I am thrilled to highly recommend this book by Fitzpatrick and Johnson. Comprehensive and yet, simple, it is a book conducive for every member of the church. This is a book that provides a biblical analysis of the condition of the heart and fleshes out the promise of the gospel in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, particularly as God’s answer for true, Spirit-empowered growth in life and godliness.

In short, these two authors address union with the finished work of Christ as the power for obedience in the Christian life. The authors do not take for granted the relationship between indicatives (what Christ has done) and imperatives (what believers are to do). Rather, they work the reader through the epistles to demonstrate that Scripture gives commands to the believer grounded in the gospel promises regarding his or her position in Jesus Christ.

“When we use the words gospel, indicatives, and declarations, we are referring to those portions of Scripture that tell us what Christ has already done (or has promised to do) for us. On the other hand, when we use the terms law, imperatives, and obligations, we are referring to those verses that tell us what our response to this good news should be” (93). They continue, “Counseling that neglects what the gospel says about us will eventuate in works-righteousness and its ultimate and inescapable fruit, either pride or despair, or a vacillation between the two. Counseling that neglects the obligation forced on us by the gospel always eventuates in complacent laziness, excuse-making, and loose living. So gospel-centered counseling is counseling based on scripture that defines us as God does and then applies both gospel declarations and gospel obligations to every problem we encounter” (92-93).

Fitzpatrick and Johnson also expose a number of gospel-compromising, counterfeit solutions that may promise to affect true change, but rather produce fleshly fruit devoid of the life of Christ.

Rife with examples of conflicts in parent-child relationships, husband-wife relationships, believer-to-believer relationships, and many more, “Counsel from the Cross” fleshes out the fleshly fruit of hallow, man-centered answers to these problems as opposed to the living fruit that the gospel (albeit embraced by faith) will produce. But what about problems that are the result of biological imbalances or mental instability?

In chapter seven, “The Gospel and Our Emotions,” Fitzpatrick and Johnson provide a helpful biblical analysis of the relationship between the inner person, the heart and mind, and the instrumentality of the brain and the body.

From this biblical diagnosis, the authors point to the sufficiency of the gospel for the need of the heart. Furthermore, “Counsel from the Cross” provides an engaging resource that applies the truths of the gospel to a plethora of sin issues by mining gospel declarations and obligations from key texts (Appendix A).

The following is a quote that pointedly captures the theme of the book taken from a section entitled, ‘Counsel, Then, From the Cross:’ “Remember what the gospel says about us: we are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe but we are also more loved and welcomed than we ever dared to hope” (p. 181).