Carol Chen’s Reviews > The Gospel for Disordered Lives: An Introduction to Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling > Status Update

In other words, rather than being mystical or eerie, resisting the devil involves diligently pursuing the basic disciplines of gospel-based Christian growth seen throughout these letters.

Based on these verses and their surrounding contexts (Jas 3:13-4:12; 1 Pet 5:5-11; Eph 6:10-20), resisting Satan involves submitting to God, being self-controlled and alert standing firm in faith, and putting on the whole array of spiritual armor God provides.

He who has stood before his God, convicted and condemned..., is the man to weep for joy when he is pardoned, to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and to live to the honor of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed." We praise Jesus Christ for taking that death penalty we and our counselees deserved and freeing us from sin's curse.

Charles Spurgeon that pull together the severity of sin and the glories of Christ with this image of a person about to be executed for his capital crime: "Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Savior.

Second, we should remind our Christian counselees of the fresh, daily, believers when they turn back ongoing, Fatherly forgiveness God gives to the Lord. In 1 John 1:5-2:2, the apostle reminds us that believers do indeed frequently sin, that regular confession is the normal rhythm of the Christian, and that Christ's atoning sacrifice pays for our sins. The prom- ise of verse 1:9

Psalms 103:11-12; 130:3-4; Isa 1:18; 38:17; 44:22; Jer 50:20; and Mic 7:19 picture God's forgiveness of his people by supplying moving metaphors.

Colossians 1:13-14; 2:13-14; 3:13-14 can bring direct gospel hope to guilty counselees. These passages address various common individual and relational problems.5

We should remind our Christian counselees first of the forgiveness God has already given them in Christ through his death and resurrection. Then, along with the passages above, we can assign these passages for study and reflection:

Before the founda- tion of the world God designed a salvation plan (Eph 1:3-14) that includes "redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (1:7). In that plan he decided to forgive all who repent and believe in his Son Jesus.

What do we mean by God's forgiveness? We might define it as God's decision, promise, and declaration not to hold our sins against us, because of our faith in what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.