6 May 11 – 16 Oct 11

Marty L. Summers

NANC Theology Exam

Bibliology

1. The Bible is spoken of as ―inspired.‖ What does this mean?

2. What is the relationship between infallibility and authority?

3. What is the Bible‘s authority on theological controversies?

4. Compare and contrast the Bible and its authority to general revelation and its authority.

5. Many Christians today speak of continuing revelation. Relate this concept to inspiration and

sufficiency of the Scripture. Relate this concept to the issue of miracles, prophecy and tongues.

Theology Proper

1. State briefly the biblical basis for, and formulate the doctrine of, the Trinity.

2. List and develop five attributes of God and how they relate to the believer‘s life and

counseling.

3. State briefly the biblical basis for, and formulate the doctrine of, God‘s omniscience. Relate

this doctrine to the teaching of ―open theism.‖

Anthropology

1. Who and what is man?

2. What role does anthropology play in counseling theory and practice?

Christology

1. Why did Christ die?

2. He was ―tempted in all things as we are‖ (Heb. 4:15). Discuss and relate to counseling theory

and practice.

Soteriology

1. ―Justification by faith alone.‖ Discuss the meaning of this phrase.

2. Sanctification is said to be past, present, and future. Discuss, including the idea of ―union with

Christ.‖

3. Do Christians persevere? What relationship does this have to counseling?

Pneumatology

1. Who or what is the Holy Spirit?

2. What role does this Spirit play in the believer‘s life and the counseling process?

3. Does the Holy Spirit guide Christians? If so, what means and methods does He use?

Ecclesiology

1. What is the church?

2. What role does the church play in the believer‘s life and the counseling process?

3. What is the biblical teaching on women being ordained as officers of the church?

4. What authority, if any, does the church have over individuals and the counseling process?

General Questions

1. Are you involved in a larger group, organization, or denomination, which disagrees with

NANC‘s Statement of Faith? If so, how do you differ from your larger group? Explain what you

are doing to influence your group towards NANC‘s position.

2. If received as a NANC member, can you unequivocally sign the membership covenant?

Bibliology

1. The Bible is spoken of as “inspired.” What does this mean?

Perhaps the greatest issue surrounding the inspiration of Scripture would be that of origin or who

is the ultimate source? The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology states, ―The theological idea of

inspiration, like its correlative revelation, presupposes a personal mind and will – in Hebrew

terminology, the ‗living God‘ – acting to communicate with other spirits.‖1 Four hundred and

thirteen times in the KJV the O.T. writer‘s state ―thus saith the Lord.‖ Both Isaiah and Jeremiah

claim the Lord put His words in their mouth.2 Moses and Jeremiah claim God commanded them

to write His words in a book.3 Paul refers to Scripture as the ―oracles of God.‖

4 Peter tells us we

have a ―more sure word of prophecy‖ than even that of the eyewitnesses of Christ‘s glory, that

―no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation,‖ and that it did not come by the

―will of man‖ but, rather, by ―holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.‖5 The

Greek word for moved is phero6 and means to bear along or to carry and implies an activity

more specific than mere guidance or direction.7 Paul again states, ―All scripture is given by

inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in

righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.‖8

The Greek word for inspiration is theopneustos.9 It is pronounced theh-op'-nyoo-stos and it

comes from the Greek word theos10

and a presumed derivative of pneo.11

The Greek root ―theos‖

means God and ―pneo‖ means to breathe; thus, it means ―God-breathed.‖ Since breathe is also

translated ―spirit‖ (pneuma12

) then we can conclude the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the

Scriptures. The process by which He did this is found in 2Pe 1:21. There are various views of

inspiration. For example some speak of inspiration in the same sense as that of any human

literary work. Take Shakespeare, for example, but Paul in 1Cor 2:13 contrasts this kind of

inspiration. Others believe only the concepts of Scripture were inspired, the words however were

not since they were chosen by the human authors. This opens the door to reject and/or take

1 Editor Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pg 145

2 Isa 51:16; Jer 1:9

3 Ex 17:14; Jer 30:2

4 Rom 3:2

5 2Pe 1:15-21

6 Strong‘s 5342

7 Editor Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pg 146

8 2Tim 3:16-17

9 Strong's, 2315

10 Strong‘s, 2316

11 Strong‘s, 4154

12 Strong‘s, 4151

liberties in ones interpretation of Scripture as it suits the person. Others believe God inspires the

person only as he reads Scripture. This strips Scripture of its absolute authority making it

subjective in nature -- inspiration would vary from person to person, from passage to passage,

and from time-to-time. Still others hold to a dictation form of inspiration in which the human

authors simply wrote down word-for-word what God told them to write. Some Scripture was

dictated such as the Ten Commandments13

but this fails to take personal styles into account. And

others believe the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture but claim He is still inspiring people today thru

the means of Tradition, Visions, and various kinds of Extra-Biblical writings. This opens the

door for cult deception. According to Grudem14

―our ultimate conviction that the words of the

Bible are God‘s Words comes only when the Holy Spirit speaks in and through the words of the

Bible to our hearts and gives us an inner assurance that these are the words of our Creator

speaking to us.‖ I believe in the plenary verbal inspiration of Scripture.15

Plenary means full;

thus, the whole of Scripture is inspired not just its parts. Verbal means even the words were

inspired not just the concepts/ideas. It is false to say that God simply gave the thoughts to the

human writers allowing them to express it in their own words. The writers of the bible did not

give their own interpretation of things.16

While it is true that the individual style of the writer was

not destroyed it is equally true that the very words penned were those taught by the Holy Spirit.17

Thus all of Scripture is inspired not just the writer, the reader, nor the hearer. A good definition

of Inspiration is: ―A special act of the Holy Spirit by which He guided the writers of Scripture so

that their words and writings became trustworthy, authoritative, and conveyed precisely the

instruction necessary for our perfection.‖

13

Ex 31:18 14

Wayne Grudem; Systematic Theology, Chapter 4 page 77 15

Matt 5:18 16

2Pe 1:20-21 17

1Cor 2:13

2. What is the relationship between infallibility and authority?

―The authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God‘s words in such a way

that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God..in the Old

Testament..‘Thus says the Lord‘..would have been recognized as identical in form to the phrase,

‗Thus says king…,‘ which was used to preface the edict of a king to his subjects, an edict that

could not be challenged or questioned but that simply had to be obeyed. Thus when the prophets

say, ‗Thus says the Lord,‘ they are claiming to be messengers from the sovereign King of Israel,

namely, God himself, and they are claiming that their words are the absolutely authoritative

words of God.‖18

There are two kinds of authority: inherent and delegated. The Greek word for

authority is exousia.19

It is from Greek 1832 (exesti) (in the sense of ability); privilege, i.e.

(subject) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (object) mastery (concrete magistrate,

superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence :- authority, jurisdiction, liberty,

power, right, strength. When the chief priests, scribes, and elders asked Jesus ―by what authority

doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?‖20

they were

denying His deity or His inherent authority, for God when He ―made promise to Abraham,

because He could swear by no greater, He swear by Himself.‖21

They were assuming He was

simply a man acting on behalf of, or under the delegated authority of, another man. ―In its

personal reference authority is the right and capacity of an individual to perform what he wills

and who, by virtue of his position or office, can command obedience. It has also an application

to words spoken or written whose accuracy has been established and whose information can

consequently be trusted..Because the bible points beyond itself to God, it has a conferred

authority. Yet the bible has a real authority in itself as the authentic embodiment of God‘s self-

disclosure.‖22

In the KJV of the Bible we read of Jesus ―To whom also he shewed himself alive

after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the

things pertaining to the kingdom of God.‖23

While there is no Greek word for infallible in the

original text it is commonly defined as: 1) incapable of erring; 2) incapable of failing.24

Divine

inspiration demands inerrancy for one of the distinguishing marks of a false prophet was the

18

Wayne Grudem; Systematic Theology, Chapter 4 page 74 19

Strong‘s, 1849 20

Mk 11:28-33 21

Heb 6:13 22

Editor Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pg 138-139 23

Acts 1:3 24

The American Heritage Dictionary, Based on the New Second College Edition, pg 356

failure of the spoken word to come to pass.25

How could a God who ―cannot lie‖,26

who is Truth

Incarnate,27

produce anything written or otherwise less than perfection? And, indeed, that is the

testimony of Scripture.28

God, however, has not left us to walk by blind faith but, rather, has left

us with ―many infallible proofs‖ regarding the veracity of His written word. Statisticians claim

anything beyond 10 50th power is a mathematical absurdity. Professor Emeritus of Science at

Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has concluded any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is

rejecting a fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world after arriving at

an extremely conservative estimate that the probability of just 48 biblical prophecies being

fulfilled in one person is the incredible number of 10157th power (Edersheim claimed that the Old

Testament contains 456 prophesies). Beyond the fulfillment of prophesy the Bible is

scientifically accurate. It is in total agreement with the First and Second Laws of

Thermodynamics, the Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy, Entropy, Information Theory,

and Taxonomy. Although written thousands of years ago it claims the earth is spherical, rotates

about its axis, and is free floating in space.29

It is medically accurate in its directions for waste

disposal and circumcision30

and it has been proven correct time and again by archeological digs.

God gave us an infallible and inerrant record of a King who takes the initiative,31

leads by

example, and desires a loving relationship with us in which we choose to trust and obey Him out

of love32

rather than obey out of a self-centered fearful obligation. I wish now to briefly point

out what I believe to be perhaps the most significant relationship between infallibility and

authority; that being one‘s motivation for obedience. Jesus could demand our obedience

regardless of His credibility simply because of His rightful position as Creator. He, however,

simply says ―If ye love me, keep my commandments.‖33

We have eye-witness records34

of the

One ―who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil‖, in whom

was found ―no fault‖, the Lamb who shed His blood for the remission of our sins.35

We need not

question His word or motives; we need just to submit.

25

Deut 18:20-22 26

Tit 1:2 27

Jn 14:6 28

Ps 19:7 29

Isa 40:22; Job 38:14; Job 26:7 30

Deut 23:12-14; Gen 17:12 31

1Jn 4:19 32

2Cor 5:14 33

Jn 14:15 34

Lk 1:2; 2Pe 1:16 35

Acts 10;28; Jn 18:38; Jn 15:13

3. What is the Bible’s authority on theological controversies?

―That, the revelation of God in Jesus Christ is infallible, in the general sense that it presents

mankind with the infallible way of salvation, would be accepted by all Christians, but the seat of

infallibility is a matter of controversy. Three main lines of thought may be discerned

corresponding to the three main divisions of Christendom. The Eastern Orthodox Church

believes that general councils of the Church are guided by the Holy Spirit so as not to err; the

Roman Catholic Church believes that the pope is personally preserved from error by God; and

Protestant thought relies on the sufficiency of Holy Scripture as the guide to God‘s self-

revelation.‖36

The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter XXXI, states ―All synods or

councils, since the Apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err; and many have erred.

Therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith, or practice; but to be used as a help in both.‖

R.C. Sproul says ―by the time Luther stood before the Diet of Worms, the principle of Sola

Scriptura was already well established in his mind and work. Only the Scripture carries absolute

normative authority. Why? For Luther the sola of Sola Scriptura was inseparably related to the

Scriptures‘ unique inerrancy. It was because popes could and did err and because councils

could and did err that Luther came to realize the supremacy of Scripture. Luther did not despise

church authority nor did he repudiate church councils as having no value. His praise of the

Council of Nicea is noteworthy. Luther and the Reformers did not mean by Sola Scriptura that

the Bible is the only authority in the church. Rather, they meant that the Bible is the only

infallible authority in the church. Paul Althaus summarizes the train of Luther‘s thought by

saying: We may trust unconditionally only in the Word of God and not in the teaching of the

fathers; for the teachers of the Church can err and have erred. Scripture never errs. Therefore it

alone has unconditional authority. The authority of the theologians of the Church is relative and

conditional. Without the authority of the words of Scripture, no one can establish hard and fast

statements in the Church.‖37

Keith A. Mathison in his book ―The Shape of Sola Scriptura‖38

states ―The Scriptures were to be interpreted in and by the Church within the hermeneutical

context of the regula fidei.‖ This he refers to as Tradition I and was the general consensus of the

church regarding Scripture and Tradition for the first three centuries. Around the fourth century

he says we see the first hints of a two-source concept of Tradition which he calls Tradition II.

