In this third lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia explains how the physical body factors into biblical counseling. Specifically, Pastor Dave discusses from Scripture man’s fundamental makeup, the body’s effect on the mind, and the mind’s effect on the body.
Auto Transcript
Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.
Summary
We are reminded of the vital connection between body and soul, and why biblical counseling must account for both. This lesson explores what Scripture teaches about the makeup of man, how physical circumstances influence spiritual states, and how the inner man shapes bodily experience—equipping us to counsel others with wisdom and compassion.
Key Lessons:
- The Bible’s terms for the inner man—heart, soul, spirit, mind—are largely synonymous, all describing the immaterial part of man, distinct from the physical body.
- Physical circumstances genuinely influence the spirit, but they do not determine it; our response and will remain our responsibility before God.
- The inner man powerfully affects the body—sin, stress, anxiety, and grief can produce real physical symptoms, while joy and peace promote bodily health.
- Man is not sufficient without Scripture; it is man’s knowledge that is incomplete without biblical wisdom, not the other way around.
Application: We are called to recognize that counseling the whole person means understanding the interplay of body and soul. We should neither ignore physical realities nor treat them as ultimate—always pointing ourselves and others to the sufficiency of God’s Word for the inner man, while also welcoming medicine as a gift from God for genuine physical needs.
Discussion Questions:
- When you face physical suffering or comfort, how does your inner response reveal what you truly believe about God’s sovereignty?
- In what ways might physical symptoms you or someone you love experiences be connected to spiritual struggles? How would you approach that conversation?
- How does understanding that soul, spirit, heart, and mind describe the same inner reality change how you read and apply Scripture in your own life?
Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 8:3, 11–14 (physical circumstances as spiritual lessons and warnings); Psalm 38:3–8 (sin’s effect on the body); Proverbs 17:22 (the body-soul connection in joy and despair); Luke 22:41–44 (Jesus’ bodily agony from spiritual burden); 2 Corinthians 4:16 (outer man and inner man); Matthew 22:37 (loving God with every part of our being).
Outline
- Introduction
- Follow-Up: Is the Bible Still Sufficient?
- Follow-Up: What If Secular Counseling Seemed More Helpful?
- Homework Review: Article Observations
- New Homework Assignment
- Today’s Topic: The Mind-Body Connection
- The Makeup of Man
- The Body’s Effect on the Mind
- The Mind’s Effect on the Body
- Responding to the Mind-Body Reality
- Counseling Through Suffering
Introduction
Good morning, good morning. Welcome to Sunday school, to our biblical counseling 101 Sunday school. We’re going to get started. Let me ask the Lord’s blessing on this time.
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word. It is sufficient wisdom. It is supreme wisdom. Show us more of it this morning. Help me to be able to explain it well, and give us confidence and equip us, Lord, to do your ministry. In Jesus’ name, amen.
We’re on our third lesson today, and I’d like to start with a few follow-ups to last week’s lesson. We’ve seen at this point what biblical counseling is and is not. We’ve also looked at the Bible’s sufficiency for counseling. That was last week’s lesson.
Something I wanted to say last week, but I couldn’t really find a spot to fit it in the lesson, is that we often don’t realize just how privileged we are to have the word of God. It’s through God’s word, it’s through Christ’s word, that we can see what’s really going on in the world and even what’s really going on in ourselves.
If you try to understand the world or the people of it while at the same time ignoring or rejecting what the word of God says, what is going to be the result of your analysis, your quest to understand? It’s going to be faulty. The conclusions you come to are going to be off, sometimes very off.
Rather than the Bible being insufficient without man’s wisdom and knowledge, his extra-biblical wisdom and knowledge, it is actually man’s knowledge that is insufficient without the wisdom of the Bible. Don’t be ashamed at all of the word of God or of counseling with the word of God.
If you don’t understand what the Bible says about man, sin, creation, Christ, you’re going to misunderstand so much of the world, and you’ll probably act to counsel or even govern very foolishly. That’s what we see so much around us.
This is why we need what is often called a biblical worldview: a perspective that starts and sticks with the word of God. It uses the Bible to assess man’s ideas, rather than the other way around. And that comes from the supremacy and the sufficiency of God’s word.
“It is man’s knowledge that is insufficient without the wisdom of the Bible.”
Follow-Up: Is the Bible Still Sufficient?
Now, two questions I want to reiterate related to last week’s lesson. One question is: what do we say to those who insist that the Bible was sufficient in its own time, but that times have changed and now we need more?
Actually, Mark, I think you raised that question last time. I think it’s a good question for us to consider. Was the Bible sufficient and no longer sufficient?
Well, if we make that assertion, that’s very problematic. First of all, because the Bible says the fundamentals of the world don’t change. This is one of the main points of Ecclesiastes, right?
One generation goes, another generation comes, and yet the earth remains forever. You can’t break the frustrating nature of life until God changes it. Man doesn’t change. The world doesn’t change. Technology changes, but man doesn’t change.
More importantly, if we say the Bible was sufficient but isn’t anymore, we contradict what the word of God says, what we looked at last week, right? We are able to teach every man with all wisdom and present every man complete in Christ.
