Quotes of Note from Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling, Part 2
You’re reading Part 2 in a four-part mini-series of Quotes of Note from Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling. Read Part 1 where you’ll find quotes from the Introduction and Chapters 1-7.
Chapter 8: The Influences on the Human Heart—Jeff Forrey and Jim Newheiser
Through faith in Christ, we’re freed from bondage—freed to live a new lifestyle of holiness reflecting our relationship with our Father in heaven.
Bodily weaknesses do not have to hold us back from spiritual growth and are often used by God to help us to grow spiritually.
Christians must never forget the resources they have in their relationship with the living God who will never fail or forsake them.
Those who lean upon other sinners too much will be like wilting bushes in the desert, but those who trust God will be like trees planted by a stream of water. They will flourish even during times of external trial.
Chapter Nine: The Problem of Sin—Robert Jones and Brad Hambrick
Counselors must understand the nature and origin of human problems to know what questions to ask and what answers to listen for.
For the biblical counselor, accurately understanding people and their problems begins with assessing them through the lens of God’s Word.
To decipher the full breadth of life’s struggles, we need something deeper than a Vacation Bible School view of sin.
Biblical counseling includes ministering the gospel’s full redemptive impact to the personal, social, physical, and cultural effects of sin.
Chapter 10: The Centrality of the Gospel—Robert Cheong
The meaning of life and the purpose for living are found in Christ and are lived out through our relationship with Him.
The Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, is God’s story of redemption where the passages and plot line point to the Redeemer, Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27).
Our approach in caring for others is directly related to our personal understanding and experience in living out the gospel.
The gospel that saved us by grace through Jesus’ finished work on the cross is the same gospel that is changing us by grace through His Spirit’s enduring work in us.
The never-changing gospel is all we have and all we need as we counsel one another, regardless of the struggle or struggler as we live under the redemptive rule of Jesus.
Chapter 11: The Gospel in Balance: Stuart Scott
It is surely our job as biblical counselors to integrate key gospel truths into all aspects of the help we offer.
We must continually spotlight all that Christ is and all our position in Him means.
As we press those who are changing from within to actively apply biblical principles for change, we will point them back to the great love of Christ, who we are in Him, and dependence on all His resources, each found in the gospel.
Chapter 12: The Pursuit of Holiness—Lee Lewis and Michael Snetzer
If we misunderstand the gospel as one of prosperity, we will surely think we are on the wrong road when suffering comes our way.
The grace of God not only saves us, it enables to live new lives. He is not only our future hope, but our present help.
In order to truly uproot the weeds in our life we must not just examine and turn from our immoral behavior, we must also look beneath the surface to the roots which are producing the weeds.
A healthy church provides an environment of redemptive relationships that provide the nutrients necessary to enrich spiritual growth.
The body of Christ is about doing life together, and by doing life together sin is revealed. And where sin is revealed there is an opportunity for relationships to be healed.
Chapter 13: The Weapons of Our Warfare—Bob Kellemen and Dwayne Bond
The role of biblical counselors is to nourish the discovery of a greater God awareness through spiritual eyes that look at life through scriptural lenses.
Sin is like a malicious virus that relentlessly seeks to erase our memory of our trusting relationship with our trustworthy God.
In the flesh we use every strategy at our disposal, every scheme we can imagine, to not need God’s grace. Whenever we mistrust God’s good heart, we always trust our own fallen hearts.
First Satan tempts us to sin, and then he taunts us for having sinned. Satan presents the pleasure and profit of sin, but hides the misery that follows.
Our role as biblical counselors is to remind broken people of the gospel script. We’re soldiers in a battle standing back-to-back as spiritual friends speaking God’s truth in love.
Chapter 14: The Hope of Eternity—Nicolas Ellen and Jeremy Lelek
What you hope for determines what you live for. What you hope for determines who you live for.
Our hearts are wired for worship, and our worship is directly tied to our sense of hope.
When we pray, we are not only communicating with God, we are reminded that humanity is in perpetual relationship with eternity.
Prayer awakens our hearts to the vivid reality that the privilege of communion with God resides in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Prayer holds the potential of thrusting upon our awareness the awesome reality that we are taking part in something far more expansive than the simple here and now.
The Rest of the Story
I invite you to return for Part 3 where I’ll share Quotes of Note from chapters 15-21 of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling.
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Which Quote of Note impacts you the most? Why? How?
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