Book Recommendation for the Counselor’s Ministry: The Cross of Christ 

I’m beginning a new series today in which I’ll periodically recommend books for counselors. Shorter than a book review but longer than a tweet, these recommendations will whet your appetite to buy books that will build your ministry by equipping you to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth. 

The Cross of Christ by John Stott 

Perhaps you’re surprised that I would recommend a “theology” book as my first recommendation for a counselor—and a “Christology” book at that. We should not be. Christ—His person and work—are central and essential—both to our salvation and our sanctification. 

As Stott himself says in the Preface, he grapples with: 

“What it means for the Christian community to live under the cross…showing that the cross transforms everything. It gives us a new, worshipping relationship to God, a new and balanced understanding of ourselves, a new incentive to give ourselves in mission, a new love for our enemies, and a new courage to face the perplexities of suffering” (p. 11).

Stott’s The Cross of Christ is a classic that I’ve read at least five times since it was first released in 1986. It was while reading this book that my understanding of salvation expanded from “just forgiven” to: 

• Justification: New Pardon and Peace

• Regeneration: New Purity and Nature

• Reconciliation: New Parentage and Identity

• Redemption: New Power and Victory 

If you want to understand the centrality of the cross—both individually and universally—The Cross of Christ is a tremendous resource. 

If you want to understand why the cross was necessary, what it accomplished eternally, and how to apply the cross daily, The Cross of Christ is a tremendous resource. 

If you want to relate truth to life—our love abounding more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, The Cross of Christ is a tremendous resource. 

One cannot claim the mantle of “Christian/biblical counselor” without a growing depth of insight into and application of the cross of Christ. 

Join the Conversation 

What impact has John Stott’s The Cross of Christ had on your life and ministry? 

What additional books do you recommend for the counselor’s ministry? 

RPM Ministries: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth