A Theology of Biblical Counseling: The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry

by Heath Lambert

Since the beginning of the biblical counseling movement in 1970, biblical counselors have argued that counseling is a ministry of the Word, just like preaching or missions. As a ministry, counseling must be defined according to sound biblical theology rather than secular principles of psychology.


For over four decades, biblical theology has been at the core of the biblical counseling movement. Leaders in biblical counseling have emphasized a commitment to teaching doctrine in their counseling courses out of the conviction that good theology leads to good counseling…and bad theology leads to bad counseling.


A Theology of Biblical Counseling is a landmark new book that unpacks the core theological convictions that underlie sound counseling, and practical wisdom for counseling today. Dr. Heath Lambert shows how biblical counseling is rooted in the Scriptures while illustrating the real challenges counselors face today through true stories from the counseling room.   A substantive textbook written in accessible language, it is an ideal resource for use in training biblical counselors at colleges, seminaries, and training institutes. In each chapter, doctrine comes to life in real ministry to real people, dramatically demonstrating how theology intersects with the lives of actual counselees.

Genres: Counselling, Theology, Christian, Audiobook, Christian Living, Christianity, Psychology

Audiobook

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Heath Lambert (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the Executive Director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and is the Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church Jacksonville, FL. He is also a visiting faculty member at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Lambert is the co-editor of Counseling the Hard Cases: True Stories Illustrating the Sufficiency of God's Resources in Scripture (B&H, 2012), and author of The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams (Crossway, 2011), Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace (Zondervan, 2013), and co-author of Transforming Homosexuality: What the Bible Says about Sexual Orientation and Change (P&R, 2015).

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First some background. As I have mentioned in a few other reviews, I am a Baptist, head deacon at my church, and spend a lot of time studying the Bible in preparation for presenting sermons. My church operates a free seminary, Beth Haven Baptist Seminary, with a primary focus on Biblical counseling. Obviously, this book appealed to me in that I wanted to see what perspective others had about Biblical counseling.

I’ve read many of Heath Lambert’s sermons online, so I am familiar with his writing style, as well as his theological stance on several topics. Primarily, he’s a dichotomist, someone who believes that man is divided into TWO parts: body and soul. This, I believe, is contrary to the Bible, which says that man was created in God’s own image, which is three-in-one (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). This means that man was created in three parts, as well: body, soul, and spirit. Without getting too deep into scripture, there are many instances in both the Old and New Testament that bear this out. Because of Dr. Lambert’s skewed view on man’s makeup, his view on biblical counseling is potentially skewed, as well.

The first line in the book sets his thesis: “Counseling is a theological discipline.” While it may not seem contentious, this is the dividing line between biblical counseling and Christian counseling. Basically, biblical counseling is based on the thought that the Bible is wholly sufficient as a resource for all of life’s troubles, while Christian counseling follows the thought that along with the Bible, out secular resources and techniques must be used to help the one being counseled.

Dr. Lambert sets a foundation early in chapter one about the sufficiency of scripture in regards to counseling. From there he offers some interesting insights into the application of the bible for counseling, but some of the examples are over simplistic. For example, he cites an example of a man whose son died and whose wife left him for another man. Lambert basically counsels the man that he simply needs to let go of his anger and get over it right now. Obviously, this is something that man will be dealing with for years and years, and it’s not something easily overcome.

The other impression I got of Dr. Lambert is his “I’m completely right, and if you don’t believe what I believe about biblical counseling, you will always be wrong.” I can’t cite specific instances I which he says this, but that’s the impression I got.

Overall, this is not a bad book by any means. If you are even somewhat interested in the counseling field, this a good starting point to understand the theology and background in biblical counseling.

[Jane Hensarling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate the real life Biblical treatment of serious problems people face in life. There is no hint of psychology in this book. The writer gives clear explanation for the sufficiency of Scripture in counseling.

[Christopher Desruisseau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the cases were harder to read than others. Although several of them made me ask the question, "where do these people get the free time to be doing all this stuff, don't they work?" Otherwise I did enjoy the theology parts.

[Myra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough, helpful and practical. All the examples reminded me that there is hope for the most difficult and desperate situations. When our knowledge of God leads to a love for God that drives us to take the word of God with compassion and care to others, God can use us to bring real and lasting change as we counsel.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Simply great! Just what I needed as I started into more counseling as a pastor. This book has solidified for me that the Bible is sufficient for all the work I am doing as a pastor. Especially in the realm of counseling. Very well done

[Caroline Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it <3 recommend to anyone who is interesting in caring for others better.

