Lasting Change in the Context of Grace: A Covenantal Perspective

In discussion of counseling where the immediate goal is change, questions such as “How people change? ” and “How to help people change? ” are the main issues being addressed. Because there are different starting points, different approaches are also proposed in response to these questions. However, Dr. Joel Wood suggests, rather than focusing on the “how,” we must look for answers to the “why” questions, which direct us to the biblical narratives.

John MacArthur, Douglas Bookman, and Robert Smith in their book Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically, tackle the theological foundations of Biblical counseling. On this foundation rests the practice of counseling that is faithful to Scripture, though it is not a popular approach within the counseling field. And one of these theological foundations is the doctrine of the covenant. So, what is the relationship of Covenant Theology to Biblical counseling?

The biblical covenant is different from, yet in some ways similar to, human covenants. Like human covenants, it involves relationships, commitment, and obligations. Elements of a covenant include the benevolence of the sovereign toward his subjects, the loyalty owed to the sovereign by his vassals, and the consequences of obedience or disobedience. However, their biggest difference lies to the One who initiates the covenant. God initiated the biblical covenant and is grounded in His sovereign grace rather than mutual negotiation. Before the foundation of the earth, this covenant of grace was made. God entered the covenant relationship to man under his four different states: in his original state, under the state of sin, under the state of grace, and under the restored state in eternity.

With this, covenantal framework shapes biblical counseling by viewing people primarily as covenant beings who live either in faithfulness or unfaithfulness to God. And as a result, counseling is not merely concerned with emotional or behavioral adjustment but with restoring the right relationship with God through repentance, faith, and obedience. It is not something that we could get done in our own ways. Thankfully, we had the resources namely the Bible, church, grace, prayer, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to help us achieve what science cannot do for humans.

In view of this, I must not take things for granted. The resources have been provided, and it is a call to faithfully rely on them, to seek God’s guidance, and to participate wholeheartedly in His redemptive work in the lives of those we counsel.

Covenant Theology, therefore, provides the theological lens through which human problems are understood, and lasting change is pursued in biblical counseling. And the end goal of everything is God’s glory.

Subject: Introduction to Biblical Counseling
Published by: Baloran, Ma. Rose Ann S., ABTh - 3rd Year