If that was only true for a very short period of time when the Bible was written, then what’s the good of that claim? What’s the good of the scriptures?
Besides, the New Testament tells us that even the Old Testament in New Testament time—the Old Testament, which was parts of it more than a thousand years old—he said this was written for our instruction. Don’t tell me that that was just for that time. No, it was written for us.
And the same thing is true of the New Testament for us today.
And then finally, what is the constant apostolic exhortation in the New Testament, especially in the latter books? Hold fast to this word. This isn’t a word that is only okay or helpful for a certain period of time. He says no, you need to stick with this. It’s always going to be what you need.
So the Bible is still sufficient now.
“The Bible was written for us. And the same thing is true of the New Testament for us today.”
Follow-Up: What If Secular Counseling Seemed More Helpful?
One other question: what do we say to someone who says he tried biblical counseling, but he actually found that secular counseling and secular treatments are more helpful? That’s a good question, but it’s one that you can’t really answer. You can’t really speak to until you find out more information.
This is actually one of the key biblical counseling principles: often you cannot answer something right away. You’ve got to find out more information. That’s actually straight from the Proverbs. He who gives an answer before he hears it is considered folly and shame to him.
So if somebody says, “Oh yeah, biblical counseling didn’t help me,” we’ve got to find out more. What was the problem that they were seeking help with? What kind of biblical counseling did they receive? Did they follow the counsel? Why or why not? And what were they looking for from the counseling?
It could be that there was a problem with the counselor. It could be that there was a problem with the counsel and the counselor’s expectations. But certainly it’s not a problem with the counsel, not a problem with the word of God.
For as Romans says, and I think it’s very helpful for us to remember: let God be found true and every man a liar. Don’t say, “Yeah, I tried God. God didn’t work.” It wasn’t God’s fault. It wasn’t God’s fault.
Romans 3:4: “Let God be found true and every man a liar.”
All right, well, that’s a little bit of just follow-up to last week. But now let’s talk about the homework.
Homework Review: Article Observations
Last week’s homework gave you a couple things to do: continue to read the Bible and pray every day. You need that habit. I hope you’re doing that. I also assigned you to read this article, “A Discussion Among Clergy,” by Ed Welch.
Now, if you actually read this article and if you got through the first half—which is very academic-laden and filled with psychological jargon and references to psychologists—give yourselves a metaphorical pat on the back. I know that was difficult. I found it difficult just to reread the first half of this article.
But if you were able to get through that, I’m very glad. Hopefully things got a little bit smoother as you got to the second half of the article. I asked you to write down some observations: things that stuck out to you or questions that came up as you’re reading.
So let me hear some of those. What were some things that stuck out to you as you read through this article? You can just raise your hand and share.
Yeah, Jay?
That’s a key point. Jay mentioned that Ed Welch brings out that many of the assertions—even the whole psychological worldview—is unverifiable, which is actually, as he points out, unscientific. If it cannot be proven false, if it cannot be proven true or false, then that’s not really scientific. It’s actually more like a faith.
What else?
Yeah, Steve?
Yes, that’s another good point. Ed Welch points out that the psychological field, many psychologists, are doing a form of evangelism. They want conversions. That’s part of his overall point: that psychologists are kind of like clergy, and psychology is kind of like a religion.
“When you’re talking about theories of the person, theories of behavior, that is more like a religion.”
Now, even he points out that there are aspects of psychology that are not like a faith, that are more like true science—like when you study certain things about memory or, as you said, certain facets of how the brain works. But when you’re talking about theories of the person, theories of behavior, that is more like a religion.
I saw some other hands.
Yeah?
Okay, so Glenn is pointing out that, especially when Ed Welch is talking about the psychological part of his speech, there’s so much of it that is based on assumptions—things that aren’t proven or even provable. And again, that’s why it’s more like a faith.
When you say, “Oh, this is really what’s going on inside of you,” but nobody can verify it, you’re just working based on assumptions or even a worldview.
The Role of Assumptions
And if you did the extra credit assignment, where I asked you to listen to a sermon I preached, I tried to stress the importance of the assumptions that we make. If you start with anti-biblical or antichrist assumptions, where are you going to end up? Not with Christ and the Bible, but according to the assumptions that you’ve created.
Answers in Genesis—if you remember when we talked through the Answers Bible curriculum Sunday school class—they really stress this. This is why creationists and evolutionists can look at the same evidence and come to totally different conclusions. It has to do with the assumptions that we make.
You say, “Well, you’ve got your assumptions. I got my assumptions. What are we going to do?”
Well, a Christian says, “Well, you’ve got the wrong assumptions. Our assumptions are based on the trustworthy word of God and really from the only thing that makes sense with the world. But your assumptions, they’re actually self-contradicting. You say we can’t figure out anything unless it’s reason and scientifically based, but that’s an assumption that’s not based on reason or scientific basis. You can’t prove that. But if you say, ‘Well, we believe it because God told us,’ that’s consistent with itself.”
Assumptions are key. And it does become more concrete when you actually start with the right assumptions, with the biblical assumptions. You say, “Well, we believe this because this is what the Bible says.”
“It does become more concrete when you actually start with the right assumptions, with the biblical assumptions.”
Yeah, another question or observation?
Yeah, Mark?
Yeah, so Mark bringing out some points that Welch is making about how the Bible is authoritative, pervasive, and comprehensive. It really is the starting point. It is evident all over the world, all over life, the things that it presents. And comprehensive? Yeah, it really deals with the things of life in a full way.
Even in a way that Ed Welch points out, psychology is not able to—psychology is not addressing certain facts about the world, like why is there such a pervasiveness of religion and of the fear of death and of right and wrong, the understanding of right and wrong? But the Bible speaks to that very clearly. It says, “Oh, well, that’s obvious. We can tell you the answer to that.”
Yeah, that’s why again we love the word of God and we rely on it.
Emma?
Yeah, that was an interesting point, right? When talking about medication for what are really soul problems, he says you can’t medicate the soul. What is the point of turning to medications when the problem is not physical but it is spiritual?
We’ll talk more about that in today’s lesson, in the coming lesson. And then Magda, raise your hand.
Yes?
Okay, so Magda is showing more along the same lines: keeping distinct what is physical and what is spiritual. And saying that a physical disease or a physical issue or problem is not an excuse for a moral response or an immoral response.
And we’ll talk more about that today.
Well, I’m so glad you were reading through the article and making the observations that you did. That’s good. So thank you for doing that.
New Homework Assignment
Let’s talk about next week’s homework. We’ll be referring more to some of the ideas that were in that article. But for this next week, I’m giving you a new article to read. Continue to read the Bible. Focus time with the Bible, focus time in prayer every day. That is an extremely important habit.
The new thing I’d like you to read comes from Robert Smith. He’s a retired doctor who is still serving as a biblical counselor and also a lecturer on biblical counseling. He wrote something called “The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference,” which is basically a doctor’s perspective combined with the Bible on counseling.
The article I’d like you to read is called “A Biblical View of Illness.” This is actually a chapter in his book. It’s going to align with what we’re talking about today in terms of the relationship of the body and the spirit and even where illness fits in.
Now, understand that these articles are kind of like a general thing. I’m giving these to you because I believe they’re helpful generally. But it doesn’t mean I agree with every single thing in the article. There are a few times he interprets verses in a way that I don’t think is quite accurate. But I think overall he does a good job, and what he’s saying is particularly helpful.
So just remember, I’m giving these to you because they’re generally helpful. But don’t say, “Oh, well, Dave must think the exact same thing as what he says here.” Allow for a little bit of variation there. But I do think this is very helpful.
“Medicine is a gift from God. It should be taken advantage of when prescribed properly to treat a real physical problem.”
I want you to read that and then write down five observations or questions. For extra credit—I didn’t hand this out to you because I don’t want to kill our printing capacity here at the church—but I have another excerpt from the same book called “Assessing the Effectiveness of Alleged Health Products.” It’s a related topic, and one I think will be very interesting to you, especially in this day and age.
I’m going to give it to you electronically. I try to send out a little homework follow-up sometime on Sunday for those who aren’t attending in person, or just as a reminder to those who are. That’s where you’ll find the attached PDF of this chapter.
But if you say, “Oh, I don’t use email. I don’t have a computer,” well, I do have a couple paper copies here which I can hand to you, and you can see me afterwards.
So do the reading, do the observations and questions on the article, and do the extra credit also if you can.
All right, well, that’s it for homework. Let’s get to today’s topic.
Today’s Topic: The Mind-Body Connection
We’re talking about the mind-body connection. Recently I was in Princeton, and I walked by a Christian Science reading room. I don’t know if you’ve ever passed that same one. This actually isn’t it. This is just another one you see on the screen. That’s another one in Boston. But these are around.
Now, if you don’t know anything about Christian Science, it is kind of like—some theologian said, “Grape Nuts. Grape Nuts, the cereal. They’re not grapes. They’re not nuts. I don’t know where that term comes from.” So it is with Christian Science. It’s not Christian, and it’s not science. It’s actually a wacky cult from the 1800s.
I always wonder when I pass by a Christian Science reading room whether anybody really goes in there. I’m like, “Why do they even have this place?” Hopefully nobody goes in there. Maybe some people do.
One of the beliefs of Christian Science is that the world is totally spiritual. Physical things are not real. They are an illusion. Reality is totally spiritual. Which means illness and disease do not exist according to Christian Science. They are merely errors of the mind.
In Christian Science, they’re interested in healing you, but not by medicine, but by special prayers in which you argue against yourself and against the disease as a lie to be banished. That seems pretty out there, right? And also a little ridiculous, because what happens to Christian Scientists’ adherents? They die. It’s like that kind of contradicts your whole system, doesn’t it?
Well, as ridiculous as Christian Science seems to be, perhaps some of you may wonder as to whether some of the claims I’m making in this class on biblical counseling are actually kind of—I’ve been stressing to you that the Bible is sufficient to address people’s problems and that many problems that people think are biological or medical are actually spiritual. Ed Welch makes the same claim.