[Ricardo Daglio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teología para discipular

Jesús mandó que al hacer discípulos hemos de enseñarles que guarden todas las cosas que él mandó. La Teología de la Consejería es un recordatorio e instructivo sólido, práctico y fundacional para llevar a cabo la tarea de discipular. Discipular con teología siempre ha sido la voluntad de Dios y no debemos jamás pensar que exista otra alternativa eficaz. Este libro reafirma eso de manera consecuente, continua y además gráfica, por intermedio de experiencias de Consejería real que demostraron lo que el autor propone. Una bendición para todo pastor y laico en la iglesia de Jesucristo.

[Coalición por el Evangelio]

Necesitamos que Dios nos ayude a poner todo bajo la luz de su Palabra. El libro «Teología de la consejería bíblica» es una buena herramienta para caminar hacia esa luz. Heath Lambert, su autor, declara: «La consejería es una disciplina teológica».

El objetivo primordial de Heath Lambert en este libro es describir la relación existente entre la consejería bíblica y la teología, para demostrar la suficiencia de las Escrituras ante cualquier desafío de la vida.

Lee la reseña completa en Coalición por el Evangelio.

[Andrea G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent counseling resource.

[Chloe Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my typical read because this is more in the theological weeds, but it was a useful framework. I am more accepting of secular practices like cognitive behavioral therapy than Lambert is but would agree with some of the nuances of his view. I disagreed with some of his thoughts on gender roles when it comes to counseling, particularly his opinion that a female biblical counselor should never counsel a married couple alone. Women can and should informally counsel (share their thoughts and advice with) men in the church and remind them of Scripture, so I don't see why they shouldn't be able to do that formally in certain settings — especially because there are some difficult situations where a female counselee might struggle to be counseled by a man for legitimate reasons. These dynamics need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis rather than bending them to a blanket rule that's not explicitly clear in the Bible.

[Owen Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, and believe it's best read as a group with discussion. The main premise, that our faithfulness (or lack thereof) in counseling rests on an understanding and application of biblical theology, rings true! The author's counseling examples to illustrate points were helpful. On a minor note: the author uses many lengthy footnotes that were distracting. If it was important enough to include such a footnote, I think it would have been better for the author to just incorporate them into his text. But on a whole, I enjoyed the book very much.

[Jacob Trzeciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! Gives a very clear foundation of why counseling should be a ministry in the church and what a counselor is and does. One note, DO NOT listen to the audiobook version on Hoopla, the narrator is so monotonous. I'm fairly certain I fell asleep at least three times and had to listen to around a quarter of the book twice.

[Rachel Ekberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very practical systematic theology focused mainly on the sufficiency of scripture for counseling. Great use of case studies to frame each chapter which made it very readable.

[Jhonattan Camaño · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lectura Recomendada

Recomendado para todo el que busque prácticar una consejería bíblica. Tiene ejemplos prácticos en cada capítulo donde aplica la doctrina a un caso de consejería

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, actually.

I had a “healthy” debate within myself with this book. 📖

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to commend the effort to be brotherly that Lambert takes in the book. When we disagree on theological stuff, it’s super important to remember what spiritual kinship we share. He’s also a very plain writer in the best sense: he does not obscure himself with needless technical language or clunky grammar common to academicians... must have to preach often or something ;)

That said the book’s not very good when it comes to his conclusions and thinking. He over simplifies and either intentionally or unintentionally misrepresents his opponents. The process for thinking through counseling is a bit wooden and fundamentalist. For the brothers who cast out every notion of secular psychology simply because there are some crazy anecdotes in the mix and they don’t derive their practices from scripture are really missing the boat and cutting themselves off from tremendous insights.

When we -doesn’t matter who the we is, evangelicals, reformed people, secularists - isolate our knowledge into streams from certain thinkers certain communities... we rob ourselves of unspeakable riches of insight.

I’m a huge fan of the puritans but they will make a modern fundamentalist uncomfortable with all the classical learning and even Roman mythology they draw from to preach the word.

The biblical counseling movement is cutting themselves off from wonderful insights which can be diced and sliced by scripture wisdom. They cut themselves off from God’s second book - nature - which despite being sinners and getting it wrong often is all secular psychologists and psychiatrists have to go on.

Also having worked in mental health related fields for years I see biblical counselors getting very common sense things wrong about mental illness because they refuse to touch the insights of psychology. Yes the Bible is an incredible instrument of counseling but any believer is going to amen that. The question is should we read a 16th century wording regarding “the sufficiency of scripture” into every situation in our lives including specialized knowledge, or does sufficiency mean sufficiency in getting us into the arms of God for eternity? The answer is that biblical counseling advocates have taken something intended for “life and godliness” and made it into a counter DSM-5.