But it wasn‘t until early fourteenth century that William of Ockham clearly taught a two-source

36

Editor Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pg 558 37

http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_sola_sproul.html 38

Pages 151-153

concept of Tradition. Tradition II believes Scripture and Tradition are equal and that neither can

stand apart from the other. He goes on to say ―In the sixteenth-century Reformation, Martin

Luther and John Calvin used Tradition I to battle the results of Tradition II within the Roman

Catholic Church. Their emphasis on Scripture as the sole source of revelation and as the sole

infallible authority led them to argue for Tradition I using the slogan sola scriptura.‖ In recent

centuries, he says, Rome has begun to develop a Tradition III view ―in which the real source of

revelation is neither Scripture nor Tradition but instead is the living Magisterium.‖ Over against

this he says the radicals took a Tradition 0 position in which ‗sola‘ has become ‗solo‘ meaning

Tradition has no authority of any kind. He concludes by saying ―If we are to maintain a sound

Christian doctrine of authority..we must insist that, by virtue of its absolutely unique character

as the inspired Word of the living God, Scripture is the sole infallible authority for doctrine and

practice. And we must also insist that Scripture is to be interpreted within the hermeneutical

boundaries of the apostolic rule of faith in and by the communion of saints.‖ Orthodoxy is an

important guard against heresy and deception and should not be taken lightly; however, Scripture

says ―But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. [and] ..the anointing

which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the

same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught

you, ye shall abide in him.‖39

A.A. Hodge in chapter five of his ―Outlines of Theology‖ states

―The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, having been given by the inspiration of God, are

the all-sufficient and only rule of faith and practice, and judge of controversies.‖ Chapter I of the

Westminster Confession of Faith states it best when it says ―The infallible rule of interpretation

of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full

sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other

places that speak more clearly..The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to

be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and

private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the

Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.‖

39

1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27

4. Compare and contrast the Bible and its authority to general revelation and its authority.

The Greek word for authority is exousia.40

In part it means ability or power. The Greek word for

revelation is apokalupsis. 41

It comes from the Greek 601 (apokalupto); and means disclosure :-

appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation. Therefore, we are talking

about the ability or power of something to reveal something. With disclosure comes knowledge

and with knowledge comes accountability. God will hold us accountable for the light that has

been revealed whether acknowledged or not. Such light has been disclosed in two great books.

Spurgeon says, ―He is wisest who reads both the world-book and the Word-book as two volumes

of the same work, and feels concerning them, My Father wrote them both.‖42

The world-book is

read thru the spectacles of general revelation. The Word-book is read thru the pages of special

revelation. Each book consists of two volumes: the world-book consists of natural and innate

revelation while the Word-book consists of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. General

revelation has the powerful ability to reveal a lot of things; however, natural man in his innate

condition does not have the ability to process them correctly. The world-book is known and read

by all men yet to what avail is the loudest declaration to the ear of the deaf, or the clearest

showing to the eye of the blind? God says ―Come now, and let us reason together..‖43

He says let

―us‖ for He alone has the power to grant ability to those who have none. Much harm has been

done by the slogan ‗all truth is God‘s truth.‘ ―Usually, this slogan goes along with an

explanation that God reveals much through unbelievers by means of ‗general revelation.‘ The

problem with that, however, is that while God does reveal Himself in nature through creation,

there is no biblical warrant for thinking He uses men like Adler to reveal truth..All ‗human

discoveries‘ are deficient and quite often erroneous. Scientists know this and are constantly

correcting their understandings of ‗discoveries..Why would a Christian want to trade a perfect,

written revelation from God..for the error-ridden ideas of men? Because of the noetic effects of

sin (how sin has affected man‘s thinking), we can expect him to lean in wrong directions. And,

what is true of Christians – who also are far from perfect – is doubly true of those who have no

basis in true revelation from which to do their thinking.‖44

General revelation reveals God‘s

glorious wisdom and artistry in creation, His existence, power, judgment, morality, and

40

Strong‘s, 1849 41

Strong‘s 602 42

Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Ps 19 Overview 43

Isa 1:18 44

Jay Adam, Greg Dawson and the Psychology class, pgs 42-44

eternality.45

But, like the law, it can only condemn; it has no power to save.46

It does not and

cannot reveal Christ as the only satisfactory propitiation for our sins and way of reconciliation

with God without which man is left to walk in the vanity of his mind and the blindness of his

heart.47

For example, the evidence for evolution is not so overwhelming as to compel one to

accept it; rather, man desires some explanation for his origin that will eliminate God. It is a

philosophical rather than intellectual issue. George Wald said ―When it comes to the origin of life

there are only two possibilities: creation or spontaneous generation. There is no third way.

Spontaneous generation was disproved over a hundred years ago, but that leads us to only one

other conclusion, that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds;

therefore, we choose to believe the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance."48

This

depraved condition demands that general revelation be subordinate to special revelation. General

revelation is like the starry luminaries, which enable a man to see and speculate about wondrous

things afar off. Special revelation, however, is like the domineering sun under whose light one

can see things clearly. While the Word-book ‗can‘ be read by all men it will only be understood

by those whom the Holy Spirit quickens and illumines to its truth about Christ.49

Spurgeon says,

―I take it that the highest proof of Christ‘s power is not that he offers salvation, not that he bids

you take it if you will, but that when you reject it, when you hate it, when you despise it, he has a

power whereby he can change your mind, make you think differently from your former thoughts,

and turn you from the error of your ways.‖50

The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter X,

states ―All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his

appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin

and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ..renewing their

wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing

them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.‖ General

revelation reveals God leaving men excuseless at the judgment; special revelation reveals Christ

who is our Judge and the standard by which we will be judged and what we must do about our

predicament.51

45

Ps 19; Rom 1; Rom 2:14-15; Ecc 3:11 46

Jn 3:18; Rom 3:19, 5:12-14, 8:3; Gal 3:23-24 47

Rom 3:25; 1Jn 2:2; 2Cor 5:19; Eph 4:17-21 48

Lindsay, Dennis, ―The Dinosaur Dilemma," Christ for the Nations, Vol. 35, No. 8, November 1982, pp. 4-5, 14 49

Eph 2:1; Lk 24:27 50

Spurgeon, 2,200 Quotations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon, Baker Books 1988, pg 89 51

Rom 1:20; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom 2:16; 2Tim 4:1; 1Pe 4:5; Rom 5:10

5. Many Christians today speak of continuing revelation. Relate this concept to inspiration

and sufficiency of the Scripture. Relate this concept to the issue of miracles, prophecy and

tongues.

God is infinite, man is finite, the finite could know nothing of the infinite unless the infinite

reveals Himself. Revelation is that disclosure. The word comes from the Greek apokalupsis,

meaning disclosure :- appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed.52

God has revealed

Himself thru general and special revelation. We know God exists thru general revelation:

Creation, reason, and conscience renders all excuseless.53

General revelation ceased when God

rested on the seventh day from His creative work as evidenced by science.54

General revelation is

not a sufficient guide for life because it fail‘s to take the noetic effects of sin upon man‘s

conscience and ability to reason into account nor does it contain an objective, prescriptive,

redemptive declaration. Do we have such a sufficient guide? Yes – in special revelation. The

Westminster Divines said ―Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and

providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men

inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is

necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manner,

to reveal Himself, and to declare His will unto His Church; and afterwards, for the better

preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the

Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit

the same wholly unto writing: ..those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people

being now ceased..Under the name of Holy Scripture...which are given by inspiration of God to

be the rule of faith and life.”55 Grudem says, ―The Ten Commandments.. form the beginning of

the biblical canon..Later, others in Israel, usually those who fulfilled the office of prophet, wrote

additional words from God..The content of the Old Testament canon continued to grow until the

time of the end of the writing process..after approximately 435 B.C. there were no further

additions to the Old Testament canon..The development of the New Testament canon begins with

the writings of the apostles.. It should be remembered that the writing of Scripture primarily

occurs in connection with God‘s great acts in redemptive history..The Old Testament closes with

the expectation of the Messiah to come..The next stage in redemptive history is the coming of the

52

Strong‘s, 602 53

Ps 19; Rom 1; Rom 2:14-15 54

Gen 2:2-3; 1st Law of Thermodynamics & Laws of Conservation of mass and energy.

55 Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter One

Messiah..It is primarily the apostles who are given the ability from the Holy Spirit to recall

accurately the words of and deeds of Jesus and to interpret them rightly for subsequent

generations..those who have the office of apostle in the early church are seen to claim an

authority equal to that of the Old Testament prophets..Should we expect any more writings to be

added to the canon? The opening sentence in Hebrews puts this question in the proper historical

perspective..The contrast between the former speaking ‗of old‘ by the prophets and the recent

speaking ‗in these last days‘ suggest that God‘s speech to us by his Son is the culmination of his

speaking to mankind and is the greatest and final revelation to mankind in this period of

redemptive history..These facts all indicate that there is a finality to the revelation of God in

Christ and that once this revelation has been completed, no more is to be expected..Hebrews 1:1-

2 shows us why no more writings can be added to the Bible after the time of the New Testament.

The canon is now closed.“56 We know O.T. revelation ceased as the O.T. canon we have today is

the same as that of the Jews endorsed by Christ millennia ago.57

Christ establishes the canon and

gives it a concrete historical form. In Christ both revelation and redemption come to their climax

and conclusion. Only the return of Christ is now outstanding.58

The N.T. is described as the

foundation upon which we are to build; this requires a completed foundation.59

Furthermore we

cannot ‗prove all things‘60

without an objective standard upon which to judge. God‘s inspired

and inerrant Word claims to be sufficient;61 therefore, as one would expect we find at the

conclusion of each stage of redemptive revelation a prohibition against adding to or removing

from that section of Scripture.62 The placement and prohibition found in the last book of the bible

is no accident. The need for miracles, prophecy and tongues in the infant church has likewise

ceased. Jesus said ―A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no

sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.‖ And Paul says ―Charity never faileth:

but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease;

whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.‖63

Ours today is not to seek extra-biblical

revelation but to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered.64

56

Grudem, Systematic Theology, pgs 54 - 64 57

Isa 8:16, 20; Lk 11:51; Lk 24:27,44 58

1Thes 1:10 59

1Cor 3:10-11; Eph 2:20; 2Pe 1:19 60

1Thes 5:21 61

2 Pe 1:21; 2Tim 3:16; Matt 5:18; Jn 17:17; Ps 18:30, 19:7, 119:160; Titus 1:2; 2Pe 1:3; Ps 19; 2Tim 3:15-17 62

Deut 4:2, 12:32; Prov 30:5-6; Rev 22:18-19; 1Macc 9:27 63

Matt 16:4; 1Cor 13:8-10 64

Jn 16:8; Jude 3; 2Cor 2:9; Jn 14:15

Theology Proper

1. State briefly the biblical basis for, and formulate the doctrine of, the Trinity.

The doctrine of the Trinity is a cardinal Christian doctrine. Grudem says, ―Why was the church

so concerned about the doctrine of the Trinity? Is it really essential to hold to the full deity of the

Son and the Holy Spirit? Yes it is, for this teaching has implications for the very heart of the

Christian faith. First, the atonement is at stake..Second, justification by faith alone is

threatened..Third..if Jesus is merely a creature, no matter how great, it would be idolatry to

worship him—yet the New Testament commands us to do so..Fourth, if someone teaches that

Christ was a created being but nonetheless one who saved us..this wrongfully exalts the creature

rather than the Creator, something Scripture never allows us to do. Fifth, the independence and

personal nature of God are at stake..Sixth, the unity of the universe is at stake..Clearly, in the

doctrine of the Trinity, the heart of the Christian faith is at stake. Herman Bavinck says that

‗Athanasius understood better than any of his contemporaries that Christianity stands or falls

with the confession of the deity of Christ and of the Trinity.‘ He adds, ‗In the confession of the

Trinity throbs the heart of the Christian religion: every error results from, or upon deeper

refection may be traced to, a wrong view of the this doctrine.‘‖65

This doctrine teaches there is

but one God existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; each being the same in

substance, equal in power, eternality, and glory.66

Although the word trinity is not found in

Scripture the concept is found in many places. For example, right from the start in Genesis 1:26

we find a plurality in the name for God, elohiym,67

as well as the plural verb ―let us‖ and the

plural pronoun ―our.‖68

Elsewhere in the Old Testament we find passages where more than one

person is referred to as God.69

While the Old Testament does not give details the New

Testament, as one might expect, is more explicit. For example in Matt 3:16-17 we find all three

persons of the Trinity mentioned together.70

The doctrine of the Trinity is so profound the church

has to constantly protect it against heresies like Arianism which denies the deity of Christ. While

condemned at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 it still exists today in religions like the Jehovah‘s

Witnesses. Modalism, sometimes called Sabellianism, is another heresy while condemned by the

Synod of Smyrna in A.D. 200 is still alive within the United Pentecostal Church. It teaches there

