I came across a great article from Dr. George Crabb, MD. He is also the counseling professor at West Coast Baptist College. I want to share his article with you in its entirety over the next two days with all the credit going to him. Please thoughtfully, prayerfully read through his article titled The Word and Work of the Holy Spirit in Biblical Counseling.
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The world is full of deep hurts and great needs. Unfortunately, so many people—including Christians—turn to insufficient sources to find relief and healing.
At the same time, godly Christians who love God’s Word and love others feel ill-equipped to help meet people’s needs. Some believe that only “experts” can provide adequate counseling or that medical prescriptions are what is needed. While I do not deny that there are times specific areas of expertise are needed (I myself am a medical doctor), my experience is that Christians with a heart to help too often fail to recognize the incredible wisdom of God’s Word applied in the power of the Spirit to meet the deepest needs of the human heart.
Ultimately, the goal of biblical counseling is spiritual, relational, and personal maturity, as evidenced by one’s desires, thoughts, motives, actions, and emotions increasingly reflecting Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:17–5:2). Such personal change must be centered on the person of Jesus Christ as directed by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. I am convinced that such ministry offers the only lasting hope and loving help to a fallen and broken world.
Of course, as a biblical counselor, I know that I myself have not arrived. We comfort and counsel others only as we continue to receive ongoing comfort and counsel from the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures (2 Corinthians 1:3–11). I admit that I struggle to apply consistently all that I believe. We who counsel live in process, just like those we counsel, so we want to learn and grow in the wisdom and mercies of Jesus Christ.
As biblical counselors, we believe that God’s Word is authoritative, sufficient, and relevant. As Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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.”
The inspired, inerrant, and preserved Scriptures, rightly interpreted and carefully applied by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, offer God’s comprehensive wisdom. We learn to understand who God is, who we are, the problems we face, how people change, and God’s provision for that change in the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (John 8:31–32; 10:10; 17:17).
No other source of power and knowledge thoroughly equips us to counsel in ways that transform the human heart (Psalm 19:7–14; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:3). Other systems of counseling aim for other goals—self-centered goals—and assume a different dynamic of change which is void of the involvement of the Holy Spirit and Scripture. The wisdom given by the Holy Spirit in His Word is distinct, robust, and life-changing. The Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, comprehensively addresses the sin and suffering of all people in all situations.
The Holy Spirit shows us that Scripture alone teaches a perspective and way of looking at life by which we can think biblically about and critically evaluate information and actions from any source (Colossians 2:2–10; 2 Timothy 3:16–17).
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)
To be continued…
https://ministry127.com/the-word-and-work-of-the-holy-spirit-in-biblical-counseling
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