[Scarlett Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible overview on biblical counseling. Each overview of theology was well written and defined. I personally loved his overview of theology of God and theology of suffering. Wether going into pastoral counseling or coffee with a friend these truths are applicable to navigating tough questions and hard conversations.
Appreciate the book and will definitely be referencing it again in the future.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok I guess. It just wasn’t what I expected from the title. I was expecting a run through the gambit of Biblical Counseling and how the different doctrines of Scripture work in peoples lives to help them and heal wounds.

This book however was more of a polemic and apologetic for Biblical Counseling over other counseling methods. The arguments were fair enough. Just not at all what I thought it would be from the title.

Threw in the towel at about 30%.

[Chase Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal! Sound biblical theology that advocates for biblical counseling and not just Christian counseling. (While using scripture to back his points). My first introduction to the distinction of Christian counseling and biblical counseling. A great entry level book for someone like me that is not super familiar with anything in the biblical counseling world.

A true good read.

[Sophie Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so helpful and practical. I highly, highly recommend this for everyone in the church, including those who would not naturally gravitate toward a counseling book.

[David J. Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful.

[gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much to unpack in this book. So much food for thought.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explains the role of theology in biblical counseling, and briefly explains 10 areas of theology, with examples showing how the principles are applied to specific counseling cases. It explains what biblical counseling is, and how it can be done by those with and without formal expertise. Lambert says, "The goal of this book is not merely that counselors care about theology, but that theologians care about counseling."

According to Lambert,

Counseling is a conversation where one party with questions, problems, and trouble seeks assistance from someone they believe has answers, solutions, and help.

and

This is what we do in counseling. We take what we know from the truths of theology, and we apply it to people who are suffering under the weight of all the kinds of pain this world has to offer. We apply biblical truth to struggling people for the purpose of building their hope and increasing their joy in truly knowing Christ in this life and ultimately in the life to come.

Lambert is the executive director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).

Notes
Counseling and Theology: A Crucial Introduction
You don't need formal expertise to counsel.

"Christian counselors" (Christians who rely on secular counseling and are called integrationists, Christian counselors, Christian psychologies) believe Bible is necessary for counseling but not sufficient for it.

Modern biblical counseling movement began with Jay Adams, particularly his book Competent to Counsel.

Biblical counselors aren't opposed to science, psychology, psychiatry, just to bad science based on "humanistic philosophy and gross speculation."

Some problems are physical and require medical treatment.

Scripture

Many argue that [Scripture] is not sufficient for science, philosophy, or even ethics. … Certainly, Scripture contains more specific information relevant to theology than to dentistry. But sufficiency in the present context is not sufficiency of specific information but sufficiency of divine words. Scripture contains divine words sufficient for all of life. It has all the divine words that the plumber needs, and all the divine words that the theologian needs. So it is just as sufficient for plumbing as it is for theology. And in that sense it is sufficient for science and ethics as well.

"Material sufficiency in the general sense means that God has told us everything we need to know about his perspective on every single topic we could consider."

"Counselling is not primarily about an exchange of highly technical information developed by neuroscientists. It is an exchange of wisdom about life's problems."

Common Grace
3 categories of common grace
1. Divine moral provision: God restrains evil so that humans don't do all the evil they could do (Gen 4:15; 11:6-9; 20:6; 2 Thess 2:7).
2. Divine physical provision: God provides for physical needs of humans (Matt 5:43-45). God is kind to believers and unbelievers by sending sun and rain.
3. Divine intellectual provision: God allows believers and unbelievers to have access to accurate info, knowledge, worldly wisdom (1 Cor 1:26).

Christ
"In counseling, the only hope and help that matters in the long term is that which Jesus Christ brings." Other approaches don't bring real, lasting change.

Humanity
Image of God consists of human rationality, morality (Rom 2:12-16), relationality (Matt 22:35-40), dominion over creation (Gen 1:26).

Fall marred but didn't destroy image of God in man (Gen 9:6). Image is broken in all the ways we fail to represent God as we should. Christ, the perfect image bearer, can restore the image in man.

Purpose of counseling is to facilitate restoration of image of God in counselee.

Bible uses many terms to refer to soul, including words translated soul, spirit, will, mind, conscience, heart.

Counseling problems can be physical, spiritual, or a combination.

Gal 3:28 ("there is no male and female") doesn't mean there's no distinction between men and women, but that both have equal access to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Sin
You can't counsel an unbeliever, because renewal of God's image is only possible for believers. Gal with speaking to unbelievers is to get them to repent and trust in Christ for forgiveness, before beginning to counsel them.

We should forgive only when offender asks for our forgiveness, because we're to forgive as God forgives (Col 2:13), and He only forgives those who humbly confess and seek forgiveness (1 John 1:8-9). We should have an attitude of forgiveness (not being bitter) (Eph 4:31) even when offender's lack of confesion prevents our forgiving them.