65

Grudem, Systematic Theology, pgs 247-248 66

See the Westminster Shorter Catechism Questions 5 & 6. 67

Strong‘s, 430 68

See also Gen 3:22; Gen 11:7; Isa 6:8 69

Ps 45:6-7; Ps 110:1; Mal 3:1; Hos 1:7; Isa 48:16 70

See also Matt 28:19; 1Cor 12:4-6; 2Cor 13:14; Eph 4:4-6; 1Pe 1:2; Jude 20-21

are not three distinct persons in the Godhead but that God simply reveals Himself in three

different modes. Other heresies include Subordinationism which teaches the Son is not equal to

the Father, Adoptionism which teaches God merely adopted the Son and, Tritheism which denies

God is one but rather claims there are three gods. The church must be careful about using

simplistic explanations as well. God is not like inanimate created objects like an egg (shell, yoke,

white) or water (ice, liquid, mist). Only man was created in His image and likeness71

but even

human analogies have their difficulties (trichotomy vs dichotomy, etc.). In the doctrine of the

Trinity we find unity in diversity. God is a God of structure and order;72

therefore, we find this

unity in diversity principle throughout the created order. For example in the marriage

relationship we find husband, wife, and child. In this relationship we see how ‗one in three‘ is

not a contradiction of terms but rather a distinction in roles. We have one family composed of

three persons none of which are superior to another yet each for the sake of unity submitting in

an orderly fashion one to another.73

If we say ‗God is one‘ and then say ‗God is not one‘ then we

have a contradiction. But if we say ―In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one

substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: the

Father is of none, neither begotten, not proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father;

the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son‖74

then we maintain their

equality and unity while distinguishing the way they relate to each other and to creation and are

not guilty of a contradiction. Feminists, however, reject role distinctions; therefore, according to

the Apologetics Study Bible ―We should be wiling to challenge contemporary presuppositions in

the light of Scripture. Presupposition 1: Equality means sameness. Talk of different roles is

discriminatory. Response: Equality does not mean sameness. The three persons of the Trinity are

equal in deity but different in role. Presupposition 2: Difference in role relates directly to

personal worth. Submission equals relegation. Response: Submission does not mean being of

lesser worth. The Son submits to the Father, while being equal in deity, and His submission is

His glory.‖75

Roles and responsibilities are crucial for without them anarchy and/or chaos would

ensue. We see this principle even in our governmental system of checks and balances (executive,

judicial, and legislative). This inexhaustible doctrine is a non-negotiable.

71

Gen 1:26-27 72

1Cor 14:40 73

Eph 5:21-33; 6:1-3 74

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter II 75

Article ―Does the Bible Demean Women?‖

2. List and develop five attributes of God and how they relate to the believer’s life and

counseling.

J. I. Packer says ―The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing

and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God.‖76

Arthur Pink says ―The

foundation of all true knowledge of God must be a clear mental apprehension of His perfections

as revealed in Holy Scripture.‖77

The Westminster Shorter Catechism Q4 asks, ―What is God?‖

the answer is: ―God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power,

holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.‖ John MacArthur says ―There are many aspects of God

that Christian psychologists routinely ignore. In particular, His sovereignty, holiness, justice,

kingly authority, and power are virtually unmentioned. The fatherly love of God is the great

theme of these psychotherapists, but detached from the entirety of who God is, this love becomes

the unconditional positive regard of a great therapist in the sky..‖78

What saith the Scripture?

First, ―the sovereignty of God may be defined as the exercise of His supremacy.‖79

God does His

will and pleasure and ―none can stay His hand.‖80

We see His sovereignty in the way in which

He deals with man. He placed Adam as the federal head of humanity in the garden on a

conditional footing of obedience knowing he would fail. He placed the ―last Adam‖ (Christ) on

conditional footing ―made under the law to redeem them that were under the law‖ so that He

could place His elect on unconditional footing in Him.81

Charles Spurgeon said in his sermon on

Matt 20:15 ―There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of

Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they

believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that

Sovereignty will sanctify them all.‖ Second, ―God is immutable..He cannot change for the better,

for He is already perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse..Altogether

unaffected by anything outside Himself, improvement or deterioration is impossible.‖82

Because

God ―cannot lie‖ we know He will keep His promises; because God stays ―the same yesterday,

today, and forever‖ we know what He has done He will yet do; because in God there is ―no

variableness‖ we are encouraged to pray.83

―What comfort would it be to pray to a god that, like

76

J. I. Packer, Knowing God, pgs 19 & 21 77

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, preface 78

John MacArthur, Counseling – How to Counsel Biblically, pg 245 79

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pg 32 80

Isa 46:10; Dan 4:35; Eph 1:11; Rom 9:18; Ps 135:6; Ps 115:3 81

1Cor15:45; Gal 4:4-5; Heb 10:14 82

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pg37 83

Tit1:2; Heb 13:8; Jas 1:17; Mal 3:6

the chameleon, changed color every moment? Who would put up a petition to an earthly prince

that was so mutable as to grant a petition one day, and deny it another? (Stephen Charnock,

1670)‖84

Third, ―God‘s holiness is manifested at the Cross. Wondrously and yet most solemnly

does the Atonement display God‘s infinite holiness and abhorrence of sin. How hateful must sin

be to God for Him to punish it to its utmost deserts when it was imputed to His Son!‖85

We must

stand in reverential awe of the One in whom ―is no darkness,‖ is too pure to ―behold evil,‖ who

hates ―all workers of iniquity‖ and gets ―angry with the wicked every day,‖ and who commands

us to ―be holy as He is holy;‖ for it is this sovereign, immutable, ―Holy One‖ who ―will take

vengeance on His adversaries, and..reserveth wrath for His enemies‖ yet who ―giveth grace to

the humble.‖ 86

Fourth, ―God‘s power is not acquired, nor does it depend upon any recognition

by any other authority. It belongs to Him inherently.‖87

It is seen in creation and it is felt in

preservation. God is the One who walks ―upon the waves of the sea..in the circuits of

heaven..upon the wings of the wind; He commanded and ―it was so,‖ yea all things are upheld

―by the word of His power.‖88

Indeed we can adore and trust such a God ―seeing that He is

clothed with omnipotence, no prayer is too hard for Him to answer, no need too great for Him to

supply, no passion too strong for Him to subdue; no temptation too powerful for Him to deliver

from, no misery too deep for Him to relieve.‖89

Fifth, He ―abideth faithful‖ even when we do

not..‖hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? His compassions fail not, they are new

every morning: great is Thy faithfulness‖..in faithfulness He afflicts us knowing in our afflictions

we will seek Him.90

―When God smites us with the rod of chastisement, it is faithfulness which

wields it. To acknowledge this means that we humble ourselves before Him, own that we fully

deserve His correction, and instead of murmuring, thank Him for it..When we trustfully resign

ourselves, and all our affairs into God‘s hands, fully persuaded of His love and faithfulness, the

sooner shall we be satisfied with his providences and realize that ‗He doeth all things well.‘‖91

―God is true. His Word of Promise is sure. In all His relations with His people God is

faithful..This is basis of our confidence in Him.‖92

84

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pg 39 85

Arthur W. Pink, The attributes of God, pg 43 86

1Jn 1:5; Hab 1:13; Ps 5:5; Ps 7:11; 1Pe 1:16; Lk 4:34; Nah 1:2; 1Pe 5:5 87

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pg 47 88

Job 9:8; Job 22:14; Ps 104:3; Gen 1; 89

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pg 51 90

IITim 2:13; Num 23:19; Lam 3:22-23; Ps 119:75; Hos 5:15 91

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pgs 55-56 92

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pg 53

3. State briefly the biblical basis for, and formulate the doctrine of, God’s omniscience.

Relate this doctrine to the teaching of “open theism.”

Orthodox doctrine teaches God is omniscient; meaning ―He knows everything: everything

possible, everything actual; all events and all creatures, of the past, the present, and the

future..God not only knows whatsoever has happened in the past in every part of His vast

domains, and He is not only thoroughly acquainted with everything that is now transpiring

throughout the entire universe, but He is also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least to

the greatest, that ever will happen in the ages to come. God‘s knowledge of the future is as

complete as is His knowledge of the past and the present, and that, because the future depends

entirely upon Himself..neither God‘s knowledge nor His cognition of the future, considered

simply in themselves, are causative. Nothing has ever come to pass or ever will, merely because

God knew it. The cause of all things is the will of God..God‘s knowledge does not arise from

things because they are or will be, but because He has ordained them to be.‖93

Scripture declares

―Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world..[He] knoweth all things..all

things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do..He revealeth the

deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness..I know the things that come into your

mind..before they call, I will answer..His understanding is infinite.‖94

As Creator of all, ex nihilo,

He must be outside His creation -- transcendent. He cannot be bound by the laws, principles,

and/or boundaries He created/established for it. He cannot be dependent upon anything He

created while everything He created is dependent on Him.95

His plans/purposes cannot be

frustrated by the things He created.96

As Creator, He has an expected end in mind for His

creation.97

The intent which determines the first event must, of necessity, also determine all

subordinate events in reference to that expected end; otherwise, He could make nothing certain

as His control would be left in the hands of fallible and mutable dependencies. 98

For want of a

better word, God is outside the ‗timeline‘ He established for human history and, for want of a

better concept, He is currently looking down upon the extent of human history. By virtue of that

vantage point He, of necessity and from all eternity, has declared the beginning from the end.99

93

Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, pgs 17, 19,20 94

Acts 15:18; 1Jn 3:20; Jn 21:17; Heb 4:13; Dan 2:22; Eze 11:5; Isa 65:24; Ps147:5; Acts 2:23 95

Rom 11:33-36 96

Dan 4:35; Isa 45:9; Rom 9:19-21; Ps 115:3 97

Jer 29:11; Eph 1:9-11; Matt 25:34; Rev 21:1-7; Rev 20:11-15 98

Act 15:18; Heb 4:3; Rev 13:8; Rom 8:38-39 99

Heb 7:3; Dan 12:7; Lk 21:24; Gal 4:4; Isa 40:22; Ps 33:14; Isa 46:9-11

This means in some fashion He is the first cause of whatsoever comes to pass.100

In this sense

Scripture declares all actions, sinful or otherwise, are ordained by God according to His

permissive will and intended purposes.101

The church has always taught God is both transcendent

and immanent. He is separate from the world yet continuously present in it. He is not bound by

time yet actively engaged within it. Orthodoxy is a great protection against heresy and deception

like that found in Open Theism. ―Open theism, according to Clark Pinnock, is the belief that

God‘s sovereignty is necessarily self-limited by virtue of his creation of free agents. God‘s

power stops where human will begins, by God‘s own deliberate self-limitation. God cannot

foreknow the future actions of free agents, because then those future actions would not be free.

Therefore, God‘s foreknowledge also is self-limited. Hence, the future is not certain, and God‘s

greatness is not found in his divine control of the future or in his exhaustive foreknowledge of the

future, but rather in his flexible, adroit, wise, quick responses to things as they unfold..Boyd

believes that God predetermines some things, but not all things, and therefore, there are some

things in the future which are as yet unsettled. They are dependent upon the free actions of free

agents and—and this is the most important thing—they cannot be known because they do not yet

exist..The idea is that God knows all things that exist, but parts of the future don‘t yet exist, and

therefore even God can‘t know those parts of the future because they don‘t exist. Boyd argues

that God can only foreknow that which he has predetermined, and since he has not

predetermined all things, he cannot foreknow the future exhaustively. He objects, then, to the

concept of exhaustive divine foreknowledge—the view that God knows all future events and

contingencies perfectly and completely. A view, by the way, which has been held by Calvinists,

Wesleyans, Lutherans, and also by almost all Arminians, until the advent of open theism.―102

The

Socinians believed that God's omniscience was limited to what was a necessary truth in the

future (what would definitely happen), and did not apply to what was a contingent truth (what

might happen). They believed that, if God knew every possible future, human free will was

impossible; and as such rejected the ‗hard‘ view of omniscience.103

Unfortunately they also

denied the deity of Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the propitiatory view of atonement.

Today‘s open theism is just the same old heresy revised for today‘s culture.

100

Isa 45:7 101

Job 1:7-12; Gen 45:4-5; 50:20; Rom 9:17; Acts 2:23, 3:18, 13:48; Jer 1:5; Rom 13:1; Eph 2:10; Jude 4 102

Ligon Duncan, The Openness of God Controversy, Seminar presented in April of 2001 103

Wikipedia

Anthropology

1. Who and what is man?

Man is not a highly evolved primate nor robot but rather the pinnacle of God‘s creation in

that he alone was created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27) for the purpose of

enjoying a mutually pleasing relationship with Him forever.104

Note the plural word for God

―Elohiym‖ in Genesis 1:26-27. One of the tenets of the Christian faith is that God is three yet

one. James Boice105

says that there are three reasons why the creation of man must be

studied. First, the general reason is that creation as a whole reveals something of its Creator.

