Why Change Begins with God’s Covenant

In the second part of Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically, John MacArthur, Douglas Bookman, and Robert Smith gave us four chapters to lay down the theological foundations of biblical counseling. They discussed the theocentric character of biblical counseling, the doctrine of sin, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the role of spiritual disciplines in counseling. These four basic theological foundations are taken for granted in the popular approaches of dealing with people’s problems.

Even though we will touch the same topics as we progress in the class, in discussing the theological foundations, I prefer to focus on the doctrine of the covenant and sanctification. In this lecture, we will discuss first the doctrine of the covenant.

In Reformed theology, the Trinity and covenant theology are the two most important foundational doctrines. God’s sovereignty is a typical example of such an emphasis. It is the Triune God that we claim to be sovereign not only over the entire cosmos but also in matters of man’s eternal destiny.

However, despite the importance of the doctrine of the Trinity, I choose covenant theology as the proper starting point in discussing biblical counseling. It is in this context that personal change must be discussed, which is the immediate goal in biblical counseling. As such, in biblical counseling, we cannot avoid questions like “How do people change? ”, “How do we help people to change? and ultimately, “How do I help people learn to help people change? ”

There are many voices in the business of changing people’s lives. Politicians love to talk about change; this is their favorite campaign slogan. Businesses too promise change, at least in physical appearance or in financial standing, as you purchase their products and services or accept opportunities they offer. In the field of counseling, psychotherapy and Christian psychology are the two dominant voices when it comes to solving people's mental and emotional problems.

For Dr. Joel E. Wood, those voices are very tempting, and counselors can fall to such temptation if we don’t ask the right question. Instead of focusing on the how, Dr. Wood suggests that we should ask the question why? By asking why, we also cannot avoid asking questions informed by the biblical narratives. Not only do we ask, “Why do people need to change? ,” which is a very important question in biblical counseling, we also ask questions like, “Why did Adam have to die after eating the fruit? ”, “Why am I a sinner because Adam sinned? ”, “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? ”, “Why did Jesus rise from the dead? ”, “Why do we get eternal life by faith? ”, “Why did the Father give people to the Son? ”(Jn. 17:6). And we could even ask, “Why are we asking these questions in the first place? ”

Asking the above questions is important, for it will direct us to resources that God provides to change people’s lives. Realizing this, we are informed from the very beginning in the counseling process that if we really want to see change, we must use the resources ordained by God. Those who prefer to use whatever resources they like outside of God’s ordained means should not expect to see genuine internal change.

Moreover, asking the above questions will direct us to the most important context in biblical counseling, which is the purpose of God for those whom He has saved for Himself, and such purpose is embodied in the covenant God made with mankind.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 7, Section 1, explains the necessity of God’s initiative to establish a covenant with mankind:

The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which He has been pleased to express by way of covenant.

Grace and peace!