Is biblical counseling then therefore anti-science? Even anti-medicine? Do biblical counselors ignore and explain away real bodily problems? Does the Bible simply ignore the needs and influences of the human body?
Well, the answer to all these questions is no. That’s not the case.
Actually, being a faithful biblical counselor means appreciating people for what they really are, which is mind and body. It also means having a proper understanding of the influence of the physical and the mental-spiritual—that they can have on one another. The physical, the body, can affect the mind. And the mind can affect the body.
If you don’t understand this, if you don’t appreciate this, that’s going to hurt you when it comes to counseling with the Bible. You do need to understand this if you’re going to be a skilled and faithful biblical counselor. Which is why we’re taking time today to talk about it.
“Being a faithful biblical counselor means appreciating people for what they really are, which is mind and body.”
And what better place to go for an understanding of the mind and the body than the scriptures? The sufficient scriptures.
So today’s agenda: we’re going to talk about the makeup of man. What is man? What is his composition and constitution? And we’ll talk about the body’s effect on the mind and the mind’s effect on the body.
The Makeup of Man
Start with the makeup of man. Consider what the Bible says about man—what he is. What are the parts of man that you’ve heard mentioned in the Bible? You can give it to me.
Yeah, Betty?
It’s hard. That’s a part of man. What else?
His mind.
Glenda, the soul. What else?
I think I heard somebody say that. Yeah, Gentina?
Okay, he has hands as a body part. Emotions? Not so much. Okay, kind of associated with a part or even its own part. What else?
Spirit.
Steve, body. What else?
I think we’ve hit most of the main ones. Oh, Tina?
Okay, the will. The Bible does use a number of different terms to refer to what man is or what man has. We’ve said a lot of them: your body, your flesh, your strength, your mind, your heart, your soul, your spirit, even your conscience. I think we’ll get will on there.
Are Heart, Soul, Spirit, and Mind Different?
But are these all different from one another? Are these all distinct, totally different parts of man? Or are some of them, even many of them, actually synonymous terms?
The body is pretty different from the mind and the heart, but it’s pretty synonymous with flesh and strength. What about the mind and the heart? Or the heart and the soul? Or the soul and the spirit?
How different are they? All these latter words—these words like mind, heart, soul, spirit—they do have different emphases biblically speaking. They are actually all synonyms describing the same part of man: that inner part, that immaterial part.
“Mind, heart, soul, spirit—they are all synonyms describing the same part of man: that inner, immaterial part.”
And I want to show you this by short biblical survey. Consider which part—the heart, soul, spirit, or mind—is concerned with thinking. What would we naturally think is the answer?
The mind. Clearly, the mind is the thing that does the thinking. The other parts, maybe not so much. And the Bible does confirm that to a certain extent.
Romans 14:5 says, “One person regards one day above another. Another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” Thinking, going to be persuaded. It’s got to be in your mind.
But Matthew 9:4 says, “And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?’”
Or Psalm 77:6 says, “I will remember my song in the night. I will meditate with my heart, and my spirit ponders.”
So the mind, the heart, and the spirit are all said to be thinking—where our thoughts happen. Or here’s another question: which part—the heart, soul, spirit, or mind—is concerned with emotions and desires?
Which would we naturally think? It’s the heart, right? The heart. That’s where the emotions are. And again, there is reference to this in the Bible.
Romans 9:2: “I am telling the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.” Yeah, emotions in the heart.
But Song of Songs 1:7: “Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where do you pass your flock? Where do you make it lie down at noon?” It’s the soul that is desiring and loving.
Or Genesis 26:35: “And they—that is, Esau’s wives—brought grief to Isaac and Rebecca,” or literally in the Hebrew, “they were bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebecca.” Where’s that bitterness? Where’s that emotional state happening? In the spirit.
Heart, spirit, and soul are all associated with emotions.
Or here’s one more question: which part—heart, soul, spirit, or mind—is concerned with one’s relationship with God?
Naturally, we’d say the spirit. Come on, spiritual. Spirit. They go together, right?
Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Yeah, see?
Well, Psalm 43:5. We’ve referenced this one a lot. Psalm 43:5: “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” The soul is the one that is to hope in God.
Or 2 Corinthians 4:4: “In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” How are you going to see God? It’s with your mind.
But I thought it was the spirit. But what about the soul? I see how these things keep on overlapping. It’s because they’re all really describing the same reality: the inner man. They’re all different terms for the same part of man.
“These terms keep overlapping because they’re all really describing the same reality: the inner man.”
But some will ask, “Well, why does the Bible distinguish them? Or what’s the answer? They’re all describing the same part. Why does the Bible use different terms?”
What do you think?
Yeah, Mark?
Okay, so we’re actually going to refer to some of those scriptures in just a second. Okay.
Dichotomy vs. Trichotomy
Historically, there have been two main views in the church regarding the makeup of man: the dichotomous view and the trichotomous view. The dichotomous view holds that man is body and soul, with soul and spirit being synonyms. The trichotomous view holds that man is body, soul, and spirit.
