2 Corinthians 3:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But when someone hears of the Spirit and reasons with himself that Moses turned to the Lord, while this man turns to the Spirit, he might think from this that the Apostle is lower than Moses.

Forestalling such a thought, he says, “the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:17), that is, the Spirit also is Lord.

And so that you may know that he is speaking of the Comforter, he adds, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Thus you can no longer say that his words mean the same as “where the Lord of the Lord is.” He mentioned freedom here in contrast to the former slavery.

Therefore, where faith is, there is freedom, because a slave acts from fear, while a free man acts by faith.

One is under the Law, the other under grace. One is in slavery, the other in the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

This is full of folly and shamelessness. For the divine Apostle made a complete comparison between letter and Spirit.

He says, “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” Again he says, “not of the letter, but of the Spirit.”

Then he says, “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Again, “how shall the ministry of the Spirit not be much more in glory?”

Therefore it is clear that the divine Apostle called the All-Holy Spirit Lord. The following words also bear witness to this, for the Apostle says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

If he were calling the Lord Spirit, he would have said, “where the Lord is.” But this is not what is said.

On the contrary, the Apostle named the Spirit Himself “of the Lord,” because through Him the grace of the Lord is imparted.

So that no one would consider the Spirit ministerial, he necessarily added that the Spirit is Lord.

So that no one might say that the Holy Spirit was given to them as Apostles, but is by nature inaccessible to us, the Apostle says in prayer: “May God grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph 3:16).

“The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17). Again he says, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom 8:9).

According to another opinion, the Lord is Christ, Who according to His Godhead is Spirit. He frees those who turn to Him from the power of prejudices, because He communicates the truth.

Third, those who turn to the Lord begin to understand the Law, because the spirit of the Law is the Lord.

That is, the inner meaning of the Law consists in depicting Christ. Whoever understands this spirit, truly hidden by the Lord in the Law, or, as the Apostle says, the Spirit of the Lord in the Law, attains freedom in understanding and fulfilling the Law.

If a man remains in the state of slavish fear, he would be ready to sin if he knew that for sins he would only lose God’s love and good will toward him, but would undergo no punishment.

Then a man imagines God only as a fearsome punisher of sins, Whom he fears.

He does not at the same time see in God a Being worthy of the most ardent love (1 Jn 4:8).

Then a man seems to regret having learned a particular Church rule that condemns his habitual sin.

For if he had not known this rule, and had not previously considered his lawless deed a sin in his conscience, he could have sinned freely.

Such feelings are inconsistent with true worship of God.

Therefore, according to the course of the argument, the Lord is Christ the Savior. But when we place these terms in the statement, "Now the Lord is the Spirit," we obtain an improper expression. It would mean that the Lord and Savior, the incarnate Son of God, is the Holy Spirit.

To speak in this way is contrary to the dogma of the Most Holy Trinity. Of no Person of the Most Holy Trinity may it be said that He is another Person. For example, the Son is not the Spirit, nor is the Spirit the Son. The Father is not the Son or the Spirit, and the reverse is also true.

Although They are equal in honor, consubstantial, and enthroned together, each Person is precisely the Person He is, and not another. Therefore it is necessary either to take "Lord" as meaning the Godhead generally, or "Spirit" as meaning spirituality generally.

That is, we must acknowledge either that it is said here of the Lord that He is Spirit, meaning Spirit by nature, or of the Holy Spirit that He is Lord, meaning God. Both are possible according to the context and according to grammar.

What, then, should be accepted? It is better to accept what more closely fits the course of the Apostle's thought. Just before this, the Apostle said that the veil is removed from hearts when they turn to the Lord.

A natural question follows: how does this take place? What is the direct answer? By the grace of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we suppose that verse 17 speaks of the Holy Spirit, we suppose something wholly consistent with the course of thought.

Here the Apostle indicates the manner in which the eyes of the heart are opened and the veil is removed from them. Consequently, if we understand the words, "Now the Lord is the Spirit," as speaking of the Holy Spirit, that He is Lord, we accept a thought wholly consonant with the Apostle's reasoning.

In doing so, perhaps we shall not succeed in arranging the wording smoothly. Yet this is no reproach to the thought being accepted. All our commentators understand this expression in this way, as speaking of the Godhead of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Chrysostom says: "Some say that, in the same sense in which Scripture says, 'God is Spirit,' it is also said here, 'the Lord is the Spirit.' But this is not correct. The Apostle is not saying that the Lord is the Spirit, but that the Spirit is Lord.

There is a great difference between this arrangement of the words and the other. Of whom was the Apostle speaking in all that he had said above? For example, when he said, 'the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,' and again, 'written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.'

Was he speaking of the Son or of the Spirit? Evidently of the Spirit, for from the letter he leads the Jews up to Him. But someone might hear of the Spirit and reason within himself that Moses conversed with the Lord, while this man converses with the Spirit.

