• Intentional: Christ’s conversations have a purpose. Every question probes for an answer.
• Interactive: Jesus asks questions, engages, listens, and offers wise counsel.
• Illustrative: Jesus uses everyday objects, such as water, to open the floodgates of Old Testament imagery.
• Insightful: Jesus helps the woman see her heart needs are more important than her bodily needs.

Jesus’ unmistakeable goal was not primarily to advise her how to improve her living arrangements but to restore her to what she was truly designed for – to be a true worshiper of God.

Charity and Clarity

The “Three P’s” are memorable foundational principles and the “Four I’s” are unforgettable foundational practices for every counseling situation. This chapter brought me to love my powerful Redeemer more, and to pray for help to communicate more of His redeeming love in my counseling.

But I was left with an unanswered question at the end of the chapter: “Is Biblical Counseling an alternative to cognitive behavior therapy and medication, or can these all work together?”

The chapter opened by describing the failure of cognitive behavior therapy and medication in Kelli’s life, and goes on to narrate the contrasting success of biblical counseling in her situation.

Implied conclusion? We should use biblical counseling and not cognitive behavior therapy or medication.

That seems to be confirmed by the way that the authors ask at the end of the chapter: “What had been missing in her sessions of cognitive behavior therapy? Why was she left unsatisfied and empty?”

Or is that question suggesting that cognitive behavior therapy and medication are OK as long as Christ-centered Biblical Counseling is used as well, or primarily? It’s not clear.

Then Kelli is quoted as saying: “While the techniques practiced in therapy had great potential to be helpful, they lacked the substance that was able to make the program effective. Only Jesus through the power of His Word was able to break down my walls…”

There Kelli could be read as saying that her previous program was good but lacking, and only when Biblical Counseling was added to the mix did she experience healing.

This kind of vague ambiguity is common, unhelpful, and potentially damaging. If CBT and medication are always wrong in these situation, then let this be clearly stated. But, if they may be viewed as part of a holistic package of care, with Biblical Counseling as the organizing priority (which is my own view), then let’s say that clearly too.

I don’t know what’s so difficult about that.

Quotables

The gospel is not just a message to believe; it is a person to follow.

We are sent on a mission to “make disciples,’ not just to proclaim a message.

Biblical counseling is broken people helping other broken people find healing through the power of the gospel and in the power of the Spirit as they apply the living principles of Scripture to life.

God not only wants to bring us to Himself, He desires to make us into the image of His Son.

Previous Posts in this Series

Introduction to Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling
John Piper on Biblical Counseling 

Piper’s Thesis: Only by uniting teaching with feeling, doctrine with delight, will the church attract people to her for counseling.

Piper’s Concern: The church, especially the Reformed church, has a reputation for teaching truth in a cold, boring, and detached way. This inevitably deters people from coming for the sympathetic and loving guidance that only the Bible can provide.

Piper’s Challenge: Preachers and counselors ought to be “joyful leaders who commune with the truths they contend for.” Know God truly and feel Him duly to give Him all His glory.

Piper’s Definition: Biblical counseling is God-centered, Bible-saturated, emotionally-in-touch use of language to help people become God-besotted, Christ-exalting, joyfully self-forgetting lovers of people.

Comment

I love Piper’s fundamental point, that preachers and counselors must work harder to combine knowledge with feeling in all their communications. I don’t doubt that many needy people turn away from the church and to the world because they want more than cold hard data, they want more than a logical and systematic presentation of the facts.

They want to talk to someone who has been transformed by what they believe, who is excited about what they say, who exudes hope and optimism, who enjoys what they do, who loves and loves being loved. But they also want someone with something to say. Delight plus doctrine. Truth plus feeling. Reflection plus affection.