If you take a trichotomous view, I still affirm you as a brother and I love you. But I’m going to argue for a dichotomous view, where these terms are used in a distinct way but mainly for emphasis.
I totally agree with the first part of what you said, Mark: these terms emphasize different aspects or different facets of the inner man. There’s a reason we associate emotions with the heart, thinking with the mind, and things religious and spiritual with the spirit, because that’s the emphasis of that term.
When you see those terms used together, I’m not arguing that these are all totally different from one another. Rather, they’re trying to emphasize totality: that with your thinking, with your emotions, with your desires, with your will, all of these things are to be given to God.
Let me mention some of those verses. Matthew 22:37 says: “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”
This isn’t actually saying that there are three distinct parts in man. It’s just saying, “With everything that you are.” You see this often in the Bible: synonyms used together just to emphasize totality for extra emphasis.
Consider Hebrews 4:12, a verse we looked at before: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
We shouldn’t look at that verse as proving that there’s a difference between the soul and spirit. The parallel analogy—joints and marrow—are not actually being separated from one another. This is not a separation of joints from marrow, but a separation within the joints and the separation within the marrow.
So it is with soul and spirit here. He’s not saying, “I’m going to split your soul from your spirit. Your soul is going to be diced up. Your spirit’s going to be cut apart and exposed.” This is just for emphasis: thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:23, which I think is the one you’re referring to, Mark: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I would argue that this isn’t actually giving a distinction of the various parts of man, but rather emphasizing totality: “May God preserve you entirely. Sanctify you entirely. And let me mention a couple different ways where I want to see that happen,” further reinforcing that point.
1 Thessalonians 5:23: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely.”
Consider times where in the Bible God is talking about man in a total way, but he only mentions two parts. Yet they keep switching which parts they are. Let me give you some more examples.
I’m arguing here that man is made up of two fundamental parts: a material part and an immaterial part. The material part is the outer man. The immaterial part is the inner man.
2 Corinthians 4:16 uses those two terms: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”
What’s the outer man? It’s your physical body. What’s the inner man? I’d say it’s your soul, your mind, your heart, your spirit.
We can go to other verses that emphasize this two-part view. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Or Matthew 10:28: “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Doesn’t that statement imply or assume that’s all of you? Your body, your soul. Don’t fear those who can just kill the body. Fear the one who’s able to destroy all of you.
Consider 1 Corinthians 5:3: “For I, on my part, though absent in the body, but present in spirit, have already judged him who has committed this as though I were present.”
Now, if you’re still not persuaded and you still think there’s a difference between soul and spirit, that’s okay. I don’t think it’s going to totally affect your approach to counseling.
But I do want you to see that fundamentally, man is material and immaterial.
Why the Two-Part View Matters
Why does this matter?
Well, for a couple of reasons. First, it helps us appreciate Christ’s sufficiency, Christ’s efficiency for the inner man. If these are what man is, and the Bible speaks to these things—your mind, your spirit, your soul—then there’s no other extra part that something outside the Bible has to minister to.
The Bible says, “This is what you are,” and we minister to all of it. The truths of the Bible, the books of the Bible. There’s really no room for some secular idea of a psyche to say, “No, no, we’ve got this part covered,” because the Bible never addresses it.
Now, the Bible already says you’re just inner man and outer man, and the Lord is sufficient for your inner man.
Also, it helps us to appreciate that God cares about the sanctification of both parts. You’ve heard a number of scriptures that said you need to be sanctified in your body. Say, “Oh, but I thought the body doesn’t really matter. It’s just flesh.” That’s not actually a biblical idea. That is a secular philosophical idea.
Actually, the biblical writers had to overcome that notion, like in the Corinthian church, where they said, “Food’s for the body, and the body’s for food. God will do away with both of them. What we do with our body and immorality, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just natural, and the body’s gonna be discarded anyways.”
And Paul has to remind them, “No, your body does matter to God. It can be a place where you are holy for the Lord, or you sin and dishonor the Lord. You need to be sanctified in both your body and your spirit. God wants to see the sanctification of both parts.”
“God wants to see the sanctification of both parts—your body and your spirit.”
But also, understanding what man is, it helps us to appreciate how these two parts can mysteriously affect one another. They do. We need to understand that what’s going on in our bodies will have a spiritual impact on us. They will have a mental impact on us.
But the other side is also true. When you understand what’s going on in our souls, minds, and spirits, it will impact our bodies. We will be physically impacted by what’s going on in the inner man.
And that’s evident even in the Bible. And that’s what I want to show you next.
The Body’s Effect on the Mind
Let’s look at the body’s effect on the mind. We’re going to look at each of these truths in turn. I want to start by giving you four biblical examples of where we see the body affecting the mind, the flesh. I’m not talking about the sinful flesh here. I’m just talking about your material flesh affecting your inner man.
The first is Jonah. You can actually turn there with me. Jonah 4:5-8.
As we look at each one of these passages, I want you to be able to answer in your mind: how did the physical circumstances affect someone spiritually in the passage?
