Biblical Counseling: power for overcoming problems: anger, resentment, bitterness, guilt feelings, depression, sexual abuse, eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, divorce, marriage, & parenting.

Biblical counseling is best understood by considering its intended results, its sources of power, its process, and its hope.

The intended result of biblical counseling is progressive sanctification of each believer who is counseled--each counselee making changes that are pleasing to God--each counselee being conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29).

But progressive sanctification of believers is a work of God, not of a human counselor. The power of progressive sanctification is of God--the Holy Spirit of God using the Word of God to progressively bring about changes in the counselee's life according to His plan.

How then does biblical counseling fit in? Biblical counseling is a process in which a biblical counselor helps a counselee find and do God's will, thereby cooperating with God's plan to progressively conform the counselee to the image of His Son (progressive sanctification).

The biblical counselor is a part of God's plan for progressive sanctification of the counselee in such things as coming alongside to help, giving hope and/or leading the counselee to conviction, determining the biblical principles that apply to the counselee's problems, teaching the biblical principles, assigning projects that incorporate the biblical principles so that the counselee will be changed in mind and/or behavior through the power of the Holy Spirit, giving encouragement, keeping the counselee accountable, and providing prayer support.

The biblical counselor's role is that of pastor, ministering the Word of God on a personal-need basis to an individual who has a problem and/or to two or more who have a problem between/among them, as contrasted to preaching to an entire congregation. Because selecting and teaching the biblical principles that the Holy Spirit wants to use in each counselee's life is crucial to the counseling process, biblical counselors should have a theological education, should have specialized education and training in counseling, and should be perceptive to psychological error.

The power of biblical counseling and its effectiveness are in these four provisions of God: the plan of God to progressively sanctify believers (Rom. 8:29), the sufficiency of the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3), the power of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 1:6; 2:13), and the power of prayer (James 5:16).

Since the power of biblical counseling is in God and His plan for progressive sanctification of believers, the hope (confident expectation) of biblical counseling is in God, His plan for the believer, and His power to accomplish His plan.

One hope (confident expectation) of biblical counseling is that, in spite of bad situations and/or the provocations of others, God has the power to give joy (Col. 1:11, KJV or NKJV).

An even more important hope (confident expectation) of biblical counseling is the promise of God that He can work all things together to conform the counselee (in godliness) to the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28-29).

How then, could any believer say that such problems as "eating disorders," being brought up in "dysfunctional families," or sexual abuse are excluded from the "all things" that God can use in His plan to make the believer like His Son (in godliness)?

How could any believer say that the world has better answers for life's problems than biblical counseling--counseling in which the power of God is used to achieve the plan of God-- progressive sanctification of the counselee?

Or, how could any believer say that secular truth (theories of men) must be added to (integrated with) the Word of God to help God accomplish His plan for the counselee?

Biblical counseling--utilizing the power of God to achieve the purposes of God. With God's power there is hope. Clearly, biblical counseling is the counseling of choice--the only choice--for believers.

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