The strange thing is — they were right about it at first: there always is a way—God’s way!

That way may not be one to our liking, it may not be one that we find easy, but He has an answer to every problem that a Christian ever faces. That’s what He told us in 1 Corinthians 10:13:

Look it up. You will find three things that He says about tests that come a Christian’s way:

1. No problem overtakes a believer but what is common to other believers. That is to say, no one’s trial is unique. People are always complaining “Nobody has ever had to face what I’m facing”—or words to that effect. They are wrong. Many have before—and have (by God’s grace) been able to overcome it.
2. God will not allow a Christian to be tested beyond what he is able to handle (if he handles it God’s way, of course). God promises: though the problem isn’t unique, it is uniquely suited to each individual believer.
3. God will, with the test, also send the way out in order that one may be able to handle it.

What wonderful promises!

Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and  The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

Books related to counseling others:

1. Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
2. The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
3. How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
4. The Use of Scripture in Counseling by Jay Adams
5. Sanctification and Counseling by Jay Adams
6. Critical Stages in Biblical Counseling by Jay Adams
7. Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post There’s Always a Way appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

“Yes, I’d like to, but I’m not sure that it’s possible. I keep trying, but then find myself going back to my old ways again and again.”

You are a Christian?

“Yes. I believe that Christ died for my sins and rose again from the dead.”

Well, then, there’s every reason for you to expect to be able to change. Jesus is deeply concerned about helping believers change. Listen to this:

. . . as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves must become holy in all of your behavior
1 Peter 1:15

He is holy—set apart from sin and to righteousness—and wants you to be like Himself. He asks a believer to do nothing that He doesn’t supply the wisdom and the ability to do. He will help you. Listen to Philippians 2:13

. . . Since it is God Who is producing in you both the willingness and the ability to do the things that please Him.

If you truly desire to change in order to please Him, He’s already beginning to fulfill the first promise in that verse.

“It would be great, but I don’t see how. I try not to sin, but fall into sin anyway.”

Let’s consider some things that may make a difference.

“OK. Go ahead. I can’t seem to break my old habits.”

You recognize that you have old habits? Good. We’ll get into what they are in time. For right now, let’s examine how you are trying to deal with them. Did I hear you say that you are trying to “break” them?

“Right.”

Well, change is a two-factored process. You can’t bring it about by merely breaking habits. In Ephesians and Colossians, Paul says that you must not only “put off” the old manner of life (“old man” or habits), but that you must at the same time “put on” a new set of godly patterns.

“Oh! I didn’t realize that.”

Well, we’ll begin there, then. You can’t break habits; you must replace them-with their biblical alternatives. If you truly, from the heart, desire to live in ways that honor Christ you can do it, because the Spirit will help you more and more to put off and put on those things that He tells you in His Word that you must change. Are you certain that you want to change in order to please Jesus?

“Yes.”

Good. Then, let’s begin . . .

Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and  The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

1. Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
2. The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
3. How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
4. The Use of Scripture in Counseling by Jay Adams
5. Sanctification and Counseling by Jay Adams
6. Critical Stages in Biblical Counseling by Jay Adams
7. Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post Change appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

Nor am I speaking about granddma’s Large Print Bible.

What I have in mind is what parts of your Bible are used and what parts are not.

“How can I tell?”

Easy to do—but not so easy to describe.

“Why not?”

Because we all know what the “spine” of a book is; but whad’ja call the opposite part? You know, the part that you flip with your fingers? For the sake of a better term, let’s call it the “anti-spine.” OK?

We’ll, here’s how you can tell—If you’ve had your Bible for any length of time (and, of course, have used it), you’ll notice that there are places on the anti-spine that are dirtier than others. If . . . What? What did you say?

No. I’m not insinuating anything about whether or not you wash you hands before eating—or reading.
But, as I was saying, here’s the rule: the dirtier a part of the anti-spine, the likelihood that’s where you concentrate your reading.

What? . . . . You don’t believe me? OK, then, go ahead and look at the anti-spine on your Bible.

Aha! So, I was right. Well, now what are you going to do about it?

Right—start dirtying up the rest!

Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and  The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

Books related to counseling others:

1. Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
2. The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
3. How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
4. The Use of Scripture in Counseling by Jay Adams
5. Sanctification and Counseling by Jay Adams
6. Critical Stages in Biblical Counseling by Jay Adams
7. Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post What Size Is Your Bible? appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

How so? When a Christian changes in ways that do please God it is by

1. Doing so because he wants to obey and honor Him. He seeks to make a certain change because it is God’s will for him to do so—as he finds it in the Bible; by
2. Doing so by replacing sinful ways with righteous ones (or as the apostle Paul put it: by putting off the former and putting on the latter; Colossians: 3:9); by
3. Doing these things through seeking the help of the Spirit a) enabling him to understand God’s will in the Word; b) empowering him to make the changes involved (cf. Philippians 2:13).

Thus, in essence, it is change that one makes in consort with God Himself. Thus both the motive and the method are of God as well as of the believer.

[1] To be in the flesh is to be without the Spirit of God.

Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and  The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

Books related to counseling others:

1. Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
2. The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
3. How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
4. The Use of Scripture in Counseling by Jay Adams
5. Sanctification and Counseling by Jay Adams
6. Critical Stages in Biblical Counseling by Jay Adams
7. Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post Here it is . . . appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

There are a number of indices by which you may begin to find answers to your questions (see especially 1 John), but there is one in particular that I wish to mention. Listen to Psalm 97:10:

You who love the Lord, hate evil.

How strongly do you hate? If there is no hatred in your life, there is something dead wrong.  Hatred for evil is a determining factor in whether or not you love God as you should. In some ways, the strength of your love for God is your hatred for evil—especially in yourself!

If evil doesn’t disturb you, and you have become cavalier about it, so that when you encounter evil not even the slightest bit of anger whelms up within—then something is wrong: dead wrong! You’d better begin examining your true love in terms of a true hatred—for sin and its effects.

Your love for God is determined by your hatred for evil (in part) because God hates evil. If you are not moved to anger, let alone hatred, over evil, it is time to do something about it.

“How can I change?” you ask. By beginning to think God’s thoughts after Him.  Until you think as He does about sin in His world, you will not love Him as you ought. How can you begin to think His thoughts? By studying the Bible—more and more to discover How He thinks!

Check out our online course, Theology and Counseling taught by Jay Adams!

Books related to dealing with problems:

1. A Theology of Christian Counseling by Jay Adams
2. Sanctification and Counseling by Jay Adams
3. A Call for Discernment by Jay Adams

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post Living Right? appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

Their names might easily have been Odious and Soon-touchy, if they were anything like what we find in churches today. Their actual names are found in Philippians 4:2.

Before Paul mentions any names, he makes clear two principles that must be at work when bringing unity to a divided church. In Philippians 2:3, 4, he sets these forth:

1. Get rid of selfishness or vane thinking about your own worth, while at the same time considering others better than your self.
2. Instead of being all—fired concerned with your own interests, for once in your life begin to put the interests of other before your own!

You can always find some way in which others are better than you—if you’re willing to prayerfully take an honest look (of course, as his words indicate, Paul would have you to look away from yourself in order to do so).

And, if you are concerned about furthering others’ concerns rather than your own, again, you’ll find ways of doing so.

The two principles are not hard to understand-just hard for quarreling people to follow. Repentance may be in order to be able to do so.

On those two points, he goes further in the verses that follow to show how that’s exactly what Jesus did for us. He selflessly put us first, going so far as to put our interests (salvation) before His manifested glory as the second Person of the Trinity. He was willing to stoop to becoming a man, to becoming a slave, to becoming a criminal who died on the cross—all for our sakes.

Think of His condescension the next time your foot gets stepped on, the next time someone disagrees with you, the next time you’ve been insulted, the next time . . . simply the next time! It isn’t a matter of who is right. The point is—how are you handling the relationship? Follow these two principles, and you will certainly be doing much to bring about unity. In unity, you can work out the differences!

Books related to Reconciliation:

1. From Forgiven to Forgiving  by Jay Adams
2. Handbook of Church Discipline by Jay Adams
3. How to Handle Trouble by Jay Adams

Check out our online course, Church Discipline/Forgiveness taught by Jay Adams!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post Women at Each Other’s Throats? appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

“I didn’t know that!”

Sure. In John 7:24 Jesus commands us to judge a righteous judgment. And, here in Matthew 7, he explains that he is speaking about the one who does not first take the log out of his own eye before he removes a splinter from another’s. That comment presupposes he will judge once he has dealt with his own sin.

“I guess I hadn’t connected that rightly.”

Yeah. But there are a couple of other things in the passage that also ought to be noted.

“Like what?”

Like v. 6.

“What has that verse got to do with the subject?”

Everything.

“Please explain.”

Gladly. Here’s what Jesus said: “Don’t give what is holy to dogs; and don’t throw pearls before pigs; otherwise, they may trample them with their feet and turn on you and attack you.”

See, that has to do with judging too.

“It does? Can’t see how.”

Well, for one thing, if you want to obey it, you will have to first determine who is a dog or hog!

“So?”

So, that’s judging.

“OH! I gotcha.’”

It’s none of our business to judge the actions and words of unbelievers; we have enough to do to rightly judge our own. Paul said, “What reason would I have to judge those who are outside [unbelievers]? Isn’t it those who are inside [Christians] that you are to judge?”(I Corinthians 5:12,13).

“Wow! That’s pretty clear, isn’t it?”

Very clear. But that’s not all. Jesus said that if you give valuable advice when trying to judge unbelievers (your dogs and hogs) they’ll not be able to assay its value and trample it underfoot, or turn on you because it wasn’t what they thought it was.

“Oh. Oh! I see that it can be dangerous to deal with such people.”

Proverbs has a powerful way of saying the same thing: “Whoever reproves a mocker gets insulted, and whoever corrects a wicked person invites bruises!” (Proverbs 9:7).

“Had no idea about such things. You mean he might punch me out?”

Literally or figuratively, yes.

“Woof!”

Yep. Lots of people who don’t have a biblical perspective, get angry over such reproof. It’s time we started focusing on those things in the church that need cleaning up before we take on the unsaved who can’t appreciate the value of biblical teaching.

“I can see that.”

Check out our online course, The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

1. What to do on Thursday
2. The Christian’s Guide to Guidance 
3. A Call for Discernment

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post Judge Not appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.