Second, the specific reason is that man's makeup as a unique part of creation made in the

image and likeness of God reveals aspects of God's being that are not seen in the rest of the

created order and must be seen if we are to understand God. Third, the theological reason is

that we cannot have a genuine knowledge of God unless it is accompanied by a

corresponding knowledge of ourselves. Image is defined as a reproduction of the form of

someone or something, esp. a sculptured likeness.106

The Hebrew word for image, tselem107

is from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, i.e. a representative figure. Likeness is

defined as the state or quality of resembling or being like something. Synonyms: similarity,

similitude, resemblance, analogy, affinity.108

The Hebrew word for likeness, d'muwth109

is

from damah;110

resemblance; manner, similitude. These terms are quite similar however they

can be differentiated. We can say God‘s image is spiritual in that He does not have flesh and

bones (Jn 4:24; Lk 24:39) and God‘s likeness is triune consisting of Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit (Matt 3:16-17) with the attributes of holiness, justice, wisdom, goodness, etc. Natural

man is a dichotomy consisting of body (physical image) and soul (Gen 2:7; Matt 10:28). Do

not make the mistake of equating a spiritual trinity with a human trichotomy. The Greek

word for soul (psuche111

) implies plurality for it is defined as the breath of man. Breath

implies a continual breathing rather than a single breath. The Greek word for spirit

(pneuma112

), speaks of a single ―current‖ of air or a single breath. Both words speak of the

inward invisible spiritual ―entities‖ of man. Since God does not have a body we must

104

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 1 105

James Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, Inter-Varsity Press 106

The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company. 107

Strong's, 6754 108

The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company. 109

Strong's, 1823 110

Strong‘s 1819 111

Strong's, 5570 112

Strong's, 4151

conclude our Soul is triune and using biblical terms it consists of three spiritual entities

called Heart, Mind, and Will. It is important not to confuse entities with attributes. By

attributes we mean things like intellect, memory, desires, emotions, conscience, etc. The Will

is the seat of choice. Our will produces outward manifestations of what we really are on the

inside (Mk 7:21-23); it determines what our body does. The Greek word thelema113

translated 'will' in the bible speaks of ones determination; in the active sense it means a

choice, purpose, or decree. The Heart is the seat of emotion and/or desire; out of it springs all

the issues of life (Prov 4:23). When the heart and mind are in agreement the ―Will‖ naturally

follows. When they are in disagreement the mind tends to rationalize the wrong intents of the

heart. The writer of Hebrews talks about the intent of the heart.114

The Greek word for heart

is kardia115

and it speaks of our feelings. Our nature or our disposition, our inclination, is

germinated within the heart. The Mind is the seat of intellect. It is the repository of all

knowledge, facts and opinions. It is the mind that gives us our reasoning and memory

capacity. The Greek word for mind is nous116

and means intellect or thought. Acting on

knowledge without understanding is perhaps the greatest device in Satan's arsenal. Due to the

interaction of the entities of the soul man was created a free moral agent with the ability to

think rationally, control his passions, and choose to live obediently; therefore, he will be held

accountable by His Creator. At the fall man lost his spiritual liberty (ability to please God)

and was left with only natural liberty (ability to please only himself). See Jonathon

Edwards‘ work on the freedom of the will. When quickened by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:1)

the believer receives a new heart (Eze 36:26) making him a partaker of the Divine nature

(2Pe 1:4). The natural heart helps make man unique while the new heart ―unites‖ believers as

one in the body of Christ. This duality of heart within the believer causes an internal battle

(Rom 7:14-25), not experienced by the unbeliever. The Greek word sarx117

translated flesh

refers to the tissue inside the body; beneath the skin. When referring to the innate fallen heart

of man the bible uses the term flesh -- as opposed to soma118

meaning body. The bible refers

to the new righteous heart of a believer as ―the‖ spirit vs ―a‖ spirit like the heart, mind, and

will. The unbeliever does not have ―the‖ spirit and is therefore driven solely by his flesh.

113

Strong's, 2307 114

Hebrews 4:12 115

Strong's, 2588 116

Strong's, 3563 117

Strong's 4561 118

Strong's 4983

2. What role does anthropology play in counseling theory and practice?

Anthropology is ―the science of the origin, culture, and development of human beings.‖119

Because all counseling aims at helping human beings solve problems by making life changes

anthropology is extremely significant to the counseling process. In order for a counselor to make

progress toward a goal or objective there must be an absolute standard by which to measure

conformance. There have only been two men in the history of mankind free from abnormality

and thus candidates for that standard; the First Adam (prior to the fall) and Last Adam.120

The

First Adam fell plummeting the whole of humanity into abnormality (see the doctrine of original

sin). Yet secular humanism puts fallen man in God‘s place making him the measure of all things.

―Every book on psychology or counseling that seriously struggles with the question of normality

(or abnormality) ultimately concludes that it is not really possible to set any absolute norms by

which to make a judgment that any given belief or behavior is ―normal‖ or ―abnormal.‖ Yet, the

authors of these books persist on using these terms anyway, and go so far as to declare various

behaviors normal or abnormal. Usually this is done on the basis of sociological theories..

Sociology, by its presuppositions, objectives and methodology, can never arrive at biblical

norms. It deals with sinful, abnormal men..You may say that society is the standard, or you may

say pragmatically that what works is the standard or that the counselee is the standard; but

when you finally boil it all down and strip off the externals, what you have left is this: the

individual psychotherapist determines the standard. The problem of subjectivity is enormous.

Something from outside of the counselor and counselee is needed; something far more solidly

grounded than any limited and biased individual is required..And we won‘t get that norm by

sociological studies either, because they will only tell us what the average attitudes and

behaviors that we, in a given period or place, have.‖121

In defining normal we must begin with

man‘s constituent makeup. Natural man is a dichotomy consisting of a material body and an

immaterial soul.122

Error here can lead to Gnostic heresy attributing all evil to the material

universe; thus, attributing sin to the body alone prompting thoughts of flagellation and/or suicide.

Scripture reveals sin as a spiritual problem rather than a biological issue.‖123

Error in man‘s

constituent parts can further lead men like Clyde Narramore into a faulty trichotomy view in

which he advocates integration by contending the body should be treated by a physician, the

119

The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company 120

1Cor 15:45 121

Jay Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption, Zondervan kindle Edition, pg 100-103 122

Gen 2:7; Matt 10:28 123

Matt 15:18-20

spirit by a pastor, and the soul by a psychologist.124

Scripture declares all the issues of life

flow125

from the immaterial part of man; change requires a new nature and a renewed mind.126

Because the soul was created in the image and likeness of God127

we know man is a morally

responsible being. This view is in stark contrast to the deterministic views of men like Freud and

Skinner who see man as an animalistic victim of conscience and/or environment without any

absolute standard to live by. Man is a social being; we find unity within the Trinity and after

creating the First Adam God says ‖it is not good that man should be alone― so He created Eve

and commanded them to ―be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.‖128

We are to be in

the world but not of the world. Never are we told to live in isolation. People who have no friends

live abnormal lives; loneliness is a real problem. Work is part of man‘s nature as God worked six

days, rested on the seventh, and upon placing the First Adam in the garden commanded him to

dress and keep it.129

For one not to work is to breed depression, discontentment, uneasiness, and

slothfulness; if a man refuses to provide for his family he is worse than an infidel.130

Selflessness

is normal as the Last Adam humbled himself, chose to die for His bride, and when asked ―which

is the great commandment in the law?‖ said love the Lord thy God above all and love your

neighbor as yourself.131

Error here can lead to faulty views of self-love/self-esteem. He did not

command us to love our self as that is an innate self-preservation mechanism. Jesus said love

God first, then by example and thru the inspiration of Paul132

we find love for others next leaving

self last; this is the righteous order of affection reversed by the fall. When confronted, the First

Adam blamed Eve placing his wellbeing above hers and then when God said ―because thou hast

hearkened unto the voice of thy wife‖133

we see Adam placed himself at the top putting God at

the bottom. Self-centeredness is abnormal and breeds pride, bitterness, wrath, anger, and war.134

Jesus said ―If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow

me.‖135

One must know the original design of man before he can authoritatively direct change

restoring normality.

124

Jay Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption, Zondervan kindle Edition, pg 110 125

Prov 4:23 126

21Pe 1:4; Rom 12:2 127

Gen 1:26-27 128

Gen 2:18; 1:28 129

Gen 2:1-3, 15 130

Prov 21:25; 1Tim 5:8 131

Phil 2:8; Eph 5:25; Matt 22:36-40 132

Phil 2:3 133

Gen 3:12, 17 134

Prov 16:8; Eph 4:31-32; Jas 4:1-2 135

Matt 16:24

Christology

1. Why did Christ die?

Christ died to become the Mediator of a new and better covenant. Upon creating Adam God

entered into a covenant of works with man. In this covenant we find: "1st. The 'contracting

parties."--(1) God, the moral Governor, by necessity of nature and relation demanding perfect

conformity to moral law. 2) Adam, the free moral agent, by necessity of nature and relation

under the inalienable obligation of moral law. 2nd. The 'promises,' life and favor.--Matt. xix. 16,

17; Gal. iii. 12. 3rd. The 'conditions' upon which the promises were suspended, perfect

obedience, in this instance subjected to a special test, that of abstaining from the fruit of the 'tree

of knowledge.' 4th. The 'alternative penalty.' 'In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely

die.'--Gen. ii. 16, 17.‖136

As Federal Head of humanity Adam‘s failure to keep the covenant

resulted in: ―1st. The judicial charging of the legal responsibility of that sin upon all at their

creation.. 2nd. The consequent birth of each of his descendents in a state of exclusion from the

life-giving communion of the divine Spirit. 3rd. The consequent loss of original righteousness,

and the inherent and prevailing tendency to sin, which is the invariable moral condition of each

of his descendents from birth. 4th. The absolute moral inability of men to change their natures or

to fulfill their obligations."137

Where the law is weak, grace is strong.138

There was a covenant

with the First Adam so there is a Covenant with the Last Adam. "..as God is an infinite, eternal,

and immutable intelligence he must have formed, from the beginning, an all-comprehensive and

unchangeable Plan of all his works in time, including Creation, Providence, and Redemption..

1st. ..such a Covenant is virtually implied in the existence of an eternal Plan of salvation.. 2nd.

That Christ represented his elect in that Covenant is necessarily implied in the doctrine of

sovereign personal election to grace and salvation. Christ says of his sheep, 'Thine they were,

and thou gavest them me,' and 'Those whom thou gavest me I have kept,' etc.--John xvii. 6,12.

3rd. The Scriptures declare the existence of the promise and conditions of such a Covenant, and

present them in connection.--Isa. liii. 10,11. 4th. The Scriptures expressly affirm the existence of

such a Covenant.--Isa. xlii. 6; Ps lxxxix. 3. 5th. Christ makes constant reference to a previous

commission he had received of his Father.--John x. 18; Luke xxii. 29. 6th. Christ claims a

reward which had been conditioned upon the fulfillment of that commission.--John xvii. 4. 7th.

Christ constantly asserts that his people and his expected glory are given to him as a reward by

136

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, Chapter XVII, pgs 309-310 137

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, Chapter XVIII, pg 324 138

Rom 8:1-4

his Father.--John xvii. 6,9,24; Phil. ii. 6-11."139

The Mediator of this new Covenant had to be

uniquely human and divine (hypostatic union). "If Christ is not in the same person both God and

man, he either could not die, or his death could not avail. If he be not man, his whole history is a

myth; if he be not God, to worship him is idolatry, yet not to worship him is to disobey the

Father.--John v. 23.‖140

Christ alone fulfills the requirement because: ―1st. It was clearly

necessary that the Mediator should be God. (1.) That he might be independent, and not the mere

creature of either party, or otherwise he could not be the efficient maker of peace. (2.) That he

might reveal God and his salvation to men, 'For no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he

to whom the Son will reveal him.'--Matt. xi. 27; John i. 18. (3.) That being, as to person, above

all law, and as to dignity of nature, infinite, he might render to the law in behalf of his people a

free obedience, which he did not otherwise owe for himself, and that his obedience and suffering

might possess an infinite value. (4.) That he might possess the infinite wisdom, knowledge, and

power requisite to administer the infinite realms of providence and grace, which are committed

to his hands as mediatorial prince. 2nd. It is clearly necessary that he should be man. (1.) That

he might truly represent man as the second Adam. (2.) That he might be made under the law, in

order to render obedience, suffering, and temptation possible.--Gal. iv. 4, 5; Luke iv. 1-13. (3.)