From this he might suppose that the Apostle, that is, the New Testament divine economy, is lower than Moses, that is, the Old Testament order. Forestalling such a thought, he says, 'Now the Lord is the Spirit,' that is, the Spirit also is Lord.

And so that you may know he is speaking of the Comforter, he added, 'and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.' Thus you can no longer say that his words mean the same as, 'where the Lord of the Lord is.'"

Blessed Theodoret expresses the same thing: "In the words, 'Now the Lord is the Spirit,' the Apostle showed the equality in honor of God and the Spirit. Moses turned his gaze to God, while we turn ours to the Spirit.

But he would not have mentioned the Spirit, intending to show the superiority of the new over the old, if he had known that the Holy Spirit was a creature. For if He is a creature, according to the teaching of Arius and Eunomius, then we approach the Spirit, while Moses approached God and the Father.

This would mean that our covenant is far lower than the old. But if it is not lower, but higher, and far higher, it follows that the Holy Spirit is not a creature. He is equal in power and equal in honor with the Father.

Yet the heretics, led by shamelessness, say that here the Lord is called Spirit, and not that the Spirit Himself is called Lord. This is full of folly and shamelessness. For the divine Apostle made a full comparison between the letter and the Spirit.

He says, 'written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.' Again he says, 'not of the letter, but of the Spirit.' Then he says, 'the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.' Again, 'how will the ministry of the Spirit not be even more in glory?'

Therefore it is clear that the divine Apostle called the All-Holy Spirit Lord. The words that follow also bear witness to this. For the Apostle says, 'and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.'

If he had called the Lord Spirit, he would have said, 'and where the Lord is,' that is, 'the Lord of the Lord.' But this is not what is said. On the contrary, the Apostle here named the Spirit Himself as the Lord's Spirit, because through Him the Lord's grace is bestowed.

And lest anyone regard the Spirit as ministerial, he necessarily added that the Spirit is Lord." So also teach Saint John of Damascus, Oecumenius, and Theophylact. Let us settle upon this thought.

Up to this point the Apostle has brought us to the disclosure of what was hidden in the Law. When, he says, they turn to the Lord, the veil is taken from the heart. Then what was hidden is seen, namely the whole divine economy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here he says how this is accomplished. Those who believe in the Lord receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, which tears away every covering and every bond from their spirit and heart. This is stated directly in the words, "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

But the words, "Now the Lord is the Spirit," must also be understood in relation to this. In them there seems to lie this thought: the Lord, to whom men turn by faith, gives the Holy Spirit, as consubstantial with Him and enthroned together with Him.

And the Spirit of the Lord then loosens every bond. Or again: the Lord is one in essence with the Spirit, consubstantial with Him and undivided from Him. Thus where the Lord is, there also is the Spirit.

What the Lord does, the Spirit also does, according to the single operation of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. Or better, let us confess that we do not know how to arrange this wording smoothly.

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom," a freedom full and complete in every respect. Blindness binds the mind. A veil lies upon its eyes. The Holy Spirit comes, anoints the eyes of the mind with His collyrium, and the mind begins to see clearly (Rev 3:18).

It sees God, itself, how to abide in living union with Him, what all created things are, and how it should relate to them. Attachments to earthly pleasures and consolations bind the heart. The Holy Spirit comes, releases it, and circumcises it.

Then it begins to seek only the things above, and to strive only toward what is heavenly. Our active powers are bound by passions. The Holy Spirit comes and breaks these bonds.

He places within us wholly opposite foundations for desires, undertakings, and deeds. Then the weak man, like a mighty lion, begins to walk the new paths of life. He has shattered all the forms of life that formerly held him as though in chains.

The Spirit of God brings the spirit of the believer into the spiritual realm. There no ordinance and no letter binds him any longer. There he is led by the one Spirit of God, as a son and a free man.

All this takes place when a man cleaves to the Lord by faith and receives the grace of the Holy Spirit through the mysteries. The holy Apostle seems to speak of freedom only in relation to the Old Testament, that is, "in contrast to the former slavery" (Saint Chrysostom), or to the yoke under the Law (Oecumenius).

But in reality his thought embraces every aspect of freedom. Just before this he spoke of the veil upon the spiritual eyes, and this is a bond. Earlier he spoke of the lifelessness of the ministry of the letter, because the deadness of sin and the passions remains under it.

Therefore we must suppose that, in proclaiming freedom through the Spirit, he intended to gladden all with complete freedom. Yet his thought was chiefly fastened upon freedom from the Law.

Theophylact writes: "In the Law there was a yoke and slavery. But in the law of the Spirit of the Gospel there is freedom. Therefore those who have been counted worthy of this gaze freely and without hindrance upon the glory of the Lord."