According to John Henderson, (Equipped to Counsel, 2nd Ed), “Biblical Counseling can be defined as a fluid event and process,
as part of the Great Commission, when a follower of Jesus Christ in the service of the Holy Spirit provides face-to-face ministry of the Word to others.”
The Pillars of Biblical Counseling are:
1) Rooted in God
- Acknowledges God as the Creator of All Things (Genesis 1:1)
- Upholds the Sovereignty and Authority of God (Ephesians 1:9-11)
- Is confident in God’s Eternal work in His people (Philippians 1:6)
- Relies upon Scripture for knowledge, wisdom and direction (Psalm 73:24; Proverbs 3:5-6)
- Embraces the characteristics of God’s counsel: True, Loving, Compassionate, Patient, Merciful, Just, Wise, etc
- Devoted to God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31)
2) Exalts Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:28)
- The views of salvation and sanctification reflect Christ and His Word
- The heart of biblical counsel is “the word of the cross.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
- Conversation reflects a love for, faith in, reliance on, and joy in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:8-11)
- Jesus Christ is openly held out as the only mediatory between God and man, the supreme author of Christian faith, and Himself God (Hebrews 1:3-4)
3) Empowered by Holy Spirit
- The work of Holy Spirit is essential to every believer and true progress (change/transformation) comes through His Spirit (Galatians 3:1-3; 5:16)
- We realize our service to others will only be true and powerful with the help of the Holy spirit (Colossians 1:29)
- We live in the service of God’s spirit. We don’t use him to serve our purposes. He uses us to serve his purposes.
- Prayer is a critical piece of counseling ministry and is to be done constantly. (1Thessalonians 5:16-18)
4) Loving (Ephesians 4:15)
- The relationships between the counselor and those he/she counsels should be filed and shaped by biblical love (1 John 4:7; Colossians 1:28-29)
- Our speech and conversations should be sensitive, tender, wise, and morally appropriate in content and implication (Colossians 4:6)
- We encourage people to love the Lord God with all their heart and love others as themselves (Deuteronomy 6:5; Ephesians 5:1-2)