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W. E. Vine’s
Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
explains that the Greek word
hamartia
(which translates to the English “sin”) is a noun, while
hamartano
(also translated “sin”) is a verb. In Romans 6:14 where Paul writes, “Sin shall not be master over you,”
sin
is a noun; while in verse 15, “Shall we sin…?” it is a verb. In Romans chapters 5–8 the word
sin
appears 41 times, once as a verb,
forty times as a noun
! Why the emphasis? Because
if you interpret the word
sin
in Romans 5–8 as a verb, you will never understand these chapters, and they are vital to walking in victory.
We have been conditioned to perceive the word
sin
as an action word. Thus, when we read it in the Bible we think,
Yep, that’s when I stole the hubcaps.

In Romans 5:21; 6:12,14,17; 7:11,14,17,20,23,25; 8:2; 1 Corinthians 15:56; Hebrews 3:13; 11:25; 12:4; James 1:15b, Vine states of the noun
hamartia,
“This GOVERNING principle is PERSONIFIED” (represented as a person). It governs (controls) and it has a persona (the characteristics of a person). So what? Here’s what.
The power of sin presents thoughts to your godly mind for consideration by making them seem like they’re your own thoughts!
Misinterpreting
sin
as a verb is kind of like being a student who never learns his locker combination. Instead of growing to maturity, you’ll stand outside the classroom spinning the dial.

As you experience the thoughts which sin (the persona) feeds up to your mind with first-person pronouns (I, me, my), you’d swear on a stack of Bibles that the old man has been resurrected. You’ll think a
monologue
is going on in your mind (a conversation with yourself), when in fact it is a
dialogue
(a conversation with sin) (see Romans 7:17,20). This explains why many Christians teach that the old man is still alive. They cite isolated verses attempting to explain their experience. This is called “proof texting” and is not legitimate biblical interpretation. No one can accurately interpret chapters 5–8 of Romans, verse by verse, and prove the old man lives. It states categorically that he died in Romans 6:2,4, 5,6,7,8,11,13, et al. Since only Christ has resurrection power, the old man has not been resurrected. We must, therefore, search the Word to see what God identifies as our opponent in our inner battle. Romans 5–8 says it is a power called
sin
(the noun).

Second Corinthians 10:5 says, “We are [to take]
every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ” (emphasis added). There are three sources for the thoughts you experience: your mind, the Holy Spirit, and the power of sin. The thoughts from the Holy Spirit and your mind are godly (1 Corinthians 2:16b). Your mind no longer
generates
sinful thoughts (1John 3:9; 5:18); it
receives
sinful thoughts from the power of sin and your will puts them into action. To prevent this, you must “take [sin’s] thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5) by
acting
like you are dead to them but “alive to God” (Romans 6:11). By employing this battle tactic, “sin [the persona] shall not be master over you” (Romans 6:14).

Sin is a persona. It has intelligence. It obeys its master, Satan. It can put thoughts into your mind. It seeks to control you. But, by Christ’s life through you, you do not
have
to give in to sin’s urgings: “For sin [the persona] shall not be master over you” (Romans 6:14); “He who
has
died is freed from sin [the persona]” (Romans 6:7, emphasis added); “So consider yourselves to be dead to sin [the persona], but alive to God” (Romans 6:11). It is only in following the imperative of these verses that you can realize consistent victory over sinning (the verb).

(See Chapter 7)

There is a good deal of confusion about what constitutes “Christian” counseling. One woman wrote, “I heard you refer to obsessive/compulsive disorders on your radio program. That’s a problem I have. I feel that I must spin around precisely three times and flip the light switch once before leaving the house, especially when I’m nervous about something. Do you think you can help me? Do I need counseling?”

Would you send her to a “professional”? That’s what I would have felt like doing, even after I’d completed my doctoral studies in counseling. I knew what the textbooks said, the techniques and procedures to use, but I also knew that the success rate for treating folks who were struggling with this behavior was far from encouraging. I would have felt helpless, hopeless, inadequate.

Her problem is not uncommon. Many of you know someone who is troubled by obsessive/compulsive behavior, though it may not be incapacitating. It could be as harmless as a baseball player who
feels
that he must step on second base, heading for his position. Should he fail to do so, it would interfere with his concentration. He would
feel
insecure, as though something were missing, and worrisome thoughts would plague him. Next inning, he’d make sure to step on that base.

So what would you do with the woman who wrote us the letter? Would you see her problem as light years beyond the abilities of a pastor or plain-vanilla layman in the church?

Okay, let’s say we decide to refer her to a therapist who is a believer. Since he knows Jesus, is even perhaps on the church staff, the therapy will be Christian…or will it? Tell me, does a Christian mechanic use Christian oil and grease? When we use the word
Christian
as an adjective, we imply that the skills and techniques—even the results—of the practitioner are
Christian.
This is a mistake. Ever used a “Christian mechanic” who left a lot to be desired as a craftsman? It’s better to describe him as a “mechanic who is a Christian.”

I would have no problem using the services of an unsaved, skilled, orthopedic surgeon to set my fractured hip. When I submit myself to his knife, I’m more interested in his surgical skill than his theology. But submitting yourself to a counselor who uses therapy developed by the minds of lost mentors is dramatically different. “Christian” counseling must counsel the soul with techniques generated by the Spirit of God; counseling which is
not
Christian counsels the soul with techniques generated by the spirit of this world. Attaching Scripture to such techniques does not make them “Christian” because
the goals of these two therapies are diametrically opposed.
Holy Spirit-led therapy seeks to lead the soul to abandon all hope in personal strength unto total reliance upon
Christ’s
strength, while secular therapy seeks to lead the soul to greater autonomy. (Alas, even with “God’s help”!)

