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

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

Ever heard it before? Well, it won’t be the first or last time if you are involved in trying to be biblical in your counseling. Let’s see how you might answer.

Response: Right. And neither do you. Your very objection indicates that you have a position on the matter. As a matter of fact, those who most vigorously advocate open-mindedness often viciously attack others who believe in being close-minded. It is logically impossible to hold an open-minded position with conviction. That is, in itself, a contradiction. Either one has no convictions on the subject (which isn’t open-mindedness, but simple lack of conviction), or he holds firmly to a position for or against open-mindedness (and in neither case can he be open-minded toward the opposite position).”

An open mind is like an open window; you have to put in screens to keep the bugs out! That is the way that a professor in one seminary puts it. He means, of course, that a person without convictions is open to everyone else’s opinions (no matter how outrageous). Many who boast of having an open mind simply don’t have convictions about anything much. As the Peanuts crowd puts it, they are wishy-washy.

Christian counselors must be closed-minded about open-mindedness. They are required not to be swept along by every wind of doctrine (especially counseling doctrine, which changes at least as often as the breeze) like those without convictions.^[1] At the same time, they must be as open-minded as the Holy Spirit will make them toward scriptural truth. Here is one place where open-mindedness is both desirable and possible. The Spirit alone can truly open the mind and heart to the changes demanded in the Bible.^[2]

When the Christian speaks of closed-mindedness, then he considers it a virtue and not a vice. But the sort of closed-mindedness that he applauds isn’t pig-headed bigotry. Rather, it is the conviction that what God says in the Bible is true. And it is that very Bible that insists that he open his mind to facts wherever they are found.^[3] But such data may not be accepted uncritically. They must be screened. The Scriptures are the screen by which the Christian keeps the bugs out. As his Standard of faith and life, the Bible keeps him from becoming the flypaper to which every sort of belief sticks.

[1] Ephesians 4:14.

[2] Luke 24:32.

[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

From:

The post Do You Have an Open Mind? appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

Sometimes it may seem that we spend too much time refuting falsehood. All of us are chagrined at the preponderance of error both within and without the Church. We may write off those who attempt to combat it and set forth the truth in clarity over against it as “heresy hunters.” The term is used pejoratively; but should it be? Take a quick look at the Books of the New Testament, merely scratching the surface, and see what you think.

• In the Gospels Jesus warns against false teachers, speaks of wolves in sheep’s clothing and the “leaven of the Pharisees.” The record of His ministry is one of conflict with those who refused to accept the teaching He set forth.
• Acts contains the record of the church’s first major controversy over whether or not a person must become a Jew before he could qualify as a Christian. A church council was called to settle the matter. Paul goes to lengths to warn the Ephesian elders about wolves who would devour the flock and schismatically draw away disciples to themselves.
• Romans is an entire doctrinal treatise about justification by faith alone in contrast to salvation by works, and how sanctification follows thereafter. In it, Paul also takes up the rejection of the Jewish church.
• I Corinthians is loaded with problems; schism, misuse of gifts, church discipline, marriage and divorce, and on, and on, on.
• II Corinthians takes on false apostles who had invaded the church and charged him with pretending to be an apostle. The place of apostolic authority is set forth, along with the qualifications of an apostle.
• Galatians is a sterling defense of Justification by faith alone over against those who taught otherwise, and were upsetting the church by Judaistic legalism.
• Ephesians is less controversial, being a universal epistle rather than directed to the adverse circumstances of an individual or a congregation
• Philippians deals with a split in an otherwise good church. But it has to do with self-centeredness and sets forth a key Christological passage.
• Colossians is consumed with fighting Judaistic Gnosticism.
• I & II Thessalonians take up false teaching about the Lord’s coming and eschatology.
• I & II Timothy & Titus teach “healthy” doctrine over against many false ideas. And, in them, Paul doesn’t hesitate to name specific heretical individuals.
• Philemon is a welcome exception.
• Hebrews, in its entirety, combats all influences that would cause Jewish Christians to revert to Judaism.
• James utterly destroys the idea that one can have genuine faith that does not result in good works.
• I Peter explains how the New Testament church is no longer a physical political entity, but that the church is now the spiritual people of God, the new Israel.
• II Peter warns against scoffers and libertines unsettling the church and reveals the true picture of final things.
• I John argues quite effectively throughout the book against Gnosticism of a Cerenthian sort.
• II John warns against hospitality for heretics.
• III John deals with church discipline gone so far astray as to virtually destroy a church.
• Jude throughout its entirety is an exhortation to contend against the libertines who invaded the church that failed to listen to the warnings in II Peter.
• Revelation speaks of the warfare of God against apostate Judaism, the first persecutor of the church, and Rome, the second persecutor, and predicts the fall. It also mentions cults like the Nicolatians.

