Led by the Spirit

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Believers are not led through subjective, mental impressions or promptings to provide direction in making life’s decisions – something Scripture nowhere teaches. Instead, God’s Spirit objectively leads His children sometimes through the orchestration of circumstances (Acts 16:7) but primarily through: 1) illumination, divinely clarifying Scripture to make it understandable to our sinful, finite minds (Luke 24:44,45; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16; Ephesians 1:17-19); and 2) sanctification, divinely enabling us to obey Scripture. When a person experiences the Spirit’s leading in those ways, he gains assurance that God has adopted him into His family.

Commentary from the MacArthur study Bible, notes for Romans 8:14.

Sanctification

The process of sanctification, the transformation into the image of Christ, is a lifelong process of continual growth through the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, February 1, 2022.

A Lifelong Process

Sanctification is not a spiritual experience where all of our wrong desires and thoughts fall away. Instead, it’s a lifelong process in which God’s Spirit progressively transforms us into Christ’s image.

Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, March 11, 2021.

Dying is Daily

Are you letting Christ sanctify you through your pain and trouble, or are you hanging on to disappointment, anger, and bitterness?

Afflictions and trials which are externally visible seem at odds with the good that Christ is doing within every believer. Yet we are not to lose heart, because “our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). It’s through our suffering that this transformation becomes most visible to others as they see Christ’s supernatural peace and joy displayed in us.

The key to contentment in every situation is a willingness to look below the surface of your pain and see both the good that Christ is working in you and the glory that is guaranteed to follow. The constant dying to self and even persecution were ways in which Jesus Christ‘s life was displayed in the apostles.

Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, August 17, 2019.

Supreme Significance

It is important for us as believers to understand what happened on the cross, and that it was of supreme significance.  Jesus’ crucifixion on a tree is far more than simply the site of a Jewish man’s execution-this was the solution to mankind’s biggest problem: sin and the resulting alienation from God.  The crucifixion of Jesus is the divine transaction that saves us.  Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from sin and reconcile us to the Father.

Although the Jews and the Romans viewed the crucifixion as the execution of a criminal, God saw the death of His Son as the perfect atoning sacrifice, which allowed for the justification of sinful mankind.

Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, May 18, 2020.