But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, that the Father will send in My name, He is the One Who will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I told you.

It’s a good thing that God provided the Spirit to give all remaining revelation to the apostles, as well as to enable them to remember Jesus’ ministry so as to write inerrant Gospel accounts (See also John 12:16). We know that He met with them for forty days following His resurrection talking to them concerning the things that pertained to the church (Acts 1:3), but it was only after the Spirit of truth came upon them that they were given “all truth” (John 16:13), including prophetic understanding of the future. To know that they received all the truth that the church will ever have is important for many reasons, among which are the following:

1. We can be sure that claims to additional revelation are false, and know, therefore, to reject them.
2. We can know that there are no more prophecies to be forthcoming.
3. We can know that the Scriptures, in which all truth is deposited, are sufficient for our lives.
4. We can know that the more that we study the Bible and come to know the truths therein, the closer we come to knowing all the truth that God has disclosed (not that any of us gets all that far).
5. We can know that there is a source of truth available to those who ask the Spirit to enable them to access and appropriate it as they study the Bible.
6. We can know that God has completely provided a fixed rule of faith and practice for us in a world where everything else seems uncertain.

How richly God endowed us when in the coming of the Spirit, we also received all truth through the apostles!

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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“No, I don’t need reasons—I just feel it’s so.”

That short exchange might take place many times a day between Christians. But it never should.

You may be wondering what the subject is that the two parties are discussing. It doesn’t really matter. I left it out for a good reason—to show the bare outlines of the issue.

The issue being, of course, how we know anything about God to be true or false.

There is no biblical precedent for basing the truth or the falsehood of any belief upon how one feels; yet many do so.

Our faith is one that can be objectively set forth—and has been—in a Book from which God expects us to learn what is/isn’t true.

What Jesus told us that Abraham said to the rich man suffering in hell was that people won’t believe even if someone rose from the dead (which, of course, He did). Experience and feelings won’t cut it! Instead, if a person wants to discover the truth he should turn to the Bible: “they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them” Jesus said (Luke 16: 29).

It’s the same today-to learn the truth, and benefit from it—one must turn to the Scriptures. Stop listening to feelings; start listening to truth.

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

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It’s not difficult to do so. The Bible is so clear about the subject.

“Show me.”

Delighted to. Turn to John 16:13. There the Lord says to His disciples who are about to become apostles, “But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.” The phrase, “Spirit of truth” means that He is the Source of all truth. The genitive use there has the ablative sense of “Source from which.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about—genitives and ablatives are just foreign words to me. Please explain in plain English.”

OK. Jesus predicted that on Pentecost the Holy Spirit would come to the apostles in a special way that He didn’t come to others—He would come to provide for them all the truth that was necessary for the church to have. All of it is the thing to remember. There was to be no more truth revealed after the Spirit had given them what God wanted them to have.

“So, you’re saying that there would be nothing more—nothing?”

Nothing.

“Sure?”

Yep. All truth means just that all truth! Aren’t you glad that we have all the truth that we need?

“Sure, but we don’t have it—the apostles did.”

True, they were the only ones who received it. But they gave it to us in the Bible. So—through them—we too are possessors of “all truth.”

“But how do you know about the Bible thing?”

From John 15:26:

The Counselor, the Holy Spirit that the Father will; send in My name, He is the One Who will teach you and remind you of everything that I told you.

He reminded them of all the things Jesus taught—the parables, the Sermon on the Mount, etc.—everything that Jesus did and said. Why? Because they were going to write about it in the Gospels. How else do you think we could have gotten a New Testament? He helped them to remember exactly what was done and said so that we’d have a Book that was accurate and inerrant.

“Oh! I never thought about how they’d remember all that took place. But what about the rest of the New Testament?”

Then, of course, He also gave the apostles the very words to speak and write when they went forth teaching the Gospel to the world (which, by the way, they accomplished). . .

“Now that raises more questions . . .”

I know. But we’ll have to take them up in another blog. Can’t cover everything here.

“Awwwww!”

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:
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Sure, but you can always put a rubber gasket in it if the problem is with the hose.”

Exactly. If the problem is with the hose, deal with it. But if the spigot leaks, well . . . that’s another story.

If the spigot leaks; you may need to replace it or move the hose.

If there’s a leak in your spiritual life, then fix it by inserting the gasket of repentance. If the spigot leaks, then you may need to get a new one.

“How do I do that?”

Perhaps you’re hooked up to the wrong spigot. If so, you’ll end up with a mess if you continue to use it. And, in the meanwhile, like those plants, you may dry up spiritually.

“What faucet would be a leaky one?”

Any that isn’t attached to the Source of truth.

“But what does replacing it mean?”

Move the spigot in the pulpit, or remove the hose.

Changing churches if the truth is leaking out of the pulpit of the one you attend. It’s no virtue to be “true” to a church that fails to deliver the spiritual water of life, Christian. A liberal church delivers polluted water out of a rusty spigot, and the little bit of truth that you receive is so infinitesimal and so thoroughly mixed with rust that it won’t help  you. What you need is a steady, continual flow of pure, spiritual water.
“Sure, but our family’s always been members of our church.”

Look at them with a careful eye—what has it done for them? How much do they know of God’s Word? What spiritual benefits have they received over the years? Make a careful assessment; then make a good decision.

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
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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

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Either way, I have some important advice for you. Here is an item for your list that you shouldn’t miss—indeed, it should be at the top!

Buy the truth and sell it not.   (Proverbs 23:23)

Have you been looking for truth? Haven’t found it? Let me suggest that you look in the right place. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. If you don’t know Him as Savior, you don’t have a grasp on truth. Indeed, you never will until you trust in Him as the One Who shed His blood in the place of guilty sinners like you. God raised Him from the dead and seated Him on His throne. He is co-regent with the Father. He is the source of truth; as a matter of fact, its very embodiment!

Having found Him, don’t let anyone ever persuade you to sell Him out. He’s the One Who will stick closer than a brother. He is the One Who will persevere to the end—the only question is, will you? Think seriously about truth—what could be more important this Christmas than to buy it—without money and without cost (Is 55:1)!

What an important Christmas message this verse from God is. While you’re shopping around, think about this—you’d be wise to take it to heart.

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
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