Now, in light of the above, if you can, tell me, why we should not be prepared to detect and refute falsehood in the Church?

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.
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The post Controversy in the New Testament appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

When I am filled with cares, Your comfort brings me joy.  Psalm 94:16

Who has a right to claim the wonderful promise in this verse? Move back a few verses and you will find the answer:

Lord, happy is the man You discipline and teach from Your law, to give him relief from troubled times.  Psalm 94:13

God’s Word (His law) teaches and disciplines those who study, understand, and obey it. Believer, you cannot expect the promise to apply unless (and until) the conditions are met. But, Oh when they are—the riches of it are yours!

How conversant are you with the Scriptures? How frequently do you listen (and act) when they expose and rebuke you for your evil ways? Are you a person who drifts with the crowd, or one who goes in the direction that pleases Him? That is the way to receive His comfort and relief. When necessary, to please God, you must to walk against it. It isn’t easy to head in the opposite direction from other Christians when they are part of that crowd—is it? That makes it especially difficult. Yet, it isn’t what others do that matters; it’s what God says will bring comfort and relief in troubled times that counts. There are many such times in all of our lives; there may be even greater ones in the near future. Take heed to God’s truth!

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. 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 Heeding God’s Truth appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

In 1 John 4 we find it plainly spelled out—yet wrongly understood. The apostle wrote

Test the spirits to see whether they are from God .  .  . This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.

So, many go ahead and try to determine whether or not a group is Christian by asking whether they believe Jesus came in the flesh which (of course) is the wrong approach. By that test Romanism is a true religion!

“Wrong? How could that be wrong? Isn’t that the test John just set forth?”

No. It isn’t.  The flesh test is for Gnosticism and similar errors. These people denied the physical existence of Christ’s body—claimed it was a phantom.

“Well, then, what is the test?”

It is found later in the passage:

. . . whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

The first test is the specific application of the general test to a particular heresy (Gnosticism), of which the latter (v. 6)  is the general test that applies to every heresy.  The test is, then

WHETHER OR NOT ONE LISTENS TO THE APOSTLES

Today, that means, whether they agree with the apostolic Word (in the Bible) on any given issue. When the apostolic Word is applied to Gnosticism this doctrine is proven false (see John 1:14;  1 John 1: 1,2).

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

The righteous person giving way to the wicked is like a polluted spring and a ruined fountain.
(Proverbs 25:26)

This powerful proverb is one for the conservative church today. Too often, by not speaking up, by failure to avow the truth, and in dozens of other ways, it is demonstrated to be true.

In Palestine, with many areas in which water was at a premium, a spring was a valuable item. To pollute it was a horrible act—a crime that meant the possible death of many who depended on it for the water of life. So, the words to an American today, who has no such vital need, may seem inconsequential. They were not to those in biblical times.

What the proverb is saying to us today is that for a believer to back off from confronting the errors of the wicked is like the act of polluting the source of water upon which people are dependant. Under the guise of charity, love–or what not—the failure to speak up, to expose, and to confute error when it appears in the church is to pollute God’s message. People who drink from a polluted fountain—and there are many today who do—will be infected by it. It carries the danger of sickness and death.

False teachers are nothing new to the church; they have always been a threat. Compromise with evil teaching by God’s people, sadly, has likewise been a problem. In these days, when so much is at stake, the conservative church cannot afford to back off or, as the proverb puts it “give way to the wicked.” Get a backbone; stand for the truth. God bless you when you do!

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. 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 Foul Water from Polluted Springs appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

What does it mean?

“That something is given the test that proves it genuine or not.”

Good.

“Well, how about it?”

In times when gold coins were in circulation, nitric acid was applied to a coin. If it deteriorated, it was false; if no harm came to it, it was deemed genuine. Do you know what is the acid test for whether or not one is a true Bible teacher?

“No. What is it?”

John says, “We are of [from] God. Whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever isn’t of [from] God doesn’t listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (I John 4: 6). All else will corrupt!

“Oh.”

The acid test, in the New Testament is the same as in the old—whether or not one listens to God’s Word. The apostles were given the task of proclaiming that Word inerrantly. So, we measure the truth of one’s teaching by how closely it conforms to the Scriptures (the apostolic Word).

“Then, we don’t look for signs, or wonders, but only how close one’s teaching is to the Bible?”

You got it. See Deuteronomy 13 where we are warned about following signs and wonders. That will help as well.

“Got it.”

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

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