I don’t question the sincerity or integrity of any counselor who is a committed Christian, assuming his desire is to help people overcome their problems in a Christ-honoring manner. But my concern is this: Does this counselor use
Christian
counseling or
man’s
best wisdom? Let’s face it. While both saved and lost plumbers may do an adequate job using identical wrenches, there is a world of difference between counseling with a biblically-based “tool” and with the best the world can offer. While biblical counseling seeks to lovingly cut the believer’s fleshly water supply off and lead him to tap into the “rivers of living water” (the Holy Spirit) within, the world’s therapy seeks to prime the flesh’s pump to get it “flowing” again.

Notice that I referred to counseling the
soul.
You’ll recall that the word
soul
and the word
psychology
come from the same root, meaning
personality. World system counseling uses techniques developed by unregenerate minds to “treat” man’s soul.
The Christian who takes his soul to such a therapist for service is like the man who takes his car to the florist to be overhauled. Psychotherapy is not God’s plan for ministering to the soul, especially the Christian’s soul, regardless of whether the practitioner is saved or lost. To reiterate: I do not question the Christian counselor’s motive; I question his method.

I’ve taken my stand, now let me back it up by discussing how a biblical counselor can lead our hurting sister into God’s “rest” (Hebrews 4:1). The world seeks
self
-reliance, but God hates it. This is the sin Adam and Eve committed: They were the first ones to hum the tune “I Did It My Way.” That’s what got our friend into the mess she’s in. The instant she was born she began to hum that tune, to live to get her needs satisfied her way. She drew a circle around herself and set up her own private little kingdom, and she declared herself, “Lord of the Ring.” Her goal:
to be in control.
Her attitude: “This is
my
life, and I have
my
rights.”

We’re no different. All of us entered the world striving to develop skills in ruling our kingdom. Our goal was control, our attitude “my way.” If screaming and kicking got good results, we used that technique to control others. If we were uncomfortable or simply bored, we screamed until they made us content. We tried to control everything in every way: when we went to bed, when we got up, when we ate, when we played, how to keep from taking a bath, how to eat out of the dog’s dish without Mom seeing, ad infinitum. We stuffed the ballot box, elected ourselves god, and sat down in the King’s chair. And most folks are still at it. Jack Taylor says, “If you want to get along with God, stay out of His chair.”

Count on it:
God opposes every independent work of man.
He yearns to be intimately involved! Bizarre as it may seem, our friend is manifesting habitual behavior that makes her
feel
as though she were in control, that her circle is in order. She’s like the ball player who
feels
he has to step on second base, only her behavior has become embarrassing, even incapacitating. On a scale of one to ten, her emotions are stuck on a 9.5! Her feelings are dictating her behavior, and though she can learn from world-system therapy
how
she developed this behavior pattern, the obsessive thoughts will persist and her stuck feeler will continue to demand that she “keep on dancin’.”

Biblical counseling is simply a matter of
discipleship.
She must sell out, give up trying to be in control, and “walk in [the]
newness
of life” which is hers in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:4, emphasis added); she must learn to experience her new identity, that she is a “new creature” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). And who is best equipped to help her discover this? Who is competent to counsel her? The “professional” who seeks to help her “stand on her own two feet”? No. This dear, hurting woman needs to discover the marvelous truth that Paul discovered: “When I am weak,
then
I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10, emphasis added).
God’s
strength through
her
weakness can be hers by appropriating the “life [that is] hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). A “discipler” with no world-system training, but who experiences and is able to disciple others into experiencing God’s rest, is the therapist who can lead her, by God’s grace, into this victory.

It grieves me that many young men and women, with a heart and a calling to serve the Lord in Christian counseling, are being trained by well-meaning mentors in Christian institutions to use world-system counseling techniques. While the Holy Spirit strives to conform believers to the image of Christ through the “fellowship of His sufferings,” to the
abandoning
of all
self
-reliance for living life, these folks are learning techniques to
strengthen
the hurting believer’s flesh.

(See Chapter 9)

First Corinthians 12:9 states that some are given the spiritual gift of faith. These folks have been singled out by the Lord and given this spiritual gift for building up the body of Christ,
not
for “believing God for a Jaguar.” The rest of us Christians have simply been given what the Bible calls “a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). It is my conviction that some Christian teachers do not comprehend that they’ve been given the
gift
of faith. Thus, mistakenly assuming they have ordinary faith like every other Christian, they build a ministry around exhorting believers to get more faith to acquire Rolex watches and guaranteed health.

They mean well. I don’t intend to fault their motives, just their message. Many times, I have had the experience of counseling those whose lives were shipwrecked from striving to generate more faith as a result of listening to this teaching. You don’t need to beg for more faith. You have all the faith you need to walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

(See Chapter 9)

Do you recall when King David sinned by numbering Israel in 1 Chronicles 21? Verse one says, “Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” How did Satan do that? Did he say, “Well, David, it looks like a good, clear day for counting heads. Why not go ahead and do it?” Oh, no, it couldn’t have been done so overtly to this man who had a heart to do God’s will. He had to deceive him into doing it.

It’s my conviction that Satan gave David the idea through his brain with first-person-singular pronouns and an Israeli accent. David swallowed the idea because he had man-o-war flesh, and that sort of flesh always
feels
more comfortable when he knows what his “strength” is. God was his strength, but he was deceived into placing his faith in the wrong object—numbers. That’s why God told him not to take a census.