Led to Be Sons

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. -Romans 8:14 

Previously, Paul stated that being indwelled by the Spirit was the essential key to the Christian life. Here he establishes that those being led by the Spirit are the children of God. Kruse suggests this is an allusion to the many Jewish scriptures that speak of Israel being led by God out of slavery in Egypt and through the wilderness. It may be the case, but what seems to be certain from verses 12-13 is that the Spirit does not merely indwell believers, like air filling a balloon. He indwells the believer for the purpose of accomplishing a holy activity—mortifying the flesh or killing sin—so that he takes on the attributes of God (a son of God).

Therefore to be possessed by the Spirit of God is to become more and more like God as we grow. To be led by the Spirit in this sense then would be a moral condition, not necessarily a vocational one. Nevertheless, it is a ultimately a work of the Spirit of God in the life of the person—rather than human ability.