Soul or personality problems have long been a topic of discussion as we read in the New Testament-particularly in First Corinthians where the behavior of believers went far afield from that preached by Paul, so corrective measures had to be taken. From then until now, there has been an ebb and flow, both of the behavior stemming from such aberrations and the solution which was prescribed.
We know that Islam goes so far as to sever hands of those caught in thievery or other severe punishment of untoward behavior. In Christianity there have been extremes as well. In the Middle Ages, spiritual direction was advocated and practiced by some mature believers who came to be known as mystics.
At the turn of the twentieth century, psychology and psychiatry had their beginnings. About the same time, the German theologians began their Higher Criticism. As Freud gained popularity with his psychoanalysis, there were offshoots of various kinds. As it gained in strength, there was a corresponding liberalizing of theology which sapped it of its power. Conservative Christians steered clear of it, and the Fundamentalist movement began which had nothing to do with psychology and very little with counseling in general. Slowly, but surely, seminaries began to imbibe at this fountain to the point that most seminaries now have a licensing track to prepare their graduates to collect third party payment from insurance companies and compete in the market place with secular therapists.
As Christians resisted the encroachments of psychology, there began an anomaly called Christian psychology which seemed to be a good compromise. Some made an amalgamation of psychology and the Bible in an effort to integrate the two; however, psychology began to get the upper hand, with the Church gradually ceding its God-given mandate for soul care to the disciplines of psychology and psychiatry so that the trend today is to go outside the church for a resolution to mental/emotional/behavioral problems and for pastors to deny a counseling role.
In this paper, I will be addressing the field of biblical counseling as contrasted with that which borrows heavily from the methods and goals of secular counseling. Though it is called Christian counseling, it is usually some watered-down psychological counseling with scriptures added-- more or less.
There is much that passes for Christian counseling that is not evaluated for its theological presuppositions. One of the early approaches is nouthetic counseling which was developed by Dr. Jay Adams. Since that time, there are a number of deviations from the general Reformed Theology constituency. However, Jay Adams' is probably the best known and most utilized of them all.
There are a number of pastors and schools which utilize his approach who are unaware of its presuppositions based in Reformed Theology. As a result, they espouse one theology from the pulpit and another in the counseling room, while being unaware of the inherent contradiction. About the same time that Dr. Adams was writing his first book, Competent to Counsel, God called me to develop and pioneer a Christ-centered approach to counseling where the theology could be described to follow Keswick teaching or, as Hudson Taylor termed it, exchanged life teaching. It has also been dubbed, crisis sanctification, as contrasted with the progressive sanctification of Calvinism. Handbook to Happiness (1971) was my first book which laid the foundation for this approach and is a polar opposite of Dr. Adams' work, from a theological perspective.
Since scriptural sanctification teaching is the missing ingredient in most churches due to the lack of emphasis on discipleship, I think it is incumbent upon us to bring such teaching to the fore. To do so, it is necessary to search out the role of the cross in the definition of sanctification which should be synonymous with true discipleship. Luke 14:27 tells us that taking up the cross is the key to true discipleship. Without the cross' being an experiential reality in the believer's life, discipleship or disciplines would serve to strengthen the flesh.
Since progressive sanctification does not allow for the application of the cross to the life due to a usual teaching of a dichotomous stand on biblical anthropology, a successful culmination would result in the flesh's being strengthened for its inevitable conflict (Gal. 5:17) with the Spirit. By contrast, an approach to discipleship/counseling where the flesh comes under the work of the Cross, would weaken the reign of the flesh as the believer is filled with the Spirit.
A fair comparison of the efficacy of the clinical teaching of sanctification would be to analyze the utilization of each in a crisis situation. Let's assume, for example, that a believer telephones for help who has a gun to his temple and is crying out for spiritual help. Let's further assume that only an hour or so is available to resolve the situation to see the Spirit transform the life and prevent the suicide.
How would progressive sanctification be applied to defuse the suicidal ideation and lead the believer into a life transformation within the allotted time? The same would be required of a Keswick or exchanged life model of counseling. It would seem obvious that the Holy Spirit must necessarily honor this ministration; otherwise, a suicide or, possibly, a homicide followed by a suicide could be the result!
We have seen a number of such situations, where suicide was definitely planned, that were resolved as the cross was applied to the life in the power of the Holy Spirit. One was the exact situation where the believer had a gun to his head and called 2 or 3 churches but could find no help. One of the churches gave him our phone number, and he found victory; and, subsequently, his marriage was restored from an abusive relationship. The defusing of the situation and his finding of victory was done by the Holy Spirit in about an hour.