So the first is Jonah 4:5-8. And here’s what it says: “Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So the Lord—that is, Yahweh, Yahweh God—appointed a plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.
But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered. When the sun came up, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, ‘Death is better to me than life.’”
There are a number of things going on for Jonah in this passage. But how did the outer man—circumstances—affect Jonah’s inner man? Somebody describe it.
That’s right. When he had shade, he felt happy in his soul. But when the shade was gone and the sun was beating down on him and he felt that scorching east wind, he was so unhappy, he was so disturbed in his soul, that he actually asked to die.
He had other things going on too. But the physical circumstances contributed to actual despair. That’s one example.
“Physical circumstances contributed to actual despair. The body’s condition can reach the soul.”
Let’s look at another one. Luke 18:40-43.
Let’s see what happens here. “And Jesus stopped and commanded that he—a certain man—be brought to him. And when he came near, he questioned him. ‘Now what do you want me to do for you?’ And he said, ‘Lord, I want to regain my sight.’
And Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and began following him, glorifying God. And when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.”
How’s the physical affecting the spiritual here?
Yeah, Glenda?
That’s right. He received physical deliverance—the regaining of sight. It not only made him happy, but he began to glorify God and follow Christ. This physical deliverance had a great impact on his spirit in a positive way.
Now let’s go to another one. Bring me back to the Old Testament again. Deuteronomy 8:3.
Moses—this is part of his sermon to the people—reminds them of Deuteronomy 8:3 as they are about to go into the promised land. “He—that is, God—humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.”
How does the physical affect the spiritual here? Or how is it meant to affect the spiritual?
Yeah, Mark?
Yeah, and what was it that was getting the people’s attention specifically?
Hunger. Yeah, that’s something very physical, right? Something very common. Hunger. He says, “I’m giving that to you actually for a spiritual lesson to teach you to help you appreciate something in your mind.” Physical difficulty led to spiritual lessons. Or was meant to.
And then let’s look at one more, very close actually, here in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 8:11-14. Just look down at verse 11.
Moses says, “Further, beware that you do not forget Yahweh your God by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes which I am commanding you today. Otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and gold multiply and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
What does Moses warn regarding the impact of physical circumstances on the inner man here?
Yeah, Glendon?
That’s right. Physical comfort can actually lead to spiritual apathy and to sin.
Physical Circumstances Influence but Do Not Determine
Now, from just these four passages, we see evidence that physical circumstances—even your body—can affect your spirit. But the question is: does it affect it in a determinative way? If you have bad circumstances or good circumstances, does that force your spirit to act in a certain way?
I think from just these four passages, we can answer confidently: no.
Why?
Certainly, the will does come into play. But notice in these four passages we had two examples of physical good and two examples of physical bad. Jonah was afflicted, and he despaired spiritually. But Israel was afflicted, and it was to lead to good. It was to lead to their spiritual lesson.
The blind man was healed, and it led to spiritual good. But Israel, when they received their physical comforts, it could lead to their spiritual bad.
It’s not the good or bad physical circumstances that are determinative. It is your will. It is your response. It is your attitude and the inner man to those circumstances that is determinative.
This is a very important point for counseling: physical circumstances influence, but they do not determine spirituality.
This is a very contrary idea to what the world says. Physical circumstances influence, but they do not determine your spirituality.
“Physical circumstances influence, but they do not determine your spirituality.”
Just to give you another illustration from life: in high school, I broke another bone. I told you in a sermon not too long ago I broke my collarbone playing football in seventh grade, close to—I think it was 10th grade or 11th grade—in high school. I broke my foot also playing sports. And that was a big trial.
But actually, I was kind of happy during that time. Why? Because I saw it as such a great opportunity to be a witness for the Lord. When everybody would ask me, “Oh, how you doing? How are you doing with your foot? How’s it going?” I would say, “It’s amazing how God created the healing processes in the body. Like, I’m getting better even though I had this traumatic injury. Look at what God is doing.” I was actually really excited even in the midst of my injury.
But that’s not what you’d expect, right? From somebody who has a physical trauma, a physical trial. But it was just my attitude. I’m not saying that I always have that attitude throughout my life, but in that time I certainly did.
Again, just more evidence: the things that happened to you physically or your physical circumstances, they’re not determinative of your spirituality. Which is encouraging, but also sobering, right? Because it means you’re responsible.
God is the cause of good and disaster. He says, “Does calamity happen and I do not do it?” Even in our own bodies. And you remember from Jay Adams: God’s not going to put you in the circumstance that’s beyond your ability.
This is one of the things we want to show our counselees and remember for ourselves: in Christ, we can righteously endure all physical trials. We can trust God. We can wait on his provision. And this is what Paul was talking about in Philippians 4:4.
Now, consider all the different kinds of physical circumstances that we commonly run into that affect our spirits: being tired, being sleepy, being exhausted, being hungry, feeling pain, being ill, suffering injury, even dying. These can affect us spiritually, and they do affect the people that we love.