Complex
This was a bit of a “heavy” chapter with which to start the book. I needed to read it three or four times before I really got what Piper was driving at. His fundamental point is quite simple (and profoundly helpful), but the style and presentation is quite complex. For example, consider Piper’s definition of love:

Love is doing whatever you have to do at whatever cost to yourself in order to help another person stop finding pleasure in being made much of and help them get to the mature, God-exalting, Christ-besotted, joyfully self-sacrificing, self-forgetting delight in making much of God for the sake of others.

Wow! I’m not sure if I’ve ever loved.

Contrast?
I’m also not sure about the contrast that Piper draws here. He insists that there are “two profoundly different root sources of satisfaction. One is being made much of; the other is seeing and savoring God and making much of God.” And he asks: “Do you feel more loved when God makes much of you or do you feel more loved when God, at the cost of His Son, enables you to enjoy making much of Him forever?”

I don’t see these as opposites. I see them as two truths that must be held together. Can we not see both as true? Piper denies this. He says, “God is not into making much of us.”

I disagree.

Though there is nothing in the believer to make much of, God does make much of us, even when we do not make much, if anything, of Him.

If I can’t feel loved until “God, at the cost of His Son, enables me to enjoy making much of Him” then there are many times in my life when I will not and cannot feel God’s love.

The wonder of the Gospel is that God makes much of us even when we do not make much of Him. In fact, maybe I feel most loved when God makes much of me despite me not making much of Him.

He loved me, and gave himself for me.

On Fridays for the next several weeks, I hope to interact with the Biblical Counseling Coalition’s new book, Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling. Not sure how it will all pan out, but my plan is to take a chapter each week, summarize the main teaching points, highlight good quotes, develop some of the ideas, and offer some constructive critique here and there. Apart from a couple of weaker chapters, there won’t be too much of the latter as this is a superb book that would benefit not just pastors and counselors but anyone who wants to learn how to help others with God’s Word. Why not read along with me and add your own comments as we go? Today we’ll start with the short introductory chapter. Next Friday I’ll take a look at Chapter 1: The Glory of God – The Goal of Biblical Counseling.

Introduction: In Christ Alone by Bob Kellemen and Steve Viars

Aim of book

To promote authentic spiritual growth among God’s people in ways that are:

(1) Grace-based and gospel-centered: Not a system or a program.

(2) Relationally and theologically robust: Relationship with God through His Word.

(3) Grounded in the local church: Caring like Christ in the body of Christ

(4) Relevant to everyday life and ministry: Speaking the truth in love to meet spiritual, emotional, and physical needs.

Structure of the Book

Chapters 1-14: A practical theology of biblical counseling

Chapters 15-28: A practical methodology of biblical counseling

Authors of the Book

The coalition of 40 authors produces variety, synergy, humility, and better resources.

Biblical Foundations of the Book

Ephesians 4:1-3; 4:15-16; 2 Peter 3:18

Comment

The Introduction sets up the book well by explaining its rationale and aim. As with everything Bob writes, the chapter is clear, concise, and well-structured. If I was just beginning in biblical counseling or even just wanting to speak more helpfully into people’s lives, I’d be encouraged that this is a book for me. And yet, the more experienced pastor or counselor will also be drawn in by the promise of more substantial discussions in some chapters. Those familiar with some of the critiques of biblical counseling will also recognize the promise to address some of these issues and offer more comprehensive care for sinners and sufferers. As a bonus, there are some great “soundbites.”

Quotables

“We are less interested in the number of disciples and more interested in the quality of discipleship.”

“We want to grow together in learning how to promote personal change centered on the person of Christ through the personal ministry of the Word.”

“Biblical Counseling does not offer a system or a program, but rather is shares a person - the Person – Jesus Christ.”

“Counseling is not ultimately about the counselee or the counselor, but about the Divine Counselor.”

“Our team rejects the notion that the Bible is simply an encyclopedia of disconnected Bible verses. God’s Word is less like a cookbook and more like a novel.”

“God calls and equips the church to be not simply a place with biblical counseling, but a place of biblical counseling.”