Howe would this have been handled when coming from a progressive sanctification stance with no therapy? Or, how would such a view of sanctification handle a pedophile or someone who is clinically depressed? It is not unusual to see a believer who is clinically depressed freed literally overnight, although it is the exception that proves the rule. I witnessed the Holy Spirit's setting a pedophile free in 3 weeks, as he was born again and understood his death and resurrection with Christ at the same time. We have seen many desperate people find victory in Christ in the first interview, where most of the work is done in a short span of time, though this is not the experience of the majority of those exposed to cross teaching.
If progressive sanctification is biblical and honored by the Holy Spirit, there should be miraculous results; and it does not take the Spirit long to do a miracle! Of course, it may take Him years to get us ready for one!
Biblical counseling is not always Christ-centered, but Christ-centered counseling will always be biblical!
Someone has said, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating!" I think we can also say that the proof that sanctification or discipleship/counseling is Spirit-anointed and directed is the results in transformed lives. Theoretical theology is good for arguments; but if it is not attended with life transformation, of what practical good is it? And what is the proof that the Holy Spirit is doing it, rather than an assiduous application of human strength, both that of the counselor and counselee?
A seminary professor once told me that his school had the proper theology whereas my theology resulted in more life changes. I replied, "If I have to choose between something works and something that doesn't, I will choose that which transforms lives in the power of the Holy Spirit".
In an experimental approach, a new development must be capable of being replicated with no dependence upon anecdotal data. We have seen the Holy Spirit honor the model He gave, which utilizes scriptural truth, in other languages and cultures around the world to transform lives for almost 4 decades. Some of these have been followed for more than 30 years, and a good number have been called into such ministry. A number of books have been written which are variations of the core teaching that God has honored with transformed lives.
One young man in Ukraine who spoke Ukrainian and Russian had taught himself English. Sharing the truth with him via internet not only transformed his life but also those whom his life and ministry impacted. Subsequently, he translated 5 of my books into Russian, among others, and published a Russian/Greek Interlinear New Testament with Strong's numbers, revising the New Testament as he went. I met him for the first time when we released my first book in Russian in Bucharest, Romania. Incidentally, he is now 30 years old with no formal education beyond high school!
Last year marked 40 years since God called me to found such a counseling approach based on Romans 6 and Galatians 2:20-a new approach which is 2000 years old! Incidentally, God was honoring it for more than 15 centuries before Reformed Theology was even formulated and more than that before I arrived on the scene! Someone has accurately stated, "If it is true, it is not new; if it is new, it is not true!"
Much time and breath is spent on comparisons regarding soteriology. Who can be saved? How do they get saved? What do they do after they are saved? Will they stay saved? And other such questions about justification. Reformed Theology takes much stock in the 5 points of Calvinism, but I note that not nearly as much paper is consumed writing about progressive sanctification and putting forth lives transformed in a short period of time as an exhibit of its efficacy.
So, laying aside the first principles of justification, regeneration, etc. which the Reformers majored in, where do we find great strides in the transformation of the lives of believers? It seems to me that the emphasis on sanctification by faith leaves much to be desired in the teaching of Calvin, Zwingli, Luther and others of their ilk. While justification by faith was heralded and necessary because of the contradictory teaching of the Roman Catholic Church in their time, Calvin's Institutes tend to make more hay in his 5 points, all of which have to do with justification.
Agreeably, the foundation of justification has to be firmly laid; but once it is, shouldn't we be about building the superstructure of sanctification? Believers from all denominations and no denomination are saying, "I'm saved already; now what?" But adherents of Reformed Theology join the ranks of those in typical evangelical/fundamental churches in withholding practical theology to meet struggling believers at their point of need.
A church built on a solid foundation of justification, but continuing to build layer after layer of justification, does precious little to mature believers. Absent the teaching of sanctification which is cross-centered, the admonition of Galatians 3:3 goes unheeded; and solid biblical teaching serves to entrench the believer and the church in fleshly pursuits. The current seeker sensitive movement has proven the validity of this in amassing great numbers of people in their meetings with very few disciples among them. Now, they are going back to the drawing boards to discern what they have missed in the process-lost, but making good time!
Now, we are facing the prospect of one crisis after another, with a Church woefully unprepared to deal with them in the Spirit. The wholesale referral of soul problems outside the church to the behavioral sciences, a pattern over the last several decades, must give way to providing spiritual answers for non-organic symptomatology. One of the key ingredients is in the training of ministers; their spiritual growth must keep pace with their theological understanding, which is greatly underemphasized in most Christian institutions of higher learning.
Due to the present emphasis on Christian psychology, it is virtually impossible to engage the leadership of seminaries in a dialogue on Christ-centered, cross-centered discipleship/counseling, as I have found in my attempts over the years. Western Europe, the UK and North America are all but closed to the consideration of such teaching, while the developing nations are much more open to solid teaching on the cross for the believer. Brokenness is not in the vocabulary of today's average Christian, and losing their lives is the last thing they want to think about! And yet, the theme of the New Testament is that we must lose our lives in order to save them. (Matt. 16:24, 25)
We know that Islam goes so far as to sever hands of those caught in thievery or other severe punishment of untoward behavior. In Christianity there have been extremes as well. In the Middle Ages, spiritual direction was advocated and practiced by some mature believers who came to be known as mystics.
