The Meaning of Romans 8:14 Explained

Romans 8:14

KJV: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

YLT: for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God;

Darby: for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

ASV: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  as many as  are led  by the Spirit  of God,  they  are  the sons  of God. 

What does Romans 8:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Paul wrote to the Galatians that the law leads people to Christ ( Galatians 3:24). The Holy Spirit does this too ( John 16:8-11). Having come to Christ the Holy Spirit continues to lead us in the moral will of God. The Holy Spirit leads every true child of God ( Galatians 5:18). He goes before us and expects us to follow Him, as a shepherd does his sheep. However we can choose to follow or not follow Him, to walk according to the Spirit or to walk according to the flesh ( Romans 8:13). The Spirit leads us objectively through the Scriptures and subjectively by His internal promptings ( John 20:31; Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 5:13). [1] Another view is that to be "led by the Spirit" here, and in Galatians 5:18, means that the Spirit determines the direction of one"s life as a whole rather than that He guides us. [2]
"There is deep mystery, no doubt, in the great double fact of [3] God is working in us to will, and on the other hand, of our choosing His will, moment by moment. We can only affirm that both are taught in Scripture ..." [4]

Context Summary

Romans 8:10-17 - Children And Heirs Of God
The Spirit here is of course the Holy Spirit, by whom Christ our Lord lives within us. It is passing wonderful that as the life which throbs in the heart beats also in the pulse, so the very life which is in Christ in glory is also in our hearts. Our main task is to put aside every barrier to its full expression. This is what the Apostle means by doing to death the practices, stratagems, and lawless promptings of the body, which are ever calling for ease and self-indulgence. There is no stage of our earthly pilgrimage at which we can dispense with the power of the Spirit of God for deliverance from the deeds of the body.
But there is another most blessed function of the divine Spirit, Romans 8:14. He is willing to lead us, to prompt our actions, to inspire our purposes, and to mold our characters. The more we yield to Him, the deeper becomes our awareness of that filial relationship with God which breathes in the cry, Abba, Father. But note the wonderful climax, Romans 8:17. If we yield to the Holy Spirit, He will conduct us into the divine treasure-house and bid us avail ourselves of the infinite resources which are there stored for our use, not in the next life, but in this. [source]

Chapter Summary: Romans 8

1  Those who are in Christ are free from condemnation
5  What harm comes of the flesh;
13  and what good of the Spirit
19  The glorious deliverance the creation longs for,
29  was beforehand decreed from God
38  Nothing can sever us from his love

Greek Commentary for Romans 8:14

Sons of God [υιοι τεου]
In the full sense of this term. In Romans 8:16 we have τεκνα τεου — tekna theou (children of God). Hence no great distinction can be drawn between υιος — huios and τεκνον — teknon The truth is that υιος — huios is used in various ways in the New Testament. In the highest sense, not true of any one else, Jesus Christ is God‘s Son (Romans 8:3). But in the widest sense all men are “the offspring” (γενος — genos) of God as shown in Acts 17:28 by Paul. But in the special sense here only those are “sons of God” who are led by the Spirit of God, those born again (the second birth) both Jews and Gentiles, “the sons of Abraham” (υιοι Αβρααμ — huioi Abraam Galatians 3:7), the children of faith. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Romans 8:14

