As the life-giving Spirit, Christ is also the freeing and transforming Spirit. All three aspects of Christ as the Spirit are found in 2 Corinthians 3. In verse 6 we have the Spirit who gives life; in verse 17, the freeing, liberating, Spirit; and in verse 18, the transforming Spirit.
Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” According to the context, the Lord here must refer to Christ the Lord (2:12, 14, 15, 17; 3:3, 4, 14, 16; 4:5). This, then, is a strong word telling us emphatically that Christ the Lord is the Spirit. Furthermore, the phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” indicates that the Spirit and the Lord are one. Where the Spirit of the Lord is means where the Spirit, the Lord, is. The Spirit of the Lord is actually the Lord Himself, with whom there is freedom. The freedom here is the freedom from the letter of the law (Gal. 2:4; 5:1).
The Lord is the Spirit who gives us freedom. Because the Lord is the Spirit, when we turn to Him, we are freed from the bondage of the letter of the law. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is no bondage, no deadness, no entanglement of letters and regulations. Because Christ as the freeing Spirit is within us, we are free from the law, bondage, regulations, and dead letters.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” Christ as the life-giving Spirit is now doing a transforming work within us as He imparts Himself into us as life. When we open to Him, behold Him, and reflect Him, we are under the process of transformation. All that He is, is transfused into our being. Through being transfused with what He is we shall have a complete transformation. We shall be transformed into His image from one stage of glory to another, until eventually we are the same as He. This takes place only by means of Christ as the Lord Spirit.
The glory in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is the glory of Christ as the resurrected and ascended One, the One who is both God and man. This One passed through incarnation, human living, and crucifixion, entered into resurrection, having accomplished full redemption, and became a life-giving Spirit. As the life-giving Spirit, the resurrected Christ dwells in us to make Himself and all He has accomplished, obtained, and attained real to us so that we may be one with Him and may be transformed into His image from glory to glory. When we with an unveiled face behold and reflect the glory of the Lord, He infuses us with the elements of what He is and what He has done. As a result, we are transformed metabolically to have His life shape by His life power with His life essence, transfigured, mainly by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2), into His image. This transformation is from glory to glory, that is, from the Lord Spirit to the Lord Spirit. The Lord Spirit is upon the Lord Spirit. This means that the Lord Spirit as the rich supply is continually added into our being.
The image in verse 18 is the image of the resurrected and glorified Christ. The “same image” indicates that we are being conformed to the resurrected and glorified Christ, being made the same as He is. This transformation into the same image is from one degree of glory to another degree, for transformation is a continuing process in life in resurrection.
The title “Lord Spirit” may be considered a compound title like the Father God and the Lord Christ. This expression again strongly proves and confirms that the Lord Christ is the Spirit and that the Spirit is the Lord Christ.
The word “transformed” implies the unsearchably rich supply of Christ. As we receive this supply, it replaces the old element within us and causes it to be discharged and carried away. The result is that something new is brought forth in us, just as new cells and tissues are produced in our body through the process of metabolism. The fact that this is Paul’s concept of transformation is indicated by His word that we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit. For the believers’ experience of transformation, Christ passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection to become the all-inclusive, life-giving, freeing, and transforming Spirit dwelling in our spirit. This Spirit is now dispensing the resurrected Christ with all His riches into us for our transformation.
Home | First | Prev | Next