Question 1. According to the video, what convinces you of God's ongoing love for you and His settled purpose to save you?
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Molly's answer to the above question is right on:
"That while I was dead in my trespasses and sins God made me alive together with Christ. By Grace I have been saved not because of anything that I have done. I know that God's love for me has nothing to do with my performance."
Hello, friend, so glad to see you back.
Today, we will see how the world’s programs and methods, diets, and systems all lead to captivity, whereas the gospel leads us to freedom and fullness! Let’s read:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ” (Colossians 2:8-11 NIV).
Question 2. How does the warning in Colossians 2:8 NIV apply to us concerning weight loss and exercise?
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Wende's answer to the above question is very insightful:
"There are many hollow and deceptive philosophies when it comes to weight loss. I used to subscribe to a weight loss magazine and each issue had section with personal testimonies that I initially found so encouraging ("If they can do it, then there must be hope for me!"). But at the end of each story there was the disclaimer, "Results not typical." These three little words were devastating. They may as well have said, "Except not for you. You are not one of the lucky ones." That magazine held empty promises. Nutritional science in general holds empty promises because it does not address the power of sinful desires that need to be broken."
Read Molly's answer here:
"God has given us through His word and His spirit salvation of our souls, we are no longer to walk the way we used to. But we are to put on our new way of living as followers of christ. Our motives behind why we want to lose weight are different than what the world teaches. The world gives us images and expectations and sets the bar high for us as to why we should be a certain weight eat a certain way and exercise certain ways. It is because we are a new creation, that God has redeemed us, that we should want to live our lives in a way that brings God glory, the world only assists our flesh in wanting to be idolized or admired. That should not be our motive for weight loss."
Friend, this world has an ideology, much teaching, and lots of conflicting information, and it will take you captive and make you a slave to it if you embrace it. The world's instruction is hollow and deceptive, leaving us empty and unfulfilled.
This is why we are cautioned, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).
The majority of people in our world, even many professing Christians, are merely floating along downstream with the world’s teaching, conforming to the belief system of popular culture. They live, eat, and believe just like the world, not knowing that their beliefs are hollow (empty and meaningless), deceptive (misleading and dishonest) and that they lead to captivity (slavery to the flesh).
Our passage today in Colossians 2:8-11 NIV warns about this very thing, telling us not to be taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy.
Question 3. According to Colossians 2:8 NIV, how can we recognize the difference between hollow and deceptive philosophy, which leads to captivity, and the truth that sets us free?
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