LIBERTY UNIVERSITY JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
The Biblical Basis for Christian Counseling
A Paper Submitted to
the Faculty of the School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (Ed. D) Department of Christian Leadership and
Church Ministries
By
Mary Gracias
Lynchburg, Virginia
10/2022
Christians have been counseling one another from Scripture since the early church of the
1st Century CE. The modern technical term for using the Bible as the basis for Christian
counseling is “nouthetic counseling.” The Institute for Nouthetic Studies explains: “Nouthetic
counseling consists of lovingly confronting people out of deep concern in order to help them
make those changes that God requires.” Bible-based or nouthetic counselors operate from a set
of common presuppositions regarding the authority of God’s Word and the desired outcome of
the counseling.
Biblical Authority
Bible-based counseling rests on the bedrock foundation of the authority of the Bible as the
inspired and infallible Word of God, sufficient to meet every need. 2 Timothy 3:16 relates: “All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training
in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Therefore, the nouthetic counselor relies not on his own ideas but “gives counsel from the
Scriptures that directs believers to not only see things that need changing in their lives
(admonish) but also how they are to change (teach),” according to Compassionate Counselors,
Inc., a Biblical counseling service in Phoenix, Ariz.
Individual Sanctification
1 Thessalonians 4 explains: “This is the will of God, your sanctification…God has not called
us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” Sanctification means transformation of
the heart to match up more fully with Jesus’ character and thereby bring Him glory through the
visible change in the counselee’s life. Nouthetic counselors guide a person to stop relying on
her own strength to change and to accept God’s help and healing through His Word. Bible-
based counseling does not sugarcoat a person’s issues but uses Bible terminology to describe
the problems so that it is clear how sin has led the counselee to the difficulties she is facing.
However, the counselor doesn’t leave it there, but gently directs the counselee to address her
problems head-on with applicable Scriptures. The First Baptist Church of Mont Belvieu, Texas,
puts it like this: “Nouthetic counseling seeks to replace the lies we believe with the truth of
God’s Word, which is able to transform our hearts — something God alone can do.”
Compassion
In secular counseling, counselors are taught to keep a certain professional and emotional
distance between themselves and the counselee. But in accordance with Jesus’ command to
love one another in John 13:34, nouthetic counseling philosophy strongly encourages
counselors to develop a strong bond of friendship with their clients as true brothers and sisters
in faith. The Bible-based Christian counselor views himself as a fellow traveler through the
difficulties of life with the God-given responsibility to help others weather the difficulties that
stand in the way of their spiritual growth. Compassionate Counselors notes, however, that it
must be a tough love, not afraid to call for change where a person is clearly out of sync with
God’s Word.
Counseling Community
Nouthetic counselors recognize that not all counseling takes place in a formal setting and
seeks to equip all believers to counsel biblically as situations present themselves in daily life.
Just as Paul told the Roman church in Romans 15:14: “I myself also am convinced that you
yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one
another,” so do Bible-based counselors seek to share the work with the larger body of Christ,
encouraging them to become involved in one another’s lives with the care and compassion of a
family member. As a parent would guide and instruct a child in what is good and right, so
believers are to guide and teach one another, pointing always to God’s Word for answers and
Jesus Christ as the hope for meaningful change.
