<p>8:14&nbsp;<i>For as many as are led by the Spirit of God</i>- The Greek may not imply mere guidance but something stronger- the Spirit leading us where&nbsp;<i>it</i>&nbsp;chooses. The same word is used about animals being led. It is the Spirit which mortifies the deeds of the body (8:13) more than us doing so. We want to know, of course, whether we really are &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo;, whether we really have His spirit. The phrase &ldquo;led by the spirit&rdquo; is found only in Lk. 4:1, where the Lord Jesus was led by the spirit into the place of testing. Perhaps the connection is intentional. As Jesus the son of God, the prototypical child of God, was led by God, into testing, to the cross, and to resurrection- so it will operate in our lives and lead us, who are also the sons of God. The overall impression may be of allowing the Spirit, which operates in the lives of all in the sphere of the Spirit, to lead us and do things in our lives. We who have a heart for God have surely sensed God leading us, over and above our own will; and as Paul goes on to develop, this may involve elements of predestination and Divine calling which were over and above our own will to control. Sensing these things, this Divine leading, is an encouragement that truly we are God&rsquo;s sons, as Jesus was supremely- for the spirit of the Father works in us His children. In the context, Paul has been arguing that for those in Christ, His death becomes theirs. The Greek word for &ldquo;led&rdquo; is repeatedly used about the &lsquo;leading&rsquo; of God&rsquo;s Son to His death (Lk. 22:54; 23:1,32; Jn. 18:28; 19:4,13), &ldquo;led as a sheep to the slaughter&rdquo; (Acts 8:32). We have commented under 8:13 that 8:36 speaks of all those in Christ as likewise being &ldquo;the sheep for the slaughter&rdquo;. Every detail of the Lord&rsquo;s death and sufferings becomes ours. &ldquo;Led by&rdquo; could just as well be rendered &ldquo;led&nbsp;<i>in&nbsp;</i>the Spirit&rdquo;, with reference to Christ as &ldquo;the Lord the Spirit&rdquo;. This would suggest that our status &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo; means that we are going to be treated like Him- led as He was, to testing, to the death of the cross, to resurrection. Paul many times during his trials was &ldquo;led&rdquo;, just as Christ was. This same Greek word occurs many times in the Acts record regarding Paul. He wrote here from personal experience.</p><p><i>These are children of God</i>- not in the sense that the Spirit makes us sons of God, but that the children of God are characterized (among other things) by the Spirit leading them. &ldquo;Sons of God&rdquo; would&rsquo;ve been understood by the Jewish readers and hearers as a phrase referring specifically to Israel (Ex. 4:22; Jer. Jer. 3:19; 31:9; Hos. 11:1); Paul&rsquo;s emphasis is that now all in Christ and within the sphere of the Spirit are now God&rsquo;s children, regardless of their ethnicity. But above all, all who are &ldquo;in&rdquo; the Son of God (Rom. 8:3), in Christ by baptism, are likewise therefore &ldquo;sons of God&rdquo;. The spirit that was in Christ must therefore be in us, or rather, be allowed to work in and with us. This phrase is preparing the way for the appeal to be conformed to the image of God&rsquo;s Son which is coming up in Rom. 8:29.</p><p>Jesus was led of the Spirit at His time of testing (Lk. 4:1); and Paul uses just those words of us in our present experience of trial (Rom. 8:14). &nbsp;His victory in the wilderness therefore becomes a living inspiration for us, who are tempted as He was (Heb. 4:15,16).</p>