The Lord The Spirit

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (Spoke 3, Cycle 3)

Many passages declare the Divinity of the Third Person of the Trinity, but the Book of 2 Corinthians on Spoke 3 is unique in that it contains the one and only explicit declaration that "the Lord is the Spirit." A more literal translation of the last highlighted phrase in the verse above would read "by the Lord, the Spirit" (NASB) or "from the Lord who is the Spirit" (RSV). The Greek phrase, Kurios Pneuma (the Lord Spirit), has exactly the same form as the common title Kurios Iesous (the Lord Jesus). Many commentators see this as the most explicit verse identifying the Third Person of the Trinity as the Lord God Almighty. Obviously, this perfectly coheres with its placement on the Third Spoke. An examination of the context amplifies this by showing how the Holy Spirit relates to the revelation of God's Glory:

Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:12ff (Spoke 3, Cycle 3)

Moses face shined with the Glory of God. The Jews call this the Shekinah (Spoke 21, BW book pg 355) from the root shakan, meaning "dwelling place." It is the root of Mishkan, the name of the Tabernacle that God covered with His Glory. It represents the presence of God. The taking away of the vail is the Spirit of Revelation, which is another fundamental role of the Holy Spirit based on the Gimel KeyWord galah (to reveal, BW book pg 379).

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