At the turn of the twentieth century, psychology and psychiatry had their beginnings. About the same time, the German theologians began their Higher Criticism. As Freud gained popularity with his psychoanalysis, there were offshoots of various kinds. As it gained in strength, there was a corresponding liberalizing of theology which sapped it of its power. Conservative Christians steered clear of it, and the Fundamentalist movement began which had nothing to do with psychology and very little with counseling in general. Slowly, but surely, seminaries began to imbibe at this fountain to the point that most seminaries now have a licensing track to prepare their graduates to collect third party payment from insurance companies and compete in the market place with secular therapists.
As Christians resisted the encroachments of psychology, there began an anomaly called Christian psychology which seemed to be a good compromise. Some made an amalgamation of psychology and the Bible in an effort to integrate the two; however, psychology began to get the upper hand, with the Church gradually ceding its God-given mandate for soul care to the disciplines of psychology and psychiatry so that the trend today is to go outside the church for a resolution to mental/emotional/behavioral problems and for pastors to deny a counseling role.
In this paper, I will be addressing the field of biblical counseling as contrasted with that which borrows heavily from the methods and goals of secular counseling. Though it is called Christian counseling, it is usually some watered-down psychological counseling with scriptures added-- more or less.
There is much that passes for Christian counseling that is not evaluated for its theological presuppositions. One of the early approaches is nouthetic counseling which was developed by Dr. Jay Adams. Since that time, there are a number of deviations from the general Reformed Theology constituency. However, Jay Adams' is probably the best known and most utilized of them all.
There are a number of pastors and schools which utilize his approach who are unaware of its presuppositions based in Reformed Theology. As a result, they espouse one theology from the pulpit and another in the counseling room, while being unaware of the inherent contradiction. About the same time that Dr. Adams was writing his first book, Competent to Counsel, God called me to develop and pioneer a Christ-centered approach to counseling where the theology could be described to follow Keswick teaching or, as Hudson Taylor termed it, exchanged life teaching. It has also been dubbed, crisis sanctification, as contrasted with the progressive sanctification of Calvinism. Handbook to Happiness (1971) was my first book which laid the foundation for this approach and is a polar opposite of Dr. Adams' work, from a theological perspective.
Since scriptural sanctification teaching is the missing ingredient in most churches due to the lack of emphasis on discipleship, I think it is incumbent upon us to bring such teaching to the fore. To do so, it is necessary to search out the role of the cross in the definition of sanctification which should be synonymous with true discipleship. Luke 14:27 tells us that taking up the cross is the key to true discipleship. Without the cross' being an experiential reality in the believer's life, discipleship or disciplines would serve to strengthen the flesh.
Since progressive sanctification does not allow for the application of the cross to the life due to a usual teaching of a dichotomous stand on biblical anthropology, a successful culmination would result in the flesh's being strengthened for its inevitable conflict (Gal. 5:17) with the Spirit. By contrast, an approach to discipleship/counseling where the flesh comes under the work of the Cross, would weaken the reign of the flesh as the believer is filled with the Spirit.
A fair comparison of the efficacy of the clinical teaching of sanctification would be to analyze the utilization of each in a crisis situation. Let's assume, for example, that a believer telephones for help who has a gun to his temple and is crying out for spiritual help. Let's further assume that only an hour or so is available to resolve the situation to see the Spirit transform the life and prevent the suicide.
How would progressive sanctification be applied to defuse the suicidal ideation and lead the believer into a life transformation within the allotted time? The same would be required of a Keswick or exchanged life model of counseling. It would seem obvious that the Holy Spirit must necessarily honor this ministration; otherwise, a suicide or, possibly, a homicide followed by a suicide could be the result!
We have seen a number of such situations, where suicide was definitely planned, that were resolved as the cross was applied to the life in the power of the Holy Spirit. One was the exact situation where the believer had a gun to his head and called 2 or 3 churches but could find no help. One of the churches gave him our phone number, and he found victory; and, subsequently, his marriage was restored from an abusive relationship. The defusing of the situation and his finding of victory was done by the Holy Spirit in about an hour.
Howe would this have been handled when coming from a progressive sanctification stance with no therapy? Or, how would such a view of sanctification handle a pedophile or someone who is clinically depressed? It is not unusual to see a believer who is clinically depressed freed literally overnight, although it is the exception that proves the rule. I witnessed the Holy Spirit's setting a pedophile free in 3 weeks, as he was born again and understood his death and resurrection with Christ at the same time. We have seen many desperate people find victory in Christ in the first interview, where most of the work is done in a short span of time, though this is not the experience of the majority of those exposed to cross teaching.