Matthew 1:1 The Son [υἱός]
The word τέκνον (child ) is often used interchangeably with υἱός (son )but is never applied to Christ. (For τέκνον , see on 1 John 3:1.) While in τέκνον there is commonly implied the passive or dependent relation of the children to the parents, υἱός fixes the thought on the person himself rather than on the dependence upon his parents. It suggests individuality rather than descent; or, if descent, mainly to bring out the fact that the son was worthy of his parent. Hence the word marks the filial relation as carrying with it privilege, dignity, and freedom, and is, therefore, the only appropriate term to express Christ's sonship. (See John 1:18; John 3:16; Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:13, Colossians 1:15.) Through Christ the dignity of sons is bestowed on believers, so that the same word is appropriate to Christians, sons of God. (See Romans 8:14; Romans 9:26; Galatians 3:26; Galatians 4:5, Galatians 4:6, Galatians 4:7.) [source]
Matthew 1:1 Jesus Christ []
. Both words are used. The first is the name It was used often in the Septuagint as an adjective like “the anointed priest” (1 Kings 2:10) and then as a substantive to translate the Hebrew word “Messiah” So Andrew said to Simon: “We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, Christ” (John 1:41). In the Gospels it is sometimes “the Anointed One,” “the Messiah,” but finally just a proper name as here, Jesus Christ. Paul in his later Epistles usually has it “Christ Jesus.”The Son of David, the son of Abraham (υιου Δαυειδ υιου Αβρααμ — huiou Daueid huiou Abraam). Matthew proposes to show that Jesus Christ is on the human side the son of David, as the Messiah was to be, and the son of Abraham, not merely a real Jew and the heir of the promises, but the promise made to Abraham. So Matthew begins his line with Abraham while Luke traces his line back to Adam. The Hebrew and Aramaic often used the word son (βην — bēn) for the quality or character, but here the idea is descent. Christians are called sons of God because Christ has bestowed this dignity upon us (Romans 8:14; Romans 9:26; Galatians 3:26; Galatians 4:5-7). Matthew 1:1 is the description of the list in verses 2-17. The names are given in three groups, Abraham to David (Matthew 1:2-6), David to Babylon Removal (Matthew 1:6-11), Jechoniah to Jesus (Matthew 1:12-16). The removal to Babylon (μετοικεσιας αβυλωνος — metoikesias Babulōnos) occurs at the end of Matthew 1:11, the beginning of Matthew 1:12, and twice in the resume in Matthew 1:17. This great event is used to mark off the two last divisions from each other. It is a good illustration of the genitive as the case of genus or kind. The Babylon removal could mean either to Babylon or from Babylon or, indeed, the removal of Babylon. But the readers would know the facts from the Old Testament, the removal of the Jews to Babylon. Then Matthew 1:17 makes a summary of the three lists, fourteen in each by counting David twice and omitting several, a sort of mnemonic device that is common enough. Matthew does not mean to say that there were only fourteen in actual genealogy. The names of the women (Thamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba the wife of Uriah) are likewise not counted. But it is a most interesting list. [source]
Romans 8:4 The Spirit [πνεῦμα]
From πνέω tobreathe or blow. The primary conception is wind or breath. Breath being the sign and condition of life in man, it comes to signify life. In this sense, physiologically considered, it is frequent in the classics. In the psychological sense, never. In the Old Testament it is ordinarily the translation of ruach It is also used to translate chai life, Isaiah 38:12; nbreath, 1 Kings 17:17. In the New Testament it occurs in the sense of wind or breath, John 3:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Hebrews 1:7. Closely related to the physiological sense are such passages as Luke 8:55; James 2:26; Revelation 13:15. Pauline Usage: 1. Breath, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. 2. The spirit or mind of man; the inward, self-conscious principle which feels and thinks and wills (1 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Corinthians 5:3; 1 Corinthians 7:34; Colossians 2:5). In this sense it is distinguished from σῶμα bodyor accompanied with a personal pronoun in the genitive, as my, our, his spirit (Romans 1:9; Romans 8:16; 1 Corinthians 5:4; 1 Corinthians 16:18, etc.). It is used as parallel with ψυχή souland καρδία heartSee 1 Corinthians 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:17; and compare John 13:21and John 12:27; Matthew 26:38and Luke 1:46, Luke 1:47. But while ψυχή soulis represented as the subject of life, πνεύμα spiritrepresents the principle of life, having independent activity in all circumstances of the perceptive and emotional life, and never as the subject. Generally, πνεύμα spiritmay be described as the principle, ψυχή soulas the subject, and καρδία heartas the organ of life. 3. The spiritual nature of Christ. Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:45; 1 Timothy 3:16. 4. The divine power or influence belonging to God, and communicated in Christ to men, in virtue of which they become πνευματικοί spiritual - recipientsand organs of the Spirit. This is Paul's most common use of the word. Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Galatians 4:6; Galatians 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:8. In this sense it appears as: a. Spirit of God. Romans 8:9, Romans 8:11, Romans 8:14; 1 Corinthians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 2:11, 1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 7:40; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Ephesians 3:16. b. Spirit of Christ. Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 4:6; Philemon 1:19. c. Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:8, etc. d. Spirit. With or without the article, but with its reference to the Spirit of God or Holy Spirit indicated by the context. Romans 8:16, Romans 8:23, Romans 8:26, Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 2:4, 1 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12:4, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Corinthians 12:8, 1 Corinthians 12:9; Ephesians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, etc. 5. A power or influence, the character, manifestations, or results of which are more peculiarly defined by qualifying genitives. Thus spirit of meekness, faith, power, wisdom. Romans 8:2, Romans 8:15; 1 Corinthians 4:21; 2 Corinthians 4:13; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 1:17; 2 Timothy 1:7, etc. These combinations with the genitives are not mere periphrases for a faculty or disposition of man. By the spirit of meekness or wisdom, for instance, is not meant merely a meek or wise spirit; but that meekness, wisdom, power, etc., are gifts of the Spirit of God. This usage is according to Old Testament analogy. Compare Exodus 28:3; Exodus 31:3; Exodus 35:31; Isaiah 11:2. 6. In the plural, used of spiritual gifts or of those who profess to be under spiritual influence, 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 14:12. 7. Powers or influences alien or averse from the divine Spirit, but with some qualifying word. Thus, the spirit of the world; another spirit; spirit of slumber. Romans 11:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 11:4; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Timothy 1:7. Where these expressions are in negative form they are framed after the analogy of the positive counterpart with which they are placed in contrast. Thus Romans 8:15: “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage, but of adoption. In other cases, as Ephesians 2:2, where the expression is positive, the conception is shaped according to Old-Testament usage, where spirits of evil are conceived as issuing from, and dependent upon, God, so far as He permits their operation and makes them subservient to His own ends. See Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel 16:14-16, 1 Samuel 16:23; 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Kings 22:21sqq.; Isaiah 19:4. Spirit is found contrasted with letter, Romans 2:29; Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6. With flesh, Romans 8:1-13; Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:24. It is frequently associated with the idea of power (Romans 1:4; Romans 15:13, Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 2:4; Galatians 3:5; Ephesians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:7); and the verb ἐνεργεῖν , denoting to work efficaciously, is used to mark its special operation (1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 3:20; Philemon 2:13; Colossians 1:29). It is also closely associated with life, Romans 8:2, Romans 8:6, Romans 8:11, Romans 8:13; 1 Corinthians 15:4, 1 Corinthians 15:5; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Galatians 5:25; Galatians 6:8. It is the common possession of the Church and its members; not an occasional gift, but an essential element and mark of the christian life; not appearing merely or mainly in exceptional, marvelous, ecstatic demonstrations, but as the motive and mainspring of all christian action and feeling. It reveals itself in confession (1 Corinthians 12:3); in the consciousness of sonship (Romans 8:16); in the knowledge of the love of God (Romans 5:5); in the peace and joy of faith (Romans 14:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6); in hope (Romans 5:5; Romans 15:13). It leads believers (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18): they serve in newness of the Spirit (Romans 7:6) They walk after the Spirit (Romans 8:4, Romans 8:5; Galatians 5:16-25). Through the Spirit they are sanctified (2 Thessalonians 2:13). It manifests itself in the diversity of forms and operations, appearing under two main aspects: a difference of gifts, and a difference of functions. See Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:3, Ephesians 4:4, Ephesians 4:30; Philemon 2:1; [source]
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all sons of God [παντες γαρ υιοι τεου εστε]
Both Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 3:14) and in the same way “through faith in Christ Jesus” There is no other way to become “sons of God” in the full ethical and spiritual sense that Paul means, not mere physical descendants of Abraham, but “sons of Abraham,” “those by faith” (Galatians 3:7). The Jews are called by Jesus “the sons of the Kingdom” (Matthew 8:12) in privilege, but not in fact. God is the Father of all men as Creator, but the spiritual Father only of those who by faith in Christ Jesus receive “adoption” Those led by the Spirit are sons of God (Romans 8:14). [source]