Bodily inclinations that we develop or are born with—they can’t affect us determinatively, but they can affect us. And comfort and pleasure. You’re sitting in a nice bed, or you just ate a whole bunch of good food. That can affect you.
We are to choose, and we are to help other people choose, to react to these things righteously. That’s something we want to stress for our counselees. They have certain responsibilities.
Their physical influences. First of all, they are to recognize God’s sufficiency, no matter what. They are to give thanks to God for the good physical circumstances that they receive and have, but not to allow those things to make them into idolaters.
We can endure the difficulties if we rely on God. And we can actually walk wholly in them and glorify God through them.
Medicine as a Gift from God
Now, what about medicine? What if medicine is available to mitigate uncomfortable symptoms or to cure or heal a physical problem? Should believers use medicine? Or should we just trust God and pray?
There’s nothing wrong with using medicine. There’s nothing wrong with using medicine to treat a physical affliction. This is evident even in the Bible.
I know especially these days people are very distrustful of doctors and medicine. I understand that to a certain extent. Let’s remember that medicine is a gift from God. It should be taken advantage of when prescribed properly to treat a real physical problem in the body.
After all, one of the writers of Scripture was a doctor. Who is that? That’s Luke. And that wasn’t looked down upon.
Even Paul felt it necessary to tell Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23: “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” Look, you’re inflicting yourself by only drinking water. There’s an easy solution: drink some of the wine. It’s a little bit healthier for you.
There’s nothing godly about suffering with medical problems when you don’t need to do so. If you really want to, that’s fine. But don’t think that you’re being extra righteous in doing so.
I always think there’s a very instructive principle in 1 Corinthians 7:21, where Paul says, “Were you called while a slave? Don’t worry about it. But if you’re able also to become free, rather do that.” You can’t change your circumstances. Don’t worry about it. But if you can, why not make things easier for yourself?
“There’s nothing godly about suffering with medical problems when you don’t need to do so.”
The Mind’s Effect on the Body
Now, that’s the body’s effect on the mind. Now let’s look at the other side: the mind’s effect on the body.
Again, we’re going to look at four biblical examples. And again, I want you to think about with me in each passage: how does the inner man affect someone in his outer man in these passages?
And I’ll just read them to you. You can turn there if you’re quick.
Psalm 38:3-8. Says this is David speaking. “There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. There is no health in my bones because of my sin. My iniquities have gone over my head as a heavy burden that is too much for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my folly. I am bent over and greatly bowed down. I go mourning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed. I groan because of the agitation of my heart.”
Whoa, that sounds pretty extreme. Why is David in such agony? Why does he feel even bodily affliction? It’s from sin, from grief, and from the folly of sin. It affected him physically.
Or Proverbs 17:22: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
What is this proverb saying? Happiness and hopelessness have a bodily effect. Your contentment, your happiness—that has an effect on your body. And so does your despair and your depression.
And this is quite verified today. Doctor scientists report that you greatly weaken your immune system when you are depressed. You’re much more likely to get sick.
Here’s another example. Luke 22:41-44. “And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and he began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done.’
Now an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. And being in agony, he was praying very fervently. And his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground.”
This is Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Why is he feeling this bodily agony and even sweating drops of blood? It’s the incredible burden and stress of what he’s about to go through: bearing the wrath of the Father.
Even asking the Lord, “If there’s another way to do that?” Stress. The overwhelming nature of certain griefs or troubles—they will affect the body.
Stress is well known to cause bodily problems. It can create ulcers, headaches, extremely tight muscles. It can even bring about a heart attack. This strictly internal reality can have a huge effect on the body. It can hurt you. It can even kill you.
“Stress can create ulcers, headaches, tight muscles—it can even bring about a heart attack. The inner man can hurt you.”
And then one more. Revelation 1:17-18. “When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man.” This is the apostle John seeing the Lord Christ in glory. What was the physical effect? He basically fainted. He couldn’t stand. He was just overwhelmed, kind of in a good way. It was not a bad thing to see Jesus, but it had a physical effect on him.
And in a much lesser degree, we experience that too, right? Ever cried when you were singing a song to Jesus? You just become so full of joy. When you read or talk about a certain truth related to Jesus, and it just almost permeates your body, you just feel this fullness in your chest. That is the inner man affecting the outer man.
Spiritual realities affect the physical. And we could point to many others. You ever been in love? I’ve had a crush on someone. It affects your body. You feel the butterflies. You feel the heart rush.
You’ve been anxious? Often it makes it hard to sleep. Your heart rate increases. You have a hard time focusing.
Have you ever been really excited? You again have a hard time sleeping and maybe a hard time focusing. Maybe you’re looking forward to Christmas the next day, and you’re just like that. Non-physical reality—that immaterial reality—it affects your body.
So again, we need to understand the effect the soul, the mind, can have on the body. They’re going to have a great effect, both for good and for ill. Literally.
Proverbs 17:22: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
Responding to the Mind-Body Reality
How should we and those we counsel respond to this truth?
One thing is: recognize the physical blessing that comes with walking with God. It actually is good for your body to walk with the Lord, to be content, to be in harmony with your brothers and sisters. That’s good for you.
