God ordained that people would be saved by words and by faith (Rom. 10:17). It is by words—such as the ones recorded in John 3:16—and by believing in God through words that people experience the new birth and enter into the kingdom of God. What do you ask your words to do in counseling? You have in your toolbox words that reveal, words that descend, and words that transform. May you use your words well as you care for others.

Counseling occurs within conversation, and conversations include different types of words. Some words can be illustrative or explanatory or directive. While a counseling conversation may appear to be a passive exercise, words are always at work, doing the heavy lifting of counseling. If you are a pastor or counselor, what types of words do your counselees hear from you? If you are meeting with someone for discipleship, what are you asking your words to do?
In John 3, Jesus has an eternally memorable conversation with someone who knew a lot about words. Nicodemus had committed his life to studying and memorizing the words God gave to Israel. He was a teacher. He lived in the realm of words—they were his tools. But, in a matter of minutes, Jesus used words to transform the overconfident Pharisee into a baffled and confused student, who would eventually come to follow Jesus.
Jesus uses three different types of words in John 3 in His conversation with Nicodemus. He also shows us three types of words that our counselees need to hear from us in our counseling.
Words that Reveal
Jesus had just disrupted the status quo in Jerusalem by cleansing the temple (John 2:12-22). And His demonstration must have left enough of an impression for Nicodemus to seek Him out for a further conversation. Nicodemus starts out strong: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (v. 2).
Nicodemus’s opening statement is commendable. He honors Jesus, addressing Him as a Rabbi. Instead of taking the approach of the Pharisees and attributing His works to demons (Mark 3:20-30), Nicodemus even acknowledges that Jesus has come from God. Implicitly, he is trying to communicate that, from his perspective, he sees and knows something about Jesus’s ministry and mission.
Jesus, on the other hand, knowing what is within man (John 2:25), does not accept Nicodemus’s olive branch. He responds, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). Although Nicodemus thinks he sees and understands Jesus’ works, Jesus knows that true spiritual sight requires spiritual birth, something that Nicodemus hasn’t experienced yet. This direct response from Jesus redirects the conversation as Nicodemus asks a disoriented question about entering the womb again. Jesus continues to talk about the kingdom of God, the Spirit’s work, and the necessity of spiritual rebirth.
Biblical counselors can glean instruction from Jesus’ use of words with Nicodemus. Nicodemus began by explaining the world and Jesus’ ministry as he saw it. Jesus used words to reveal to Nicodemus the spiritual realities underneath the surface of Nicodemus’s perception and intuitions.
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Written by J. Warner Wallace |
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
In spite of intense opposition, the apostles and their disciples entered the temple and preached the truth about Jesus. This courageous stand for the truth often brought them into conflict with the world around them.

The first community of saints reflected the power and nature of God with their lives. The early Church followed their Biblical example (recorded in the Book of Acts) as they emulated the nature and essence of the first disciples. The observations of those who witnessed the early Church should inspire and guide us. If we were to imitate the earliest energized believers, our churches would transform the culture and inspire a new generation. How can we, as Christians today, become more like the Church that changed the world and transformed the Roman Empire? We must learn the truth, strive for unity, live in awe, serve in love, share with courage and overflow with joy. These six important characteristics were held by the earliest congregations:
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.Acts 2:42-47
Six simple attributes were observed in the earliest believers. These characteristics can serve as a template and guide for those of us who want to restore the passion and impact of the early Church. If we employ them today, we’ll create healthy, vibrant, transformative churches. As grateful Christ followers, our gratitude should motivate us to share the truth with others:
Principle #5: Share with Courage
The Church must live a bold and fearless life surrendered to the cause of Christ:
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Written by Colin J. Smothers |
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Here is the same message The Nation seems to have just discovered on one of their sociological safaris to the American Heartland. Christians think sex belongs in marriage and that all life, even unborn life, should be protected and celebrated. News at eleven. For students of history, this is as surprising as it is new. Regarding chastity, Jesus himself taught that God’s design in the beginning—“he who created them from the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4)—defines what is both permissible and advisable regarding human sexuality: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Matthew 19:5; cf. Genesis 1:27; 2:24).

In C. S. Lewis’s The Pilgrim’s Regress, John the protagonist finds himself in Eschropolis (“Ugly City” in Greek), where the boys look like girls and the girls look like boys, and everyone acts obscenely in their avantgarde rejection of puritanism. Scandalized by what he encounters, John objects, only to be shouted down by one of the residents: “We have got over humanitarianism!” “And prudery!” shouts another. Funny, these impulses. Two peas in a pod.
In his allegory, Lewis exposes modern progressive morality, which is in such ugly disarray that progressives regularly call good evil and evil good and cannot fathom moral principles when they encounter them. Instead, they convulse in protest.
I thought of Lewis’s passage recently when I came across this article from The Nation, a leftist groupthink organization that shared the following deep thought on social media: “The church in heartland America promotes a harsh sexual morality. But it sends a mixed message: Premarital sex is sinful, but teens who have babies are revered as mothers.”
Where to begin? For starters, upholding chastity and revering motherhood are hardly unique to the church in the American Midwest. In actual fact, these tenets of Christian sexual morality are as old as Christianity itself.
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