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God [πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστὲ]
Better, ye are all sons of God. Note 1. The change of person, ye are. Comp. we, our, us, Galatians 3:23, Galatians 3:24, Galatians 3:25. He now addresses the Galatians, who were mostly Gentiles, and includes all Christians, Jewish and Gentile. 2. The emphasis is on sons of God rather than on all; for his object is to show that, after the coming of faith, they are no more under the care of a guardian. Ὑιοὶ signifies sons of full age (comp. Galatians 4:1) who have outgrown the surveillance of the guardian; so that sons is emphasized as against children. Paul describes Christians both as τέκνα θεοῦ childrenof God (Romans 8:16, Romans 8:21; Romans 9:8; Philemon 2:15), and υἱοὶ θεοῦ sonsof God (Romans 8:14, Romans 8:19; Romans 9:26). Both τέκνον and υἱός signify a relation based on parentage. The common distinction between τέκνον as emphasizing natural relationship, and υἱός as marking legal or ethical status, should not be pressed. In lxx both words are applied ethically to Israel as God's beloved people. See Isaiah 30:1; Wisd. 16:21; Joel 2:23; Zechariah 9:13; and Isaiah 63:6; Deuteronomy 14:1; Wisd. 9:7; 12:19. John never uses υἱός to describe the relation of Christians to God; but he attaches both the ethical relation and that of conferred privilege, as well as that of birth, to τέκνον . See John 1:12; 1 John 3:1, 1 John 3:10; John 1:13; John 3:3, John 3:7; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1, 1 John 5:4, 1 John 5:18. Paul often regards the Christian relation from a legal point of view as υἱοθεσία adoptiona word used only by him. See Romans 8:14, Romans 8:17, we have both υἱοὶ and τέκνα , and both in the ethical sense. In Romans 9:8; Ephesians 5:1, the ethical sense. 3. In Christ Jesus. Const. with faith. The article before πίστεως faithmay point back to the faith previously mentioned, or may have, as so often, a possessive force, your faith. [source]
Galatians 5:18 Under the law [υπο νομον]
Instead of “under the flesh” as one might expect. See Galatians 3:2-6 for contrast between law and spirit. The flesh made the law weak (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 9:10, Hebrews 9:13). They are one and the same in result. See same idea in Romans 8:14. Note present tense of αγεστε — agesthe (if you are continually led by the Spirit). See Galatians 5:23. [source]
2 Timothy 3:6 Laden [σεσωρευμένα]
Only here and Romans 12:20, citation. In lxx, see Romans href="/desk/?q=ro+8:14&sr=1">Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18. [source]
Hebrews 12:23 And church of the first-born which are written in heaven [καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς]
This forms a distinct clause; “and to the church,” etc. For ἐκκλησία assemblyor church, see on Matthew 16:18; see on 1 Thessalonians 1:1. The “myriads” embrace not only angels, but redeemed men, enrolled as citizens of the heavenly commonwealth, and entitled to the rights and privileges of first-born sons. Πρωτότοκος first-bornis applied mostly to Christ in N.T. See Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15, Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 1:5. Comp. Hebrews 11:28, and Luke 2:7. Properly applied to Christians by virtue of their union with Christ, “the first-born of all creation,” “the first-born from the dead,” as sharing his sonship and heirship. See Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:29. The word also points to Christians as the true Israel of God. The analogy is suggested with the first-born of Israel, to whom peculiar sanctity attached, and whose consecration to himself God enjoined (Exodus 13:1, Exodus 13:11-16); and with the further application of the term first-born to Israel as a people, Exodus 4:22. The way was thus prepared for its application to the Messiah. There seems, moreover, to be a clear reference to the case of Esau (Hebrews 12:16). Esau was the first-born of the twin sons of Isaac (Genesis 25:25). He sold his birthright ( πρωτοτοκία ), and thus forfeited the privilege of the first-born. The assembly to which Christian believers are introduced is composed of those who have not thus parted with their birthright, but have retained the privileges of the first-born. The phrase “church of the first-born” includes all who have possessed and retained their heavenly birthright, living or dead, of both dispensations: the whole Israel of God, although it is quite likely that the Christian church may have been most prominent in the writer's thought. [source]

What do the individual words in Romans 8:14 mean?

As many as for by [the] Spirit of God are led these sons are
ὅσοι γὰρ Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἄγονται οὗτοι υἱοί εἰσιν

ὅσοι  As  many  as 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ὅσος  
Sense: as great as, as far as, how much, how many, whoever.
Πνεύματι  by  [the]  Spirit 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: πνεῦμα  
Sense: a movement of air (a gentle blast.
Θεοῦ  of  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἄγονται  are  led 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἄγω  
Sense: to lead, take with one.
οὗτοι  these 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
υἱοί  sons 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: υἱός  
Sense: a son.