'In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and

faithful high priest.' Heb. ii. 17,18, and iv. 15,16. (4.) That in his glorified humanity he might be

the head of the glorified church, the example and pattern to whom his people are 'predestined to

be conformed, that he might be the first-born among many brethren'--Rom. viii. 29"141

Christ died

so that God could be just and the Justifier of the ungodly. Christ, in particular, died in order that God

would not have to share His glory with man.142 “His whole vicarious suffering obedience, or

obedient suffering is one righteousness. As 'passive' obedience it 'satisfies' the penal demand of

the law. As 'active' obedience it merits for us eternal life from regeneration to glorification. The

imputation of this righteousness to us is our justification."143 The First Adam condemned the

world/the Last Adam redeemed the world; the First Adam lost our righteousness/the Last Adam

restored our righteousness; Christ was the only One worthy to be the promised sacrifice thru

whom fallen man can be reconciled unto a thrice holy God and have peace with Him forever.144

139

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, Chapter XVII, pgs 367, 371 140

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, Chapter XVIII, pg 385 141

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, Chapter XXIV, pgs 391-392 142

Rom 3:19-28; Jn 1:14; Isa 42:8; 1; Isa 48:9-11; Cor 1:27-29; Acts 12:21-23 143

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, Chapter XXV, pg 405 144

Rev 5:9,12; Gen 3:15; Rom 5:10; 2Cor 5:18-20; Eph 2:16; Col 1:20-21; Heb 2:17; Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8

2. He was “tempted in all things as we are” (Heb. 4:15). Discuss and relate to counseling

theory and practice.

―For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but

was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.‖145

Infirmities (astheneia) means

―feebleness (of body or mind); by implication malady; moral frailty :- disease, infirmity,

sickness, weakness.‖ Tempted (peirazo) means ―to test (object), i.e. endeavor, scrutinize, entice,

discipline :- assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt (-er), try.‖ Jesus was fully (100%) human

and fully (100%) God (know as the hypostatic union). He was not 50% human and 50% God. He

was not simply the Spirit of God inhabiting a human body (known as Apollinarianism). He was

not two separate persons in one body (one human and one divine known as Nestoriansim). Nor

did He have a single nature formed from the assimilation of his human nature into his divine

nature forming a new third type of nature (known as Monophysitism). Jesus was one person with

two natures (human and divine). In his humanity, like all mankind, he was a dichotomy

consisting of body and soul and, therefore, able to be touched by the weakness which so often

touches us. ―Perhaps you are thinking, but Jesus was perfect! Certainly he was perfect, but this

does not mean that he didn‘t experience the full range of the pressures we face. This is a

common misunderstanding. But consider this illustration. Imagine a strong man who performs at

a state fair by bending bars of steel. The first bar he picks up is a half inch in diameter. He bends

it to a ninety degree angle and it breaks. Then he picks up an inch-thick bar and bends it until

the ends of the bar touch, but still it does not break. Which bar endured the most pressure? The

obvious answer is the second bar. It absorbed the full force of the man‘s strength and did not

break. On earth, Christ was like that second bar. Because he never gave in, because he did not

run away, because he never went where temptation would lead, but stood strong until the

moment of temptation was over, he endured the full power of temptation. Christ endured stress,

pain, suffering, and sacrifice of an intensity that we will never face because he did not break. He

stood strong against sin for us. He endured everything the world could throw at him.‖146

Jesus

experienced physical frailty. He was born just like we were: He had a human body just like we

do; He grew in wisdom and stature just like we do; He became tired just like we do; He became

thirsty just like we do; He became hungry just like we do; He became physically weak just like

we do; He physically died just like we do.147

Jesus experienced travail in his soul just like we do:

145

Heb 4:15, Strong‘s 769, Strong‘s 3985 146

Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer‘s Hands, pg 167 147

Lk 2:7; Lk 2:40, 52; Jn 4:6; Mk 4:38; Jn 19:28; Matt 4:2; Lk 23:26; Lk 23:46

He experienced a troubled spirit; He experienced sorrow; He experienced anger and grief; He

marveled; He wept; He prayed with loud cries and tears.148

Jesus experienced social rejection

just like we do: He was forsaken by the Father; He was betrayed by one of the twelve; He was

deserted by his disciples; He was not believed, even by his own family; He was reviled; He was

falsely accused; He was spit upon and mocked.149

He was tempted in every respect as we are, yet

without sin. When reviled he reviled not again; when left alone in his most needful hour he

lovingly let them sleep; when slandered he said not a word but let his life speak for itself; when

crucified he prayed father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; when dreading the

cross he humbly submitted to the Father‘s will.150

We are joint-heirs with Christ; therefore,

Scripture declares after suffering with him we will also be glorified with him.151

―Jesus gained

an ability to understand and help us in our temptations. ‗because he himself has suffered and

been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted‘ (Heb 2:18).‖152

He learned obedience

thru what he suffered and so shall we.153

―..since Christ perfectly obeyed his Father even in the

face of great suffering, so our obedience, trust, and patience in suffering more fully portray what

Christ was like, and so bring more honor to him. It gives us great comfort to know that we are

only experiencing what he has already experienced, and that he therefore understands what we

are going through, and listens sympathetically to our prayers (Heb. 2:18; 4:15-16; 12:11)‖154

Because of what he has done death, our last enemy, is swallowed up in victory and has lost its

sting; because of what he has done we know we are not uniquely tested; because of what he has

done we know he will not test us above our ability to endure it and will provide a way for us to

escape.155

He left us an example that we should follow in his steps.156

―So this is the paradigm:

purposeful suffering, leading to the experience of God‘s comfort, producing the ability to

comfort others, resulting in a community of hope.‖157

148

Isa 53:11; Jn 12:27; Matt 26:38; Mk 3:5; Matt 8:10; Jn 11:35; Heb 5:7 149

Mk 15:34; Matt 26; Jn 6:65-67; Matt 13:55; Jn 7:5; Matt 27:39; Mk 15:32; Matt 26:59; Mk 10:34 150

1Pe 2:23; Matt 26:38-45; Jn 19:9-11; Lk 23:34; Lk 22:42 151

Rom 8:17 152

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 537 153

Heb 5:8-9 154

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 846 155

1Cor 15:26, 54-58; 1Cor 10:13 156

1Pe 2:21 157

Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer‘s Hands, pg 154

Soteriology

1. “Justification by faith alone.” Discuss the meaning of this phrase.

What is justification? Answer: ―Justification is an act of God's free grace (Rom 3:24), wherein

he pardoneth all our sins (Rom 4:6-8; IICor 5:19), and accepteth us as righteous in his sight

(IICor 5:21), only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (Rom 4:6; 5:19), and received by

faith alone (Gal 2:16; Phil 3:9).‖158

Answer: ―Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God

in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ‘s righteousness as belonging to us, and

(2) declares us to be righteous in his sight.‖159

Luther said this is the doctrine upon which the

church stands or falls. The doctrinal dispute in mainstream Christianity is found in the addition

of the word ‗alone.‘ Protestantism says our justification is Forensic, or a one-time legal

declaration based on the imputed righteousness of Christ. Roman Catholicism claims our

justification is based on infused righteousness, or the internal change in moral character resulting

from our acting upon the actual righteousness God places within us. In other words,

sanctification plays a significant part in justification. They say Scripture does not say we are

justified by faith alone but in James 2:24 it does say ―Ye see then how that by works a man is

justified, and not by faith only.‖ While Paul does not say ‗faith alone‘ in Romans 3:20 he does

say ―Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law

is the knowledge of sin.‖ And in Romans 3:28 ―Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by

faith without the deeds of the law.‖ This seems to be a biblical contradiction between Apostles or

at least a contradiction in the Apostle Paul who seems to quote the Apostle James in Romans

2:13 ―For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be

justified.‖ And again in Ephes. 2:10 ―For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto

good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.‖ Context is the key to

harmonizing these passages. The context of Paul is justification ‗in his [God‘s] sight‘ while the

context of James is justification in our [man‘s] sight.160

Furthermore, James refers to Abraham in

Genesis 22 where Abraham shows himself to be righteous, whereas, Paul refers to a younger

Abraham in Genesis 15:6 where it says ―And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him

for righteousness.‖ James and Paul agree ―faith without works is dead,‖ however, Paul makes it

clear works is the ‗evidence of‘ not the ‗cause of‘ our justification. He declares it is the love of

158

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q33 159

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, Chapter 36, pg 723 160

Rom 3:20; Jas 2:18; 1Sam 16:7

Christ that constrains us not our effort to merit acceptance.161

―Those whom God effectually

calleth, He also freely justifieth: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their

sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in

them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of

believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing

the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on Him and His

righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God. .Faith, thus

receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification:

yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces,

and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.―162

Our justification does not merely entail the

forgiveness of past sin as that would simply render us morally neutral requiring a second plank

of salvation163

for future sin but it is also based on the imputed righteousness of Christ who kept

the law perfectly on our behalf thereby keeping our soul eternally secure—thus, we are said to be

clothed in garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness.164

Imputation is an important

biblical and legal concept; we find Adam‘s guilt imputed to us, our sin imputed to Christ, and

Christ‘s righteousness imputed to us. Without this approach we could have no assurance of

forgiveness, no confidence to approach the His throne boldly, and no ability to speak of a free

gift (grace vs debt). Even the faith to believe is a gift which precedes our justification165

and,

therefore, is not the cause of it. ―..faith is the one attitude of heart that is the exact opposite of

depending on ourselves.. This is why the Reformers from Martin Luther on were so firm in their

insistence that justification comes not through faith plus some merit or good work on our part,

but only through faith alone.―166

―Were faith the ground of justification, faith would be in effect a

meritorious work, and the gospel message would, after all, be merely another version of

justification by works—a doctrine which Paul opposes in all forms as irreconcilable with grace

and spiritually ruinous (cf. Rom 4:4; 11:6; Gal 4:21-5:12).‖167

It‘s all of Christ or none of

Christ.

161

2Cor 5:14 162

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XI 163

Catholic Catechism Q1446 164

Isa 61:10 165

Eph 2:8-9 166

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 730 167

Walter A. Elwell editor, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pg 596

2. Sanctification is said to be past, present, and future. Discuss, including the idea of “union

with Christ.”

―The word ‗to sanctify‘ is used in two different senses in Scripture: (1) To consecrate, or set

apart from a common to a sacred use. John x. 36; Matt. xxiii. 17. (2) To render morally pure or

holy. 1Cor. vi. 11; Heb. xiii. 12. In the latter sense of the word, regeneration is the

commencement of sanctification, and sanctification is the completion of the work commenced in

regeneration.‖168

Sanctification has a commencement date and a completion date; therefore, it

must have a past, present, and future tense. ―Sanctification has a definite beginning at

regeneration.. Sanctification increases throughout life.. Sanctification is completed at death (for

our souls) and when the Lord returns (for our bodies).‖169

It can, thus, be said we were sanctified

when quickened and indwelt by the Holy Spirit; after which we received a new nature which

changed our desires and illuminated our minds.170

The Greek expression for ―sanctified‖ in Acts

20:32 is ―a substantival perfect passive participle that expresses both a completed past activity

(they were sanctified) and a continuing result (they continue to experience the sanctifying

influence of that past action).171

Our sanctification is a progressive process, unlike justification,

whereby each passing day slips further into the past while the day of our perfection, at death,

slips ever closer to the present. Justification is a legal transaction/sanctification is a personal

condition; Justification happens once/sanctification is continual; Justification is done for

us/sanctification is done with us; Justification is complete/sanctification is gradual; Justification

is identical for all/sanctification varies with all. ―The orthodox doctrine is that the Holy Ghost, by

his constant influences upon the whole soul in all its faculties, through the instrumentality of the

truth, nourishes, exercises, and develops those holy principles, and dispositions which he

implanted in the new birth, until by a constant progress all sinful dispositions being mortified

and extirpated, and all holy dispositions being fully matured, the subject of this grace is brought

immediately upon death to the measure of the stature of perfect manhood in Christ.‖172

What

blessed joy in knowing what God has begun He will finish; knowing we will grow increasingly

in Christ likeness thereby tasting ever more of the fruit of the Spirit and the glory to come.173

However, it must be remembered Jesus said ―I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth

168

A. A. Hodge, Commentary on the Confession of Faith, chapter XIII, pg s265-266 169

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, chapter 38, pgs 747-749 170

1Cor 6:11; Eph 2:1-6; 2Pe 1:4 171

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, chapter 38, pg 747 172

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, chapter XXXV, pg 521 173

Phil 1:6; Gal 5:22-23

in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.‖174

Our justification ―proceeds on the ground of our federal union with Christ by faith, which is the

basis of that vital and spiritual union of the soul with him from whom our sanctification

flows.‖175

The fruits of sanctification are good works but for an action to be good it ―must have

its origin in a holy principle in the heart, and must be conformed to the law of God.. Truly good

works can be produced only by a heart in living union with Christ: ‗As the branch cannot bear

fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.‘ John xv. 4.‖176

We can never say we are completely free of sin while in the body but neither can we say sin any

longer has power over us while the sap of the vine runs thru our veins; we are neither ruled nor

dominated by sin any longer.177

While sanctification is a grace, as free moral agents it is still a

duty. ―The whole process of sanctification consists in the development and confirmation of the

new principle of spiritual life implanted in the soul in regeneration, conducted by the Holy Ghost

in perfect conformity to, and through the operation of the laws of habits of action natural to the

soul as an intelligent, moral and free agent.‖178

Paul says ―work out your own salvation with fear

and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.‖

Peter says ―give diligence to make your calling and election sure.‖ The Westminster Divines say

―They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit

created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death

and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them, the dominion of the whole body of sin

is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified; and they

more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness,

without which no man shall see the Lord.―179

In sanctification we find: we have been saved from

the penalty of sin, we will be saved from the presence of sin, and we are being saved from the

power of sin.

