In our contemporary society, there needs to be a clear distinction between Biblical
counseling and secular psychology counseling. a Powlison (2010, pp. 241-259) lists Six
Crucial Issues in Contemporary Biblical Counseling including 1. The “same old issues” still
face us, 2. The questions touching on human motivation must be explored and integrated
more firmly within both our theory and practice, 3. a The relationship between human
responsibility and human suffering needs a great deal of clarification, 4. We need to press
much further in understanding the biblical data about the counselor-counselee relationship,
5. Biblical counseling must be contextualized to new audiences and 6. The relationship of
biblical counseling to secular psychology needs to be publicly clarified. a These stated
issues are all vitally important, but the selected item is crucial issue number one, “the
foundational issue” to continue to be biblical. a a Issues two through six are newer and build
on this foundation.
“Counseling in the Christian church continues to be significantly compromised by the
secular assumptions and practices of our culture’s reigning psychologies and psychologies”
(p. 241). The purpose of nouthetic counseling is “to correct sinful behavior patterns by
personal confrontation and repentance” (Adams 1970, p. 49). a The basis of Biblical-
nouthetic counseling is to counteract the infiltration of secularism and bring counseling
back into the church. a The church provides soul care for sufferers and sinners. a Scripture is
sufficient and counseling is a theological task. a The concern about the encroachment of
secularism in the church is the possibility of diminishing the authority of the Word of God
and its power to transform hearts and lives. a a Hebrews 4:12 reads: “For the word of God is
quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart.” a The Scriptures are sufficient to be skillfully applied to any
presenting problem. a a Based on Scripture, we can counsel each other. Romans 15:14 reads:
“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness,
filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”
Secular psychologies tend to discredit the Bible for meeting the needs of the human
condition. a a The claim is that Biblical counseling is too authoritative, and behavior may
change due to will power and personal resolve, but our inner heart and life may still be
unchanged. a We may be the compliant counselee and adhere to the biblical teachings of
the counselor but still be in sin and this undermines the Gospel (Willard, 1997, pp. 41–42).
On the other hand, Powlison (2010) asserts that when an individual understands grace, “the
necessary behavioral changes will make sense from the inside” (p. 246).
The new birth does give a new heart that desires to obey the Word. a Ezekial 36:26-27 reads:
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. a And I will remove the
heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. a And I will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Further, a
I John 2:3 reads “And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his
commandments. “When we experience the new birth, we are granted saving faith and begin
to walk in “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). Our first act of obedience is repentance. a
Jesus said, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). When we are converted, we
are no longer under bondage to sin and our new allegiance is to Christ and we live in
obedience to Him. a Romans 6:17-18 reads “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants
of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that from of doctrine which was delivered you. a
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
When a preeminent view of Scriptures is taken and recognized as being foundational, this
stance sufficiently and holistically addresses the remaining issues addressed by Powlison
(2010, p. 241). a a These issues have a common thread concerning the heart condition and
why we do what we do. The relationship between responsibility and suffering is clarified
(pp. 246-249). a When the client’s inner life is responsible for behavior change, the fear of
blame-shifting to external circumstances resolves (p. 249). The risk of confrontation is
mitigated when the client’s identity as a child is declared righteous (Rom 3:22) and loved by
God (Rom 8:39-39), rather than criticizing behavior, risking defensiveness (pp. 249-252). The
issue of contextualization to new audiences is curtailed when human motivation is
addressed because it undermines the accusation that biblical counseling lacks “even the
rudiments of inner life and motivation” (pp. 253-254). The distinctive relationship between
biblical counseling and secular psychology is clarified when identity formation is prominent
because secular psychology has no real solution to individuation other than leaning on the
sinful self (pp. 255-258). Another milestone is the “same old” distinctions between biblical
counseling, such as a critique of secularism and a biblical alternative to counseling, are
reconciled when the issue of human motivation is appropriately settled (Powlison, 2010, pp.
241-243).
In reference to Powlisons Appendix 4 and the “Cure of Souls” (p. 269), I agree that it is
preferable for counselors with theological knowledge who will speak the truth in love to
help bring Biblical solutions for the problems people face, to counsel. a a Adams asserts that
counseling is primarily pastoral work performed in conjunction with the local church,
although laypersons may counsel fellow Christians (Powlison, pp. 130-131). Since Adams
presupposes that people do not inherently have the answers to their problems, counseling
must speak “frankly and authoritatively when communicating the promises and commands
of God” (Powlison, p. 138).
The Biblical counselor is to offer counselees God’s grace through a relationship with Jesus
Christ and lead them to repentance of sin so they may experience transformation and hope
and become more like Christ. When a counselor brings grace to sin, which provides the
psychological air necessary for the client to face sin, the client can recognize their inner
completeness in Christ (Col 3:3) through faith that renders sin impotent.
References
Adams, J. E. (1970). Competent to counsel (pp. 45–49). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Adams, J.E. (1986). A Theology of Christian Counseling: Introduction to Nouthetic
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Crabb, L.J. (1977). a Effective Biblical Counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Entwistle, D.N. (2010). Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An
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a a a a a a a a a a Integration. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
McMinn, M.R., & Phillips, T.R. (2001). a Care for the soul: exploring the intersection of
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a a a a a a a a a a New Growth.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2011). Hendrickson. (Original work published 1611)
Willard, D. (1997). The divine conspiracy: Rediscovering our hidden life in God. New York:
