Since biblical counseling is discipleship with a particular or intensive purpose, for the counseling to be “biblical” requires that the counselee be a believer in Christ. There is no biblical counseling until the counselee is a Christian and can thus be discipled and trained in the gospel.
Unbelievers do not possess the Holy Spirit who is the agent of true change (Romans 8:9, 13), they cannot understand the Word of God which is the Spirit’s tool of transformation (1 Corinthians 2:14–16), they remain enemies of God (Romans 5:10), there are blind to their sin and the truth (2 Corinthians 4:4), and do not even see their need for a Savior (Luke 18:9–14).
Unbelievers cannot truly be discipled until they have been evangelized and placed their faith in Christ alone for their salvation.
Question for the Gospel
So one of the primary tasks of the counselor is to determine the spiritual state of the counselee; is he a genuine follower of Christ? How will the counselor determine whether the counselee is a believer? There are several tools to use:
The Personal Data Inventory (intake form) should have several questions relating to the gospel, church affiliation, and church attendance. These all can begin to reveal to the counselor if the counselee has been exposed to the truth or if he is even interested in the truth.
Ask the counselee for his life history. What does he reveal about his exposure to church and faith in Christ? Does he talk about his parents and their faith? Or any other influential people in his life who were followers of Christ? When does he talk about Christ and faith? Or does he ignore or overlook the gospel story so that you have to ask him questions about what he believes about Christ?
Ask direct questions about the gospel. Three effective questions are:
“Tell me the gospel in 60 seconds or less.” This will reveal whether they know the essential components of the gospel and how articulate they are with the gospel.
“Tell me how you came to believe the gospel.” Discovering when and where they believed (and whether they have been baptized) can reveal whether it was an episode of “decisionism” or whether the gospel was transformational.
“How has the gospel transformed your life?” Since the gospel is given to us so that we might live out and “work out” the gospel (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13), knowing what the effect of the gospel has been in his life is important.
Use homework to gather more data about what is believed about the gospel. You might assign gospel tracts or booklets for them to read (“Two Ways to Live” and “Who Will be King?” are two particularly helpful tracts). Or ask them to write their testimony, or diagram his spiritual life on a timeline, or assign Bible reading and questions that focus on the gospel (e.g., Romans 6).
In all these things we want to use as many means as we can to discern whether they have a genuine understanding of the gospel.
Clarify the Gospel
If there is not clarity with the gospel, then we will obviously want to clearly and carefully explain the gospel to the counselee. Just what is the gospel?
The gospel can be explained in six words.
Grace (Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:2–3). God has made a gift available in His kindness that is undeserved for those who receive it.
Man is a sinner (Ephesians 2:1–3). He is a sinner by both nature and deed (Romans 5:12); there is nothing to remedy his situation on his own (Matthew 5:48).
God is loving and merciful (1 John 4:8; John 3:16; Matthew 7:11; Ezekiel 18:32), but His love is not greater than His wrath—He must pour out His righteous retribution on all sin (Exodus 34:6–7; Matthew 3:12; 13:41–42; Romans 6:23). No debt from any sin will be left unpaid; He will exact payment for every sin.
Christ is the infinite God-Man (John 1:1–4, 14–15; 5:23) who lived a wholly righteous life (Matthew 5:17–18) and died on the cross in the place of those who believe in Him (Mark 10:45; 2 Corinthians 5:20–21).
Faith is the hand that receives the gift of salvation; there is nothing that can be done to merit the gift of salvation by grace. Faith is not work because it is an acknowledgement that “I cannot save myself; You must save me!”
Hope is the goal of the gospel; we want fellowship with God, both now and in eternity (John 6:37–40; 14:3). If you can conceive of eternity or Heaven without Christ, then you don’t believe the gospel. The gospel is given to get us to God (John 17:20–26).
The gospel can also be explained in one sentence: Our sin is imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us so that we can enjoy God forever.
This is the gospel you want your counselee to believe and live. And that is the gospel that we teach.
Connect the Gospel
Having identified the gospel for your counselee, you will also want to help them see the relevance of the gospel: just what is the good of the gospel for the believer now (before we get to Heaven)? It is good in every way:
Justification is good news for those who consciences convict them of guilt (Romans 3:23–26).
Love is good news for the fearful (1 John 4:18).
Grace (kindness) is good news for the weary (Matthew 11:28–30).
Freedom is good news for those enslaved to sin (Romans 6:12–14)—every kind of habitual sin (Galatians 5:13, 16–21).
Christ’s incarnation is good news for those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:17–18; 4:14–16).
God’s wrath (justice) is good news for the oppressed and abused (Romans 12:17–21; 1 Peter 4:3–5).
Christ’s suffering is good news for those who suffer and are persecuted (1 Peter 2:21–23; Philippians 3:8–11).
Christ’s return is good news for those who despair (1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11; 1 Peter 4:12–19).
Christ’s ascension (and Heaven) are good news for the dying (2 Corinthians 4:16–18; 5:1–9; Acts 1:9–11; Zechariah 14:1–9; Luke 23:43).
And all these truths mean that whatever problem your counselee brings to you, the answer you have is rooted in the gospel. The gospel is adequate for drug and alcohol addictions, lost housing and financial burdens, a pregnant girlfriend and abortion, hostility and broken relationships between parents and adult children (or young children), broken friendships, depression, loneliness, fornication or adultery, suicide ideation, or anything else.
The gospel is God’s provision of hope for every person. So counsel the gospel.