174

John 15:5 175

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, chapter XXXV, pg 522 176

A. A. Hodge, Commentary on the Confession of Faith, chapter XIII, pgs 267, 268 177

Rom 6:11-22 178

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, chapter XXXV, pg 523 179

Phil 2:12-13; 2Pe 1:10; Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XIII

3. Do Christians persevere? What relationship does this have to counseling?

―Perseverance is that gracious work of the triune God in a believer whereby He enables him to

fight the good fight of faith from the point of his conversion until he is brought into His presence

at death.‖180

Spurgeon once said ―You will not be lost, for He who owns you is able to keep you.

If you were to perish, who would be the loser? Why, He to whom you belong and ―you are not

your own,‖ you belong to Christ! My hope of being preserved to the end lies in this fact, that

Jesus Christ paid far too much for me ever to let me go. Each Believer cost Him His heart‘s

blood! Stand in Gethsemane and hear His groans! Then draw near and mark His bloody sweat

and tell me—will He lose a soul for whom He suffered like this? Look at Him hanging on the

tree, tortured, mocked, burdened with an awful load and then beclouded with the eclipse of His

Father‘s face! Do you think He suffered all that and yet will permit those for whom He endured

it to be cast into Hell? He will be a greater loser than I shall if I perish, for He will lose what

cost Him His life! Surely He will never do that. Here is your security—you are the Lord‘s portion

and He will not be robbed of His heritage! We are in a hand that bears the scar of the nail! We

are hidden in the cleft of a rock—the Rock that was riven for us nearly 1,900 years ago! None

can pluck us from the hand which redeemed us—its pressure is too warm with love and strong

with might for that.‖181

The Westminster Divines said ―1. They, whom God hath accepted in His

Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away

from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.

2. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the

immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the

Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit,

and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which

ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. ―182

The Reformation Study Bible says ―In

declaring the eternal security of God‘s people it is perhaps clearer to speak of their preservation

than, as is usually done, of their perseverance. Perseverance means continued adherence to a

belief despite discouragement and opposition. The reason that believers persevere in faith and

obedience, however, is not the strength of their own commitment, but that Jesus Christ through

the Holy Spirit preserves them.‖183

There are numerous biblical passages that establish the

180

http://www.nanc.org/Theological_Considerations/Perseverance.aspx 181

C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol 26 182

Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter XVII 183

The Reformation Study Bible, pg 1627

certainty of the doctrine: ―1st. The direct assertions of Scripture. 2

nd. This certainty is a necessary

inference, from the Scriptural doctrine (1) of election; (2) of the covenant of grace, wherein the

Father gave his people to his Son as the reward of his obedience and suffering; (3) of the union

of Christians with Christ; (4) of the atonement, where in Christ discharged all the obligations of

his people to the law as a covenant of life; (5) of justification, which declares all the conditions

of the covenant of life satisfied, and sets its subject into a new relation to God for all future time,

so that he can not fall under condemnation, since he is not under the law, but under grace; (6) of

the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, (a) as a seal by which we are marked as belonging to God, (b)

as an earnest, or first installment of the promised redemption, in pledge of complete fulfillment;

(7) of the prevalency of Christ‘s intercession.‖184

The Golden Chain of Rom 8:29-30 is so strong

―Paul sees the future event of glorification as such a certainty in God‘s settled purpose that he

can speak of it as if it were already accomplished.‖185

The doctrine is both a warning and a

source of great comfort. It is a warning against false views of security.186

If a counselee is not a

true believer he will eventually fall and stay down; He will, at some point, be unwilling to face

his sin and seek the Lord‘s help in working out his salvation; He will not, in his own strength, be

able to resist the tug of his fallen nature.187

It, thus, aids the counselor in determining an

appropriate course of action. But it, also, is a great source of comfort. To produce insecurity in a

counselee by constantly questioning his salvation is just as destructive as false security. God‘s

glory shines brightly in His preserving grace as He is the great Shepherd who leads His sheep

beside still waters.188

―To grasp perseverance of the saints anchors counseling in the reality that

the process of growth is sometimes (usually?!) bumpy, and that the genuineness of a person‘s

conversion ―comes out in the wash‖ in learning to face today‘s fresh challenges. As a counselor,

you can simply take a counselee‘s profession at face value, roll up your sleeves, and get down to

work. As your counselees face the current challenges in their fight with sin by finding mercy and

grace to change, and as they face their current troubles of life by finding refuge and hope in the

Lord‘s promises, they manifest that they are in fact the Lord‘s true children.‖189

184

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, chapter XXXVI, pgs 542-543 -- 1st: Jn 10:28-29; Rom 11:29; Phil 1:6; 1Pe

1:5; 2nd

(1) Jer 31:3; Matt 24:22-24; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:30; (2) Jer 32:40; Jn 17:2-6; (3) Rom 8:1; Jn 14:19; Rom

8:38-39; Gal 2:20; (4) Isa 53:6, 11; Matt 20:28; 1Pe 2:24; (5) Rom 6:14; (6) Jn14:16; 2Cor 1:21-22; Eph 1:14; (7) Jn

11:42; Jn 17:11,15,20; Rom 8:34. 185

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 790 186

Jn 8:31-32; Matt 10:22; Col 1:23; Heb 3:14; 1Jn 2:19 187

Prov 24:16; Phil 2:12; 2Tim 4:10; 2Chron 25:2,14,27 188

Ps 23; Jn 10; Heb 13:20 189

http://www.nanc.org/Theological_Considerations/Perseverance.aspx

Pneumatology

1. Who or what is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune Godhead. In comforting the disciples Jesus

promised to send them ―another Comforter.‖190

The Greek word for Comforter is parakletos,

which means an intercessor, consoler :- advocate, comforter.191

The Greek word for another is

allos, which is a primary word meaning; ―else,‖ i.e. different (in many applications) :- more, one

(another), (an-, some an-) other (-s, -wise).192

This word refers to ‗another of the same kind.‘

Jesus was promising to send another Comforter exactly like Himself; Jesus, in fact, is called our

Paraclete in 1 John 2:1. ―Note that our Lord spoke of the Spirit as a person, not an influence, not

a mystical power, not some ethereal, impersonal, phantom force. The Spirit has all the attributes

of personality (mind, Rom 8:27; emotions, Eph 4:30; and will, Heb 2:4) and all the attributes of

deity (see Acts 5:3-4). He is another Paraclete of exactly the same essence as Jesus.‖193

The

Holy Spirit is as much a divine person as is the Father and the Son for ―the Holy Spirit is put in a

coordinate relationship with the Father and the Son (Matt 28:19; 1Cor 12:4-6; 2Cor 13:14; Eph

4:4-6; 1Pe 1:2): since the Father and Son are both persons, the coordinate expression strongly

intimates that the Hoy Spirit is a person also. Then there are places where the masculine

pronoun he (Gk. Ekeinos) is applied to the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14), which one

would not expect from the rules of Greek grammar, for the word ‗spirit‘ (Gk. Pneuma) is neuter,

not masculine, and would ordinarily be referred to with the neuter pronoun ekeino. Moreover,

the name counselor or comforter (Gk. Parakletos) is a term commonly used to speak of a person

who helps or gives comfort or counsel to another person or persons, but is used of the Holy

Spirit in John‘s gospel (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). Other personal activities are ascribed to the

Holy Spirit, such as teaching (John 14:26), bearing witness (John 15:26; Rom 8:16),

interceding..(Rom 8:26-27..knowing (1Cor 2:11), willing..(1Cor 12:11), forbidding..(Acts 16:6-

7), speaking..(Acts 8:29; 13:2)..being grieved..(Eph 4:30)..Finally, if the Holy Spirit is

understood simply to be the power of God, rather than a distinct person, then a number of

passages would simply not make since, because in them the Holy Spirit and his power or the

power of God are both mentioned. For example, Luke 4:14..Acts 10:38..Rom15:13; 1Cor

2:4).‖194

The Nicene Creed, a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian Church,

190

Jn 14:16 191

Strong‘s 3875 192

Strong‘s 243 193

John MacArthur, Counseling—How to Counsel Biblically, pg 82 194

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 232

states ―And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the

Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who

spoke by the prophets.‖195

It would be blasphemous to worship the Holy Spirit if He was not

fully God. ―The only distinction between the members of the Trinity is in the ways they relate to

each other and to creation.‖196

The Holy Spirit is the one actively working in the world today.

―Scripture reveals the Spirit to be the effective agent of God‘s ongoing engagement with the

creation (Gen 1:2; Pss 33:6; 104:30). The Spirit, in particular, plays a crucial role in making

the character, ways and plans of God known to the creatures made in the divine image.‖197

A

cursory review of Scripture shows: ―In the O.T. the spirit of the Lord..is generally an expression

for God‘s power, the extension of himself whereby he carries out many of his mighty deeds (e.g.,

1Kings 8:12; Judg 14:6ff; 1Sam 11:6)..Jesus taught that his messiahship and the corresponding

outpouring of the Spirit were firmly rooted in OT understanding (Luke 4:18ff, citing Isa 6:1-2),

and similar to intertestamental Judaism, understood the messianic Spirit of the Lord to be the

Holy Spirit (Matt 12:32), that spirit which had foretold through the prophets that the coming

Messiah would inaugurate the age of salvation with the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh.

Jesus developed the idea of the Holy Spirit as a personality (e.g. John 15:26; 16:7ff), specifically

as God working in the church..In Acts 2:14ff, Peter interpreted the Pentecost phenomena as the

fulfillment of Joel‘s prophecy of the outpouring of the spirit upon all flesh in the messianic age

(Joel 2:28ff)..Paul taught that the Holy Spirit, poured out in the new age, is the creator of new

life in the believer and that unifying force by which God in Christ is ‗building together‘ the

Christians into the body of Christ (Rom 5:5; IICor 5:17; Eph 2:22; cf. 1Cor 6:19).‖198

Scripture

declares there is only one unforgiveable sin which is blasphemy against the person and work of

the Holy Spirit. This is because such an offense places one outside the bounds of grace for it is

the Holy Spirit who convicts ―the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.‖199

195

Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of AD 325/381 196

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 251 197

Campbell-Jack and McGrath, New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, pg 324 198

Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pgs 521-523 199

Jn 16:8

2. What role does this Spirit play in the believer’s life and the counseling process?

The role of the Holy Spirit in a believer‘s life and the counseling process is primarily that of

illumination. One must see and embrace truth before inner, lasting transformation through

renewal of the mind will take place.200

―..much of the Holy Spirit‘s ministry to believers involves

teaching them (John 14:26; 1Cor 2:13; 1John 2:20; 27); guiding them into the truth of Christ

(John 16:13-14); and illuminating the truth for them (1Cor 2:12).. As a divinely indwelling

teacher, the Spirit of Truth fills a function that no human counselor can even approach. He is

constantly there, pointing the way to truth, applying the truth directly to our hearts, prompting us

to conform to the truth—in short, sanctifying us in the truth (John 17:17).. Only the Holy Spirit

can work fundamental changes in the human heart. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the necessary

agent in all effective biblical counseling. The counselor, armed with biblical truth, can offer

objective guidance and steps for change. But unless the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of the

counselee, any apparent change will be illusory, superficial, or temporary, and the same

problems or worse ones will soon reappear.‖201

We are creatures of habit; prone to revert back to

our old ways. That is why all attempts at reformation by purely humanistic means will leave one

worse in the end than they were in the beginning.202

It is crucial that we acknowledge our utter

dependence upon the ‗Spirit of truth‘ promised in John 14:16-17 to help us become who we

already are declared to be in Christ. Sanctification ―is a matter of growing out of old ways while

growing into new ones. These ways of thinking and doing were brought into the new life from

before conversion. One who is truly regenerated is changing without (in putting off old patterns

and putting on new ones) because he is changing within. The word sanctified means ‗set apart‘

or ‗separate.‘ Negatively one is set apart from sin, positively, for God.. We are already

separated, completely sanctified, in Christ.. But we do not have all this in daily living in this life.

