In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Christ is presented as the Spirit and the Lord Spirit.
Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This verse tells us first that the Lord is the Spirit; this proves that the Lord and the Spirit are one. Yet the verse goes on to speak of the Spirit of the Lord; this seems to show that the Spirit and the Lord are two. The expression the Spirit of the Lord, however, indicates that the Spirit and the Lord are in apposition to each other. This shows that the Spirit is the Lord and the Lord is the Spirit and that the Spirit and the Lord are one. The Spirit of the Lord is actually one with the Lord.
According to the context of 2 Corinthians 3:17, 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 in the Bible telling us emphatically that Christ is the Spirit. “The Lord Christ of v. 16 is the Spirit who pervades and animates the new covenant of which we are ministers (v. 6), and the ministration of which is with glory (v. 8). Compare Rom. 8:9-11; John 14:16, 18” (Vincent). “The Lord of verse 16, is the Spirit...which giveth life, v. 6: meaning, ‘the Lord,’ as here spoken of, ‘Christ,’ ‘is the Spirit,’ is identical with the Holy Spirit...Christ, here, is the Spirit of Christ” (Alford). “All that transforming and indwelling Spirit is Christ Himself. ‘The Lord is the Spirit’” (Williston Walker).
Some deny that the Lord in 2 Corinthians 3:17 refers to Christ the Lord. They claim that it denotes God in a general way. Furthermore, using John 4:24, they claim that 2 Corinthians 3:17 is simply saying that God is the Spirit. However, if we consider this verse according to the context, we will realize that the Lord in verse 17 must refer to Christ. Therefore, this verse tells us emphatically that Christ the Lord is the Spirit.
Throughout the centuries there have been a number of teachers who believed that, according to verse 17, Christ the Lord is the Spirit. Many Christians, however, are still under the influence of the creeds, especially the Nicene Creed. At the time of the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), the book of Revelation had not been officially recognized. This may be the reason that in the Nicene Creed nothing is said regarding the seven Spirits. In the book of Revelation the third of the Trinity is the seven Spirits of God. Furthermore, according to Revelation 5:6, these seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb. For those who claim that the Spirit is a separate person from the Son, we would like to ask how the third person, the Spirit, can be the eyes of the second person, the Son. We cannot deny what the book of Revelation says concerning the seven Spirits, that the third of the Trinity is the eyes of the second. For this reason, we should not speak of Christ and the Spirit as being two separate persons.
The Spirit, who is the ultimate expression of the Triune God, was not yet in John 7:39, because at that time Jesus had not yet been glorified. He had not yet finished the process that He, as the embodiment of God, had to pass through. After His resurrection, that is, after the finishing of all the processes, such as incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, that the Triune God had to pass through in man for His redemptive economy, He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). In the New Testament, this life-giving Spirit is called “the Spirit” (Rom. 8:16, 23, 26-27; Gal. 3:2, 5, 14; 6:8; Rev. 2:7; 3:22; 14:13; 22:17), the Spirit who gives us the divine life (2 Cor. 3:6; John 6:63) and frees us from the bondage of the law.