First Thoughts
Summer of Sufficiency
It is our mission to reach all of Jacksonville with all of Jesus for all of life. How much does Scripture address the issues related to “all of life”? All the wisdom we need for all of life can be found in Jesus Christ.
All the wisdom needed for the Christian life is found in Jesus Christ alone, and it is him, his gospel, and his Word that we proclaim. Consider Colossians 1:28, which shows how the Christian has “all” wisdom in Christ.
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).
This wisdom in Christ is sufficient to present everyone mature. This means that if there is an issue of sanctification, the Christian has all the wisdom necessary for it.
We have released a series of four video essays on the sufficiency of Scripture with the desire to bring clarity to this topic.
“Fundamental to Christian doctrine is the reality that the truths we confess are never in conflict with one another. This must be the case because God is one, true, righteous, and faithful. He will not speak out of both sides of his mouth. What he says in one place will never be at odds with what he says in another place.”
“When we think about syncretizing therapeutic worldviews with God’s truth, we think of the real people we know facing debilitating sorrow, the end of their marriage, enslavement to alcohol, heartbreak over their prodigal children, overwhelming homosexual desires, and we want to meet them with Christ and his Word. The conviction of biblical counselors is that we must give these people the pure milk of God’s Word, not syncretize the mind of Christ with worldly wisdom.”
“The mental health industry provides their version of hope, claiming to have found the way to address life’s problems, often found in a pill. However, that hope is always changing, for it is founded upon questionable science and a faulty view of anthropology. The Bible, however, offers the only source of true and lasting hope…”
“What is Biblical Counseling? Biblical counseling has a rich history that is well-established and defined. The biblical counseling movement is set apart from Christian Psychology, Integration, Transformational Psychology, and other various eclectic approaches. Biblical counseling believes that the Bible contains all the wisdom needed for the issues of ‘life and godliness.’”
If you have watched these videos and are looking for more, we will be releasing new content in the near future. In the meantime, here is some recommended reading to add to your library.
- Dale Johnson, et al. Sufficiency: Historic Essays on the Sufficiency of Scripture.
- Samuel Stephens. A Call to Counsel and Care: The Distinguishing Qualities of Biblical Counseling.
- Ernie Baker. Biblical Counseling and The Psychologies, Critical Issues in Biblical Counseling, Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2023.
- Heath Lambert. A Theology of Biblical Counseling: The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2016.
- Heath Lambert. Biblical Counseling and Common Grace. Edited by Ernie Baker. Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2023.
- Heath Lambert. The Gospel and Mental Illness. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2014.
- Stuart Scott and Heath Lambert. Counseling the Hard Cases: True Stories Illustrating the Sufficiency of God’s Resources in Scripture. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2015.
- David Powlison. Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003.
- John MacArthur, Wayne Mack, and Master’s College Faculty. Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2022.
- John Frame. The Doctrine of the Word of God, Theology of Lordship. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2010.
Sean Perron (Ph.D. in Applied Theology from Midwestern Seminary and M.Div., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the Associate Pastor. He is the co-author of three books: Letters to a Romantic: On Dating, Letters to a Romantic: On Marriage, and Letters to a Romantic: The First Years.
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