That is why sanctification is taking place—to enable us, day by day, to become in actuality more

of what we are reckoned to be in Christ.. This is quite distinct from self-actualization (becoming

what you may be in and by yourself); sanctification is becoming in yourself (by the Spirit‘s work)

what you already are counted to be in Christ. This ‗third force,‘ Maslow self-actualization

doctrine is a dangerous, subtle substitute for the real thing. When it is integrated into Christian

circles, it fosters a fundamentally Pelagian attitude (teaching human self-sufficiency by self-help

methods). Maslow‘s self-actualization sees no need for either the Word or the Spirit; it is purely

200

1Cor 2:14; Rom 12:2 201

John MacArthur, Counseling—How to Counsel Biblically, pgs 82-87 202

Matt 12:43-45

humanistic.‖203

The problem with finite man is we cannot see tomorrow. We need the wisdom of

the One who does and who has warned us not to lean upon our own understanding because there

is a way that seems right but ends in death.204

God has imparted His wisdom in His word but

apart from the illuminating work of His Spirit we will not understand it and, therefore, reject it as

foolish.205

―The knowledge of divine things to which Christians are called is more than a formal

acquaintance with biblical words and Christian ideas. It is a realizing of the reality and

relevance of those activities of the triune God to which Scripture testifies. Such awareness is

natural to none, familiar with Christian ideas though they may be (like ‗the man without the

Spirit‘ in 1 Cor. 2:14 who cannot receive what Christians tell him, or the blind leaders of the

blind of whom Jesus speaks so caustically in Matt. 15:14, or like Paul himself before Christ met

him on the Damascus road). Only the Holy Spirit, searcher of the deep things of God (1 Cor.

2:10), can bring about this realization in our sin-darkened minds and hearts.. Those who, along

with sound verbal instruction, ‘have an anointing from the Holy One... know the truth‘ (1 John

2:20). The work of the Spirit in imparting this knowledge is called ‗illumination,‘ or

enlightening. It is not a giving of new revelation, but a work within us that enables us to grasp

and to love the revelation that is there before us in the biblical text as heard and read, and as

explained by teachers and writers.. Illumination is thus the applying of God‘s revealed truth to

our hearts, so that we grasp as reality for ourselves what the sacred text sets forth. Illumination,

which is a lifelong ministry of the Holy Spirit to Christians, starts before conversion with a

growing grasp of the truth about Jesus and a growing sense of being measured and exposed by

it.―206

As counselors we want to see effective life-transforming change in counselees. We use the

Bible as our sole source of instruction and we lean upon the Holy Spirit to enlighten our hearts

and minds to the truth and significance contained therein; making wise paths visible and

desirable.207

203

Jay Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption, Zondervan Kindle Edition, pg 263

204 Prov 16:25; 3:5

205 Acts 26:18; Eph 4:18; 1Cor 2:14

206 J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Kindle Edition, pg 154

207 Ps 119:105

3. Does the Holy Spirit guide Christians? If so, what means and methods does He use?

The bible is replete with promises of divine guidance; therefore, the Holy Spirit does guide

Christians. As earthly fathers guide their children so too does the heavenly Father guide His

children. Consider the following promises: ―the meek will he guide‖, ―I will instruct thee and

teach thee..I will guide thee‖, ―he will be our guide even unto death‖, ―the Lord shall guide thee

continually‖, ―to guide our feet in the way of peace‖, ―Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is

come, he will guide you into all truth.‖208

Sometimes He guides directly by giving words of

guidance or transporting from one place to another, while at other times He guides subjectively

through desires, feelings, dreams and visions.209

However, the primary way He guides today is

through the absolute, authoritative, tangible and sufficient canon of Scripture. According to 2Tim

3:16-17 ―it is the Bible that not only makes one wise for salvation (justification) but also

becomes the source of all change in the believer (sanctification) as well. The Bible was produced

by the Holy Spirit in order to bring about the very sort of change that we seek in counseling.

When properly used, it will do four things: 1. Teach..sets the standard for faith and life.. 2.

Convict..as we compare our lives with the biblical standard, we come to recognize how far short

of love for God and neighbor that we have come.. 3. Correct..seeking fatherly forgiveness.. 4.

Train..learn how to avoid the same sins in the future. These four steps, which the Holy Spirit

brings about only through the Bible, are sufficient. Indeed, they comprise the most complete plan

for change that exits.‖210

When a Christian forsakes the absolute, authoritative, tangible and

sufficient guidance of the written Word for some mystical, subjective, feeling oriented substitute

they open themselves up for deception and they display a ―failure to grasp that the fundamental

mode whereby our rational Creator guides his rational creatures is by rational understanding

and application of his written Word..the true way to honor the Holy Spirit as our guide is to

honor the holy Scriptures through which he guides us.‖211

As Packer points out ―Belief that

divine guidance is real rests upon two foundation-facts: first, the reality of God‘s plan for us;

second, the ability of God to communicate with us.‖212

Does God have a plan for each of us? The

bible, once again, is replete with the revelation of God‘s purposes (plan) and the fulfillment of

His will; whether it be calling a ravenous bird to feed His servant or sending His Son to a cross

208

Ps 25:9; Ps 32:8; Ps 48:14; Isa 58:11; Lk 1:79; Jn 16:13 209

Matt 4:1; Ac 8:29; Ac 10:19-20; Ac 8:39-40; 1Ki 18:12; Rom 8:14; Gal 5:16; Ac 2:17 210

Jay Adams, Ready to Restore, pgs 11-12 211

J. I. Packer, Knowing God, pg s235-236 212

J. I. Packer, Knowing God, pg 231

or commanding nature to be still.213

He had a plan to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage

guiding them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; He had a plan for the return

of His children from Babylonian exile using King Cyrus to send them home to rebuild the

temple; He had a plan to change Saul into the Apostle Paul and commissioning him as the

Apostle to the Gentiles; He had a plan to send the Apostle Peter to home of Cornelius instituting

the New Testament church. Can He make His will known? According to the Apostle Paul He not

only can but did.214

The Apostle‘s prayer ―that the Colossians might be filled ‗with the

knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding,‘ and Epaphras‘s prayer

that they might ‗stand firm in all the will of God‘ (Col 1:9; 4:12), clearly assume the God is

ready and willing to make his will known. Wisdom in Scripture always means knowledge of the

course of action that will please God and secure life, so the promise of James 1:5 – ‗If any of you

lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it

will be given him‘ (RSV)—is in effect a promise of guidance. ‘Let your minds be remade and

your whole nature thus transformed,‘ counsels Paul. ‗Then you will be able to discern the will of

God, and to know what is good, acceptable, and perfect‘ (Rom 12:2 NEB).‖215

Howard Eyrich

and Ed Hindson said ―Biblical truth is the ultimate truth. It is the propositional revelation of

God‘s will for our lives. Without hesitation, the Bible proclaims its total sufficiency to provide

‗everything pertaining to life and godliness‘ (2Peter 1:3). Scripture speaks to every area of

personal and practical living; it is God‘s blueprint for our lives. Yes, it tells us how to get to

heaven, but it also tells us how to make the journey until we get there.‖216

With such a divinely

inspired blueprint for our lives and perfect revelation of God‘s will, by which we will be held

accountable at the Bema Seat,217

nothing else is needed.

213

Isa 46:11; Eph 3:11; Mk 4:39 214

Eph 1:9 215

J. I. Packer, Knowing God, pg 232 216

Ed Hindson and Howard Eyrich, Totally Sufficient - The Bible and Christian Counseling, pg 245 217

Rom 14:10, 2Cor 5:9

Ecclesiology

1. What is the church?

The Septuagint translators used the word ekklesia when rendering the Hebrew qahal,218

which

denotes the ‗congregation‘ or ‗assembly‘ of Israel as the people of God. Stephen used the Greek

word ekklesia in that Old Testament sense when he described Moses as ―he that was in the

church in the wilderness.‖219

Jesus used the Greek word ekklesia in Matt 16:18 when referring to

the church He is going to build. The Greek word ekklesia comes ―from a compound of Greek

1537 (ek) and a derivative of Greek 2564 (kaleo); a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular

meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of

members on earth or saints in heaven or both) :- assembly, church.‖220

The church, therefore, is

an assembly of ‗called out‘ ones; called, by name, out of darkness into light (lovingly given to

the Son by the Father).221

While it is a redemptive continuation of the Old Testament covenant

God made with the nation Israel it is, nonetheless, a distinctively New Testament entity due to

the distinctive bond we have with Christ under the new covenant of grace.222

The New

Testament church, as opposed to the exclusive Jewish nature of the Old Testament assembly, is

predominately Gentile but is composed of all true believers in Christ regardless of ethnicity.223

Jesus said in Matt 16:15-18 that He would build His church based on Peter‘s confession going on

―to use Peter‘s great confession as an occasion to reveal a mystery hidden even from the Old

Testament prophets. The Church (‗assembly‘) was in God‘s plan and in His eternal purpose

from the beginning (Ephesians 3:9-11). But it could not be revealed until Jesus was recognized

as its divine Head (Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:15-18).. It was Peter‘s great confession which

made him a rock. Jesus did not single him out for a special position here. He merely used him as

an example of what can happen to everyone who makes the same confession (Romans 10:9, 10).

Christ alone is the solid Rock. He alone is the foundation of the Church. (See 1Corinthians 3:11;

10;4.) In the latter verse petra (‗the great, solid Rock‘) is used of Christ. Peter himself declared

that Jesus is the Living Stone (1Peter 2:4). Coming to Jesus, all believers become living stones

and are built into a spiritual house (temple), the Church, the assembly of all who have joined

218

Strong‘s, 6951 219

Acts 7:38 220

Strong‘s, 1577 221

Jn 10:3; 1Pe 2:9-10; Jn 6:39,7:9,11,24 222

Ex 6:7; Jer 31:33; 1Cor 11:25; Heb 8:7-13 223

Deut 7:6; Ps 147:19-20; Eph 2-3; Rev 5:9-10

Peter in his great confession.‖224

In the New Testament the church ―is seen as the family and

flock of God (Eph. 2:18; 3:15; 4:6; John 10:16; 1 Pet. 5:2-4), his Israel (Gal. 6:16); the body

and bride of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-28; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-27); and the temple of the Holy

Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. Eph. 2:19-22). Those in the church are called the ―elect‖ (chosen), the

―saints‖ (consecrated ones, set apart for God), and the ―brothers‖ (adopted children of

God).‖225

The church on earth is characterized as being: 1) holy, or consecrated to God; 2)

catholic, or one despite numerous smaller gatherings; and 3) apostolic, or founded on apostolic

teaching.226

The ‗visible‘ church is filled with professors of faith in Christ. The ‗invisible‘ church

is filled with possessors of faith in Christ. Not everyone in the visible church is a part of the

invisible church as only God can see a person‘s heart.227

This distinction does not imply there are

two kinds of churches but rather the visible church often contains imitators. The church on earth

is referred to as the ‗church militant‘ since it still struggles with sin and ―against principalities,

against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in

high places.‖228

The church in heaven is referred to as the ‗church triumphant‘ since her warfare

with evil is over and she is enjoying her eternal reward in the presence of God. ―Essentially, the

church is, was, and always will be a single worshiping community, permanently gathered in the

true sanctuary which is the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22-24), the place of God‘s

presence. Here all who are alive in Christ, the physically living with the physically dead (i.e., the

church militant with the church triumphant) worship continually. In the world, however, this one

church appears in the form of local congregations, each one called to fulfill the role of being a

microcosm (a small-scale representative sample) of the church as a whole. This explains how it

is that for Paul the one church universal is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-26; Eph. 1:22-23;

3:6; 4:4), and so is the local congregation (1 Cor. 12:27).‖229

224

The Complete Biblical Library, Matthew 16:18, pg 347 225

J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Kindle Edition, pgs 200-201 226

Eph 2:19-22 227

1Sam 16:7; 2Tim 2:19 228

Eph 6:12 229

J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Kindle Edition, pg 201

2. What role does the church play in the believer’s life and the counseling process?

The role of the church in the life of a believer is that of maturation. ―According to Scripture, the

church has an obligation to nurture those who are already believers and build them up to

maturity in the faith. Paul said that his own goal was not simply to bring people to initial saving

faith but to ‗present every man mature in Christ‘ (Col 1:28). And he told the church at Ephesus

that God gave the church gifted persons ‗to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building

up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son

of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ‘ (Eph 4:12-

13). It is clearly contrary to the New Testament pattern to think that our only goal with people is

to bring them to initial saving faith. Our goal as a church must be to present to God every

Christian ‗mature in Christ‘ (Col 1:28().‖230

To carry out this goal God has gifted and placed

each member in the body with the intent of using them in building His body—the church.231