Also, be aware that physical symptoms that you or others suffer may be a sign of a spiritual problem. Don’t assume this, but don’t be ignorant of it.
When I was in seminary, I developed extreme tightness in my shoulder muscles and back muscles. It was very painful. But after a while, I realized—especially after I went to a physical therapist—there was no physical cause to it. It was just that I was stressed. I was very anxious about my work, and it was manifesting in my body.
Spiritual problems can create very painful and difficult physical conditions all on their own.
Doctors observe this again and again. They call these psychosomatic illnesses, which I don’t know is the most helpful term. You’ll see in the article that you’re going to read, maybe a better way to think about it is spiritual-physiological.
Doctors report that 30 to 50 percent of people who come to visit primary care physicians have no discernible cause for their symptoms. No discernible biological cause.
Now, in some cases, it’s just because we haven’t discovered it yet. But probably in most cases, it’s because it’s spiritual. It’s just the inner man. Not only can it create conditions, but it can exacerbate existing conditions.
You already have an ulcer? You’ll make it worse if you are angry all the time or anxious all the time. You already have a condition? You’ll make it worse if you are not responding to spiritual problems correctly.
We can even habituate the body to act in certain unhelpful ways because of sin. You can teach your muscles to remain in a condition if you’re anxious all the time, or if you routinely indulge in sexual sin. You will teach your body that that’s what it should expect. You will habituate that sin in yourself.
And by the way, let me emphasize: just because some things might have a spiritual origin or spiritual influence on the physical, it doesn’t mean that those physical things are not real. They are.
Someone has tight muscles due to stress. Those are really tight muscles. You can’t say, “I don’t believe it’s just spiritual.” No, it is real. It is real pain. It is a real physical problem.
And sometimes there’s a terrible feedback loop when it comes to the physical and spiritual. Let’s say a person is anxious. It begins to affect the body. And then they notice that, and they get worried about their body. That makes them more anxious, which causes their body to react more in problematic ways, which makes them more anxious, which causes their body to react more in problematic ways. And it just results in a spiral downwards.
We need to be aware of this.
“Just because some things have a spiritual origin doesn’t mean the physical symptoms are not real. They are.”
And one other thing for us to consider: if a person is suffering physically from something that is ultimately spiritual, should he seek medical relief?
Well, the answer is going to take some nuance. If your muscles are tight, or you have a headache from stress, it is fine to seek medicine and medical treatment to treat those symptoms. But that will not be enough.
You cannot treat only the symptoms. You must deal with the underlying heart condition. I don’t mean your pumping mechanism in your chest, but your inner man.
Besides, ongoing use of medications brings its own problems, especially when the problem is not physical, not ultimately physical.
This has implications for how we think about psychotropic drugs and antidepressants. I have a lot to say about that. We’ll wait till next time.
Now, we’re running out of time today. I had another section that I don’t think we’ll get to. But this is something very, very important for us to understand.
We as biblical counselors do not affect the body. Actually, when biblically informed, we understand the body better than many secular experts do, because we’re aware of the body’s effect on the spirit and the spirit’s effect on the body.
I think that’s all I’ll say right there.
Questions?
Yeah, Mark?
Counseling Through Suffering
That’s a good question, Mark. Knowing that afflictions are from God and that God uses them to teach and to grow, how do you walk somebody through that?
Actually, you’ll find the answer in the homework. I’ll defer to that. We’ll come back later in our biblical counseling class talking about how you need to show care and sympathy in that situation. Don’t just say, “Hey, God’s teaching you, so buck up, cupcake.” You want to show, “Hey, I know this is hard. We live in a sin-cursed world. I know this is painful. But the Lord does too. He’s a good Father. He’s with you in this.”
Rather than something for you to merely endure, God’s intent is that you glorify him through this. This is a unique opportunity for you to put God on display.
John Piper is famous for saying, “Don’t waste your cancer.” We do need to think about it that way. Don’t waste it. It’s actually an opportunity from God for you to specially minister and be a witness for him.
But we need to help people understand this truth in a sympathetic way, in a caring way, not one that just hits them like a ton of bricks.
“Don’t waste your cancer. It’s actually an opportunity from God to specially minister and be a witness for him.”
That is a good question. If you have other questions, come see me afterwards.
That’ll do for today. Let’s close in prayer.
Great Lord, you’re sovereign over our bodies. You’re sovereign over all things. We thank you, God, that you never give us more than we can handle. Yet, God, it can be really difficult sometimes, really painful.
But God, sometimes we just afflict ourselves because we’re not willing to trust you. We’re not willing to be reconciled with others. We turn to anger and to idols, and we just afflict ourselves.
Lord, help us to turn to your wisdom. Help us to follow your ways, that we might obtain even a bodily blessing. Help us to help one another, Lord, as we get caught up in wrong thoughts, idolatry, sinful practices, so that they can be set free—not only from the bondage of that sin, but even from the affliction, some of the affliction of their bodies.
I praise you. Bless the service, the rest of their service today. Equip all the servants to minister, whether it’s formally or informally.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you, everyone.