Spirituotherapy Part 4: Embracing the Exchanged Life in Christ
Welcome to the final post in our Spirituotherapy series. If you’re following along, this journey has taken us from understanding the foundation of Spirituotherapy through the Wheel Diagram and now, to a life-changing concept: the Exchanged Life. This ultimate goal of Spirituotherapy is to guide the client from a self-centered life to a Christ-centered life, leading to a new, secure identity rooted in Jesus. Let’s dive into how this transformation happens and the incredible freedom it brings.
The Exchanged Life: From “Self” to Christ as Our Functional Source of Life
In Spirituotherapy, a major aim is to help the client experience life with Christ, not “self,” at the center. This transformation, often called the Exchanged Life, is illustrated through a tool known as the Line Diagram.
The Line Diagram begins by showing the client that before knowing Christ, they lived a life in “Adam,” the ancestor of all humanity. Being “in Adam” means inheriting sin and its effects—alienation from God and a life oriented around the self. This life in Adam leaves us weighed down by fears, rejections, and struggles we inherited, leaving us bound to the old patterns of life. But once the client accepts Christ, they are no longer bound to their “life in Adam.” Instead, they transition into new life in Christ, gaining a secure and eternal identity rooted in Him.
As Dr. Solomon teaches, just as Christ was crucified, died, buried, resurrected, and now reigns in heaven, we too, by faith, participate in this journey. We are “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), letting go of our self-centered identity, and “raised with Christ” (Ephesians 2:6) to experience the fullness of His life within us. We are invited to live in freedom, no longer burdened by the struggles of our past but defined by Christ’s love and acceptance. The past rejections that haunted us lose their power in this exchanged life, as the client comes to see their true identity in Christ.
Living the Christ-Centered Life
Once the client begins to embrace the Exchanged Life, a shift occurs in the deepest parts of their being. Spirituotherapy uses the Line Diagram to illustrate this profound change:
Spirit: The client is reminded that Christ dwells within their spirit, assuring them of His unchanging presence. With Christ as their life, they experience security and assurance, knowing they are eternally held in His love.
Soul: As the soul becomes aligned with Christ, it experiences His mind, His strength, and His peace. No longer driven by self, the soul overflows with the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This new identity in Christ allows the client to experience life with renewed clarity, purpose, and strength.
Body: Finally, the body also reaps the benefits of this transformed life. As the soul finds peace, the physical burdens of stress, tension, and related symptoms often lessen, leading to overall better health.
In essence, the Exchanged Life opens the door for clients to live not by their own efforts but by Christ’s life within them. This change, as Dr. Solomon explains, is an invitation to experience not only salvation but Christ as our very life.
The Selfer’s Prayer: Embracing “The Great Exchange”
After learning the principles of the Exchanged Life, clients are invited to pray what Dr. Solomon calls the Selfer’s Prayer. This simple yet heartfelt prayer takes the client through repentance and faith, embracing Christ not only as Savior and Lord but also as Life. Dr. Solomon describes this process as “The Great Exchange”—laying down self to receive Christ’s life.
Spirituotherapy in Practice: The Role of Psychology and the Value of Lay Counseling
Throughout his work, Dr. Solomon emphasizes that while Spirituotherapy draws on descriptive aspects of psychology, it relies entirely on Scripture for solutions. In this way, he believes that psychology may describe human struggles, but only the truths of God’s Word can truly transform. It’s worth noting that even secular counseling has increasingly recognized the healing power of spiritual approaches, including biblical counseling. Dr. Siang-Yang Tan notes that the integration of psychotherapy and Christian faith has grown in recent years,[2] and research shows a significant benefit to incorporating spiritual perspectives. As Bryant points out, “a plethora of research has evolved over the past decades in support of the healing power of theistic interventions, like Spirituotherapy, which can be used independently or easily integrated with other psychotherapeutic approaches.”[3]
Additionally, Dr. Solomon believes that Spirituotherapy is a model that both professionals and laypeople can apply, offering hope and healing to all who seek it. Studies support this approach, with Tan noting that “the majority of outcome studies that have compared the effectiveness of professional counselors to lay counselors have shown that lay counselors are generally as effective as professional counselors for most common problems.”[4] For the many people longing to trade their life in Adam for the eternal life in Christ, this model offers freedom, grace, and transformation.
Conclusion: Walking in the Freedom of the Exchanged Life
This journey through Spirituotherapy reminds us that God’s heart is for our freedom and wholeness. By embracing the Exchanged Life, we find release from the fears, wounds, and rejections of the past. We are given new life in Christ—a life marked by peace, purpose, and joy. May we each experience this Great Exchange, laying down the burdens of self and stepping fully into the life that Christ offers, overflowing with His love and grace.
[1] Charles R. Solomon, Handbook to Happiness. (Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 1999), 91.
[2] Siang-Yang Tan, Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011), 325.
[3] Jodi Bryant, “Counseling a Woman Traumatized by Severe Abuse”. Psychology, 5 (May 2014), https://www.scirp.org/pdf/PSYCH_2014052611181851.pdf
[4] Tan, 400.