―The New Testament depicts local churches in which some Christians hold formal and official

ministerial offices (elder-overseers and deacons, Phil. 1:1), while all fulfill informal serving

roles. Every-member ministry in the body of Christ is the New Testament ideal. It is clear that

officers who oversee should not restrict the informal ministries but rather should facilitate them

(Eph. 4:11-13), just as it is clear that those who minister informally should not be defiant or

disruptive but should allow the overseers to direct their ministries in ways that are orderly and

edifying (i.e., strengthening and upbuilding, 1 Cor. 14:3-5, 12, 26, 40; Heb. 13:17). The body of

Christ grows to maturity in faith and love ―as each part does its work‖ (Eph. 4:16) and fulfills

its grace-given form of service (Eph. 4:7, 12)..no Christian is giftless (1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 4:7),

and it is everyone‘s responsibility to find, develop, and fully use whatever capacities for service

God has given.‖232

We need each other if we are to function optimally just as our natural body is

deficient if it is missing a foot, hand, ear or eye.233

―There is a myth afoot that says as I grow

spiritually I become less needy and less dependent, and after a certain discipleship regime I will

have it together. Discipleship is a lifelong process, and I will be extremely needy until that

wonderful moment I am completely and eternally changed..A transformed life is needed, a life of

depth of true disciples who have chosen to follow the life that Jesus lived. The reason the mission

languishes is the acceptance of a nondiscipleship Christianity that creates shallow believers with

230

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 867-868 231

1Cor 12:18 232

J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Kindle Edition, pg 226,228 233

1Cor 12:14-17

hollow lives who don‘t affect those around them.‖234

Our spiritual maturity directly corresponds

to our measure of faith and our measure of faith corresponds to the measure of grace received.235

Are there means of grace available within the church, which are not available to those outside the

church? ―Specifically, within the fellowship of the church are there certain means—this is,

certain activities, ceremonies, or functions—that God uses to give more grace to us? ..We may

define the means of grace as follows: The means of grace are any activities within the fellowship

of the church that God uses to give more grace to Christians..The following list may not be

exhaustive, but it does include most of the means of grace that believers have access to within the

fellowship of the church: 1. Teaching of the Word. 2. Baptism. 3. The Lord‘s Supper. 4. Prayer

for one another. 5. Worship. 6. Church discipline. 7. Giving. 8. Spiritual gifts. 9. Fellowship. 10.

Evangelism. 11. Personal ministry to individuals.‖236

Not all of these things require the context

of the visible local church setting but ―Since all true believers are thus intimately united to Christ

as the common Head of the whole body, and the Source of a common life, it follows that they

must be intimately united together. If they have but one Head and are all members of one body,

they must have one common life, and be all members one of another. ..Hence true believers, all

being united in one living body, sustain many intimate relations, and discharge many important

offices for one another, which are summarily expressed by the general phrase ‗the communion of

the saints.‘ ..They have a common Head, and common duties with respect to him, a common

profession, a common system of faith to maintain, a common gospel to preach, a common

worship and service to maintain. ..They have a common life, and one Holy Ghost dwelling in and

binding together in one the whole body. Hence they are involved in the ties of sympathy and

identity of interest. One cannot prosper without all prospering with him—one cannot suffer

without all suffering with him.‖237

Most ills befall immature Christians and, therefore, counseling

must be ―an essential part of the local church‘s ministry as it disciples and helps believers

mature in Christ‘s image..All biblical counselors must be learners..a basic principle to

remember is that counselees need the ministry of the entire church.‖238

234

Bill Hull, Choose the Life, pg 180,215 235

Romans chapter 12 236

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pgs 950-951 237

A. A. Hodge, Commentary on the Confession of Faith, pgs 440-441 238

John MacArthur, Counseling—How to Counsel Biblically, Pg 223, 228,230

3. What is the biblical teaching on women being ordained as officers of the church?

God has gifted and placed His children in the body as pleases Him and expects each member to

use their gift(s) for the overall welfare of the body – the church; this includes women.239

Women

have been used by God throughout history in some very significant ways; such as judges

(Deborah in Jud 4:4-5:31), prophetesses (Miriam in Ex 15:20), and deaconesses (Phoebe in Rom

16:1). The bible, spiritually speaking, does not distinguish between men and women.240

Gal 3:28,

however, does not deny biblical distinctions regarding roles and the submission of one to another

within the church just as Christ, who was fully God, assumed a submissive role to God the

Father during His incarnation.241

Some roles in the church, however, require special recognition.

Ordination is the process whereby this recognition takes place. In ordination the church, for the

sake of organization and order, confirms: 1) a person has been called by God to a position; 2)

meets all the qualifications of the position, and 3) is officially ‗set apart‘ within the church to fill

that position. ―Ordination is important because it is the orderly appointment of a man to his

office and work; in Christ‘s name it grants him the right to authoritatively use the gifts that the

Holy Spirit has already given (the recognition of the gifts is one of the bases for ordination).‖242

In the general sense of a local church appointing one to a position and conferring the authority of

the church upon the position I believe there is a place for women being officially recognized.

However, in the narrow sense of ordaining a woman to the position or office of pastor or elder in

the local New Testament church the bible clearly forbids it. In 1Tim 3:1-7 Paul limits those who

are called to the position of a bishop to men. The Greek word for bishop is episkope; ―from

Greek 1980 (episkeptomai); inspection (for relief); by implication superintendence; specially the

Christian ―episcopate‖:- the office of a ―bishop‖, bishoprick, visitation.‖243

The term bishop or

overseer refers to the same role as pastor or elder.244

―Church leadership is not for everyone. An

essential requirement for a church leader is that he be a man. The indefinite pronoun tis (any)

should be taken here as masculine, in agreement with the masculine form of the adjectives in

verses 2-6. Also, a woman could hardly be a ‗one-woman man‘ (v2), nor did women in that day

head households (vv. 5-6). Paul here applies the truth he taught in 2:11-15: women are not to be

the leaders in the church. As already noted in chapter 7 of this volume, they have a vitally

239

1Cor chapter 12 240

Gal 3:28 241

Phil 2:5-8 242

Jay Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption, Zondervan Kindle Edition, pg 278 243

Strong‘s, 1984 244

Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5-9; 1Pe 5:1-2

important role in the church, the home, and in society. That role, however, does not include

leadership over God‘s people.‖245

This limitation is repeated in Titus 1:5-9. Furthermore, one of

the qualifications for a bishop is that he is ‗apt to teach‘ or able to teach; a qualification denied

women by Paul in 2:11-12 and again in 1Cor 14:34-35. Thus, a woman would be rendered

disqualified for this position since women are to keep quiet in the sense of not teaching during

the worship service of the church. Finally women may not be appointed to a position in which

they would be exercising (usurping) authority over a man. ―Women may be highly gifted teachers

and leaders, but those gifts are not to be exercised over men in the services of the church. God

has ordained order in His creation, an order that reflects His own nature and that therefore

should be reflected in His church. When any part of His order is ignored or rejected, His church

is weakened and He is dishonored. Just as God‘s Spirit cannot be in control where there is

confusion and chaos in the church, He cannot be in control where women take upon themselves

roles that he has restricted to men. It is improper [aischros, ‗shameful, disgraceful‘] for a

woman to speak in church. That statement leaves no question as to its meaning.. There are times

in informal meetings and Bible studies where it is entirely proper for men and women to share

equally in exchanging questions and insights. But when the church comes together as a body to

worship God, His standards are clear: the role of leadership is reserved for men.‖246

Women are

most certainly expected to serve in the church with all the rights and privileges that come along

with the position, as did Phoebe, ―such as treasurer, for example, or other staff positions such as

youth minister or counseling director or children‘s minister, and so forth, the only question to be

asked is whether these offices include the ruling and teaching functions reserved for elders in the

New Testament. If not, then all of these offices would be open to women as well as to men, for we

must be careful not prohibit what the New Testament does not prohibit.‖247

245

John MacArthur, The MacAruthur New Testament Commentary 1Timothy, pg 95 246

John MacArthur, The MacAruthur New Testament Commentary 1Corinthians, pg 392-393 247

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pgs 944-945

4. What authority, if any, does the church have over individuals and the counseling

process?

The Westminster divines said ―The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of His Church, hath therein

appointed a government, in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate..To

these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have

power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both

by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel;

and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.‖248

In Matt 16:19 Jesus, the Head of

the Church,249

delegated authority to Peter in particular and by extension all church ordained

leadership to oversee doctrine and impose discipline. ―Reformed theology has emphasized the

importance of church discipline as the official procedures of the church permitting it to define its

membership and maintain its standards of belief and practice, derived from the Bible.. The New

Testament clearly shows that in the whole context of church life judicial procedures have a

significant place for the health of churches and individuals (1Cor 5:1-13; 2Cor 2:5-11; 2Thes

3:6;,14,15; Titus 1:10-14; 3:9-11).‖250

By virtue of His using the plural form of the word key

and adding the words binding and loosing Jesus had more in mind than simply opening the door

of heaven. These keys represent the authority of the church to ―

248

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXX 249

Col 1:18 250

The Reformation Study Bible, Church Discipline and Excommunication article, pg 1391 251

John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, note on Matt 16:19, pg 1423

Who are meant by father and mother in

the fifth commandment? Answer: By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant,

not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God's

ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth.‖252

Grudem says ―The power of the church is its God-given authority to carry on spiritual warfare,

proclaim the gospel, and exercise church discipline.‖253

Nouthetic counseling is biblical

counseling. Its goal is the glory God. Restoration to divine usefulness is its objective. ―The

welfare of the whole body is adversely affected by the failure of any part. Counseling, therefore,

is not only an interaction between a counselor and one or more persons in a counseling room; it

also interacts in any number of ways with the whole flock and all of its activities. Every

counselor must see clearly that whatever he does in counseling he does not only for the

counselee but also for Christ and for His church. Counseling is an activity in which the layman

engages not as a private individual, but as a member of the body. As a ‗one anothering‘ activity

(cf. Col 3:16) it is carried on among those who have mutual obligations as members of the

church. Lay counseling, as well as counseling done by elders in an official way, is a church

activity, not a personal one. Lay counseling, then, while not official (i.e., not conducted in the

name of the church by its officers) nevertheless is subject to the leadership of the church..[every

lay counselor must] be willing to subject his counseling activities to the oversight and order of

the church.‖254

252

Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 124 253

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg 887 254

Jay E. Adams, Ready to Restore, pg 6

General Questions

1. Are you involved in a larger group, organization, or denomination, which disagrees with

NANC’s Statement of Faith? If so, how do you differ from your larger group? Explain

what you are doing to influence your group towards NANC’s position.

NANC‘s Statement of Faith:

1. affirms that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, authoritative and sufficient Word of God consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments; 2. affirms that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; 3. affirms the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in power and glory; 4. affirms that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential; 5. affirms that a person becomes justified by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 6. affirms the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life; 7. affirms the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they are lost unto the resurrection of damnation; 8. affirms the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and His church.

I am not involved in a larger group, organization, or denomination, which disagrees with

NANC‘s Statement of Faith as enumerated above and verified by Brandywine Community

Church Pastor Mark Wright Compare Brandywine‘s own Statement of Faith at:

http://www.brandywinechurch.org/beliefs.asp

.

2. If received as a NANC member, can you unequivocally sign the membership covenant?

I am in agreement with the Constitution, By-laws, Standards of Conduct, and Policies and

Procedures of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (which can be obtained on our

website at www.NANC.org) and hereby affirm my commitment to the sufficiency of the

Scriptures in counseling as follows:

Biblical counselors affirm the value and usefulness of God‘s revelation in toto, including both

Special and General Revelation. God has chosen to reveal those truths that must be believed and

practiced in order to please Him only through Special Revelation, now recorded exclusively and

completely in the Scriptures.

God reveals Himself and man‘s moral accountability to Him through His acts of creation and

works of providence. These acts and works (sometimes called General Revelation and Common

Grace, respectively) do not and were not intended to provide data necessary for life and

godliness.

Neither creation nor providence is or ever was self-interpreting. Man‘s fall into sin only

increases his need for Special Revelation. He now actively misinterprets God‘s world,

exchanging the truth for a lie and suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. The counselor must

build his counseling system, including its presuppositions, principles and methodologies solely

from Scripture. His counseling must demonstrate that Scriptural truth, ministered in the power of

the Holy Spirit, is sufficient to enable counselees to love God and their neighbors.

We deny that secular theories and practices are manifestations of General Revelation or

Common Grace. We affirm that they are, in fact, attempts to substitute the ―discoveries‖ of

rebellious human thought for the truths revealed in Scripture, and are, therefore, in competition

with a proper interpretation of General Revelation and with biblical counseling. They cannot be

integrated with the Faith once for all delivered to the saints.

I will unequivocally sign the above stated membership covenant.