N.E.W. LIFE (Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness for LIFE) Booklet Chapters 4 & 5--Sanctification 1 & 2

This N.E.W. LIFE Booklet is the third in a 7-volume companion series to the N.E.W. LIFE (Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness for LIFE): Biblical Support for Health and Freedom from Bondage to Food and Diets book (Chapters 4 & 5).  There are 7 N.E.W. LIFE Booklets which coincide with the chapters in the N.E.W. LIFE book.  Each booklet reinforces excerpts from the N.E.W. LIFE book and introduces insightful questions to support the process of healing from underlying issues that drive out-of-balance eating behaviors.  The N.E.W. LIFE Booklets may be used by individuals or in a fellowship group setting to facilitate discussion.

This N.E.W. LIFE Booklet is about sanctification that begins after the initial conversion of the believer, a continuation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.  Sanctification is a process of progressive transformation that is accomplished through faith in Christ, by the indwelling Holy Spirit which Christ’s blood purchased for believers, by the Word of God, by the Grace of God.  Sanctification is transformation that happens from the inside-out unlike diets that work from the outside-in.  Dieters try hard to make a “new creation” of their bodies via their own well-intentioned efforts, but all too often the old things do not pass away as dieters often fall back into old habits and gain all the weight back, often with more besides.  The believer who dies with Christ truly experiences that old things pass away as he/she becomes a new creation in Christ.  Increasingly the sanctified believer loves the things of God more than the things of the world, and the bondage to food and body image begins to disintegrate.  Sanctification is not merely an outer change, but a thorough change that is stable and permanent. 

The key to victory is in surrendering to God.  For individuals who struggle with food it is the surrender of the will--our greatest battle--where the battle over flesh, addiction, and besetting sin is won.