Hello, and welcome back to the A United Front! I hope that you are finding these lessons helpful.
In lesson seven, we learned the role of faith in our goal of becoming a united front with our spouse against the schemes of the devil. We discussed some ways to increase our faith—prayer, preaching the gospel to ourselves, and hearing the gospel preached at our local church.
Today, we will look at another way to listen to the gospel and learn to apply it, and that is through gospel-focused counseling.
Just as we might go to a doctor when we are persistently feeling unwell, there are times when we will benefit from seeking counsel for our marriage. And while it can be helpful to have someone speak life and hope into our situation, as Christians, we must be selective about the counsel we seek.
You might be familiar with support groups, psychology, life coaches, or therapy; these are all concepts and theoretical approaches which the world has devised to deal with the problem of sin. However, since the world is without faith in Christ and blinded to the truth of God's Word, their counsel will always be short-sighted and limited to the power of the counselee's will. Worldly counsel is like putting a bandage on a life-threatening wound; it is insufficient.
The good news is that for us who have put our faith in Jesus, there is a “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31)—the gospel way. In Christ, we have the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). We are united to Christ and share fellowship with Him (Romans 6:4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:2-4, 9). Because God has cleansed us from sin and made us righteous through Jesus’ death on the cross, we can be confident that He will continue to transform us by His grace (2 Corinthians 3:18).
In Jesus, we have received all that we need for life and godliness (John 1:1; 2 Peter 1:3), including the power of the cross, which both saves and sanctifies our spouse and us (1 Corinthians 1:18). We are not dependent on our strength but instead, we rely on the power of God working in us (Philippians 2:13), and He is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17)! Gospel counseling is the counsel that we need.
Question 1. Have you received counseling for yourself or your marriage? Please share.
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