Suffering
In NT, those who cast out demons are limited to a small group directly commissioned for the work, including Jesus, apostles, 72 (Matt 10:1, 8; Mark 3:14-15; 6:7, 13; Luke 10:17-20; Acts 5:12-16). Bible emphasizes that Christians respond to demons not by exorcism but by faith in Christ (Acts 26:18; Eph 6:16; Jas 4:7; 1 Pet 5:9).

Jonathan Edwards said that just as sun is direct cause of light and heat, but indirect cause of darkness and cold by withdrawing light and heat, so God is direct cause of goodness and holiness, but indirect cause of evil and sin by withdrawal of goodness and holiness.

Suffering is good for us (Rom 8:28; 5:3-5; Heb 12:7, 11).

Our suffering is good for others (John 9:1-3; Phil 1:12-13; 2 Cor 1:3-4).

Suffering glorifies God (2 Cor 1:8-9; 12:9-10).

Salvation
Verses about election: Rom 9:10-21; Eph 1:4.

Verses about effective call: Rom 1:6-7; 11:29; 1 Cor 1:9, 24; 7:18; Gal 5:13; Eph 4:4; Phil 3:14; 1 Thess 5:23-24; 1 Tim 6:12; 2 Tim 1:9; Heb 3:1-2; 9:15; 1 Pet 2:9, 21; 5:10; 2 Pet 1:10.

Our moral effort isn't involved in regeneration or justification (they're monergistic), but our moral effort is involved in our sanctification (it's synergistic) (2 Cor 10:5; Eph 2:10; Col 1:10; 2 Thess 1:8; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 1:2; Jas 2:26). Yet it's divine grace that makes our moral effort possible (Phil 2:13; 1 Cor 12:6; 15:10; 1 Thess 5:23; Heb 13:20-21; Jude 24).

Verses about perseverance: John 10:27-29; 6:38-40; Eph 1:14; Phil 1:6; 1 Pet 1:5.

Biblical counselors can offer effective counsel to unbelievers because biblical counseling points people to faith in Christ to address all their life problems, and that counsel applies to believers and unbelievers. The counselor calls the unbeliever to faith unto salvation (evangelistic call) and calls the believer to faith unto sanctification (discipleship call).

Statement from the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors Regarding Mental Disorders, Medicine, and Counseling

While some of the disorders listed in the DSM are medical in nature, many others are not. Even when the problems in DSM have a physical component, the spiritual and Godward elements of humanity are not addressed by the DSM, which biblical counseling must take into account.

The Standards of Doctrine of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors
Doctrine of Common Grace:

God extends his goodness to all people by making provision for their physical needs and granting them intellectual gifts. This goodness, also known as common grace, is what grants unbelievers the ability to apprehend facts in science, for example, and is why believers can affirm the true information that unbelievers come to understand.

See Matt 5:44-45; John 1:9; Rom 1:18-23; Col 1:21.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is particularly helpful for those desiring to gain a better understanding of biblical counseling. It covers fundamental Christian gospel beliefs while revealing how they are used to counsel others by giving specific examples in his own counseling experiences. I found that each chapter gives enough meat to be meaningful and engaging. However, there's much more to be said about each topic covered which he acknowledges. Overall, it gives a great overview of the theology behind the current beliefs in biblical counseling and ultimately exalts our triune God and gives Him the glory only He deserves.

[Cullen Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe 4.5 stars. I am not a vocational counselor and have no desire to be, but I read this book in order to better counsel people at church and in life, and this book gave me a good framework to do so. Be warned though: this is basically a systematic theology textbook, with real-life counseling applications mixed in. The author argued that the work of counseling can be approached like one would approach evangelism, and that has really given me something to consider moving forward.

[Tara Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books I would like to keep on hand for the rest of my life…I love Lambert’s writing style—engaging and direct, yet thorough—and I found this book extremely helpful and practical regarding not only biblical counseling, but just Christian living in general.

[Lindsey Carver]

DNFing, don’t necessarily agree with the ACBC views of biblical counseling so I don’t feel the need to continue this one. There’s a lot of great meat and a lot of truth in this but I’ll be looking into other resources that integrate secular psychology as a tool and not a vice 🫶🫶🫶

[Lindsay Crouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way Heath Lambert uses personal stories and examples to teach through the doctrines of theology focusing on counseling. Practical and helpful, but also insightful into how to lead others to the truth in God’s Word.

[Luke Beauchamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and expansive review of how theology and counseling are both grounded firmly in the living Word of God and intensely applicable.

[Bryan Eberl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book! I’d recommend it to everyone! Whether you are simply counseling a friend, family member or discipling someone new, it is jam packed with theology and I will refer to it a lot moving forward.

(App crashed when I was almost done with a more thorough review but above gets the gist)