If progressive sanctification is biblical and honored by the Holy Spirit, there should be miraculous results; and it does not take the Spirit long to do a miracle! Of course, it may take Him years to get us ready for one!
Biblical counseling is not always Christ-centered, but Christ-centered counseling will always be biblical!
Someone has said, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating!" I think we can also say that the proof that sanctification or discipleship/counseling is Spirit-anointed and directed is the results in transformed lives. Theoretical theology is good for arguments; but if it is not attended with life transformation, of what practical good is it? And what is the proof that the Holy Spirit is doing it, rather than an assiduous application of human strength, both that of the counselor and counselee?
A seminary professor once told me that his school had the proper theology whereas my theology resulted in more life changes. I replied, "If I have to choose between something works and something that doesn't, I will choose that which transforms lives in the power of the Holy Spirit".
In an experimental approach, a new development must be capable of being replicated with no dependence upon anecdotal data. We have seen the Holy Spirit honor the model He gave, which utilizes scriptural truth, in other languages and cultures around the world to transform lives for almost 4 decades. Some of these have been followed for more than 30 years, and a good number have been called into such ministry. A number of books have been written which are variations of the core teaching that God has honored with transformed lives.
One young man in Ukraine who spoke Ukrainian and Russian had taught himself English. Sharing the truth with him via internet not only transformed his life but also those whom his life and ministry impacted. Subsequently, he translated 5 of my books into Russian, among others, and published a Russian/Greek Interlinear New Testament with Strong's numbers, revising the New Testament as he went. I met him for the first time when we released my first book in Russian in Bucharest, Romania. Incidentally, he is now 30 years old with no formal education beyond high school!
Last year marked 40 years since God called me to found such a counseling approach based on Romans 6 and Galatians 2:20-a new approach which is 2000 years old! Incidentally, God was honoring it for more than 15 centuries before Reformed Theology was even formulated and more than that before I arrived on the scene! Someone has accurately stated, "If it is true, it is not new; if it is new, it is not true!"
Much time and breath is spent on comparisons regarding soteriology. Who can be saved? How do they get saved? What do they do after they are saved? Will they stay saved? And other such questions about justification. Reformed Theology takes much stock in the 5 points of Calvinism, but I note that not nearly as much paper is consumed writing about progressive sanctification and putting forth lives transformed in a short period of time as an exhibit of its efficacy.
So, laying aside the first principles of justification, regeneration, etc. which the Reformers majored in, where do we find great strides in the transformation of the lives of believers? It seems to me that the emphasis on sanctification by faith leaves much to be desired in the teaching of Calvin, Zwingli, Luther and others of their ilk. While justification by faith was heralded and necessary because of the contradictory teaching of the Roman Catholic Church in their time, Calvin's Institutes tend to make more hay in his 5 points, all of which have to do with justification.
Agreeably, the foundation of justification has to be firmly laid; but once it is, shouldn't we be about building the superstructure of sanctification? Believers from all denominations and no denomination are saying, "I'm saved already; now what?" But adherents of Reformed Theology join the ranks of those in typical evangelical/fundamental churches in withholding practical theology to meet struggling believers at their point of need.
A church built on a solid foundation of justification, but continuing to build layer after layer of justification, does precious little to mature believers. Absent the teaching of sanctification which is cross-centered, the admonition of Galatians 3:3 goes unheeded; and solid biblical teaching serves to entrench the believer and the church in fleshly pursuits. The current seeker sensitive movement has proven the validity of this in amassing great numbers of people in their meetings with very few disciples among them. Now, they are going back to the drawing boards to discern what they have missed in the process-lost, but making good time!
Now, we are facing the prospect of one crisis after another, with a Church woefully unprepared to deal with them in the Spirit. The wholesale referral of soul problems outside the church to the behavioral sciences, a pattern over the last several decades, must give way to providing spiritual answers for non-organic symptomatology. One of the key ingredients is in the training of ministers; their spiritual growth must keep pace with their theological understanding, which is greatly underemphasized in most Christian institutions of higher learning.
Due to the present emphasis on Christian psychology, it is virtually impossible to engage the leadership of seminaries in a dialogue on Christ-centered, cross-centered discipleship/counseling, as I have found in my attempts over the years. Western Europe, the UK and North America are all but closed to the consideration of such teaching, while the developing nations are much more open to solid teaching on the cross for the believer. Brokenness is not in the vocabulary of today's average Christian, and losing their lives is the last thing they want to think about! And yet, the theme of the New Testament is that we must lose our lives in order to save them. (Matt. 16:24, 25)
- Charles R. Solomon Ed. D.
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