True Christian counseling, and true inner healing is not trying to add to the finished work of the Cross, but is trying to convince a person of what Jesus has already done for them and in them, and then calling forth the New Creation that they are in Christ. In the process of helping someone see the truth about who they are in Christ, there are obviously some strongholds that need to be pulled down that can prevent a person from seeing the truth that sets them free; but make no mistake, when Jesus said “It is finished” at the Cross, He meant it. Everything that we do in ministering to someone else to bring them healing of any kind, starts from our understanding His completed work at the Cross. The most foundational reality about every believer is their Union With Christ, which was accomplished in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Our union with Christ was accomplished at the Cross, and was realized at our new birth, and is manifested day by day, as we live by faith. The new self, that we are from the very outset of our Christian life, is complete in Christ, though discovered endlessly in our intimate relationship with Him, and manifested fully as we celebrate by faith all that we are in Him, and thus, He in us. We don’t set the captives free; He already did; and we are simply being used by the Lord to announce their freedom in Christ, and to call it forth in boldness. Unfortunately, many have been confused by the Church by being told that union with Christ is something we strive towards, but the glorious gospel is that union with Christ is something that we were born into at our new birth, and we are simply called to rest in it, and live from it, not towards it. The Old Man is dead, and we are now Kings, and Queens in Narnia; and once a King and Queen in Narnia, always a King and Queen in The Kingdom.
