Now we come to 2 Corinthians 3:17, which says, “And the Lord is the Spirit.” This verse is so clear and simple that there is nothing for the critics to twist. The Spirit in this verse is the Spirit mentioned in verse 6, where we are told that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now the Lord is the Spirit who gives life. According to Darby’s New Translation, verses 7 through 16 of 2 Corinthians 3 are in parentheses, showing that verse 17 is the continuation of verse 6. Verse 17 says, “And the Lord is the Spirit.” The Spirit here is the very Spirit who gives life spoken of in verse 6. The Lord in 2 Corinthians 3:17 certainly is Jesus. A number of Christian writers, including Dean Alford and Andrew Murray, have said that the Lord is Jesus and that the Lord is the Spirit.
Although there is actually nothing to twist in this verse, some still try to twist it in at least two ways. Firstly, some say that the Lord here is not the Lord Jesus Christ, but merely the Lord God. In the book of 2 Corinthians, the title, “the Lord” is always attached to the Lord Jesus (1:2, 14; 4:5; 13:14) and God is called the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3; 11:31). So the Lord in 3:17, as in 3:16 and 18, undoubtedly refers to the Lord Jesus, not to God the Father. To say that the Lord in this verse refers to God is clearly a twisting to fit the traditional teaching and to avoid the pure revelation concerning the matter of the Trinity.
According to the second twisting, to say that the Lord is the Spirit does not mean that the Lord is actually the Spirit, but that the Spirit represents the Lord. This is more than a twisting of the verse; it is a changing of the Bible by adding to the pure revelation a thought which the Bible does not have. Where is the verse in the Bible giving us the thought that the Holy Spirit represents the Lord? There is no such verse. Why do some twist the Bible in this way? Just because they do not like to stay with the pure revelation concerning Christ’s being the Spirit. They like to remain in their traditional teachings concerning the Trinity.
Christianity is too old. It is full of opinions, traditions, and concepts. The Lord’s recovery is to bring us back to the pure Word. We do not care for the concepts and traditions of Christianity or for anybody’s teachings. We only care for the pure word of the Bible. We believe whatever the Bible says in a pure way, not in the way of twisting the words of Scripture. The critics claim to believe the Bible and they condemn us by saying that we do not believe it. They believe the Bible in their twisting way; we believe the Bible in the way of taking whatever it says in black and white. When Isaiah 9:6 says that the Son is called the everlasting Father, we say, “Amen.” When 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit,” we say, “Amen.” When 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit,” we also say, “Amen.” The critics twist these verses because they are still under the influence of traditional teachings.
With these verses before us, who can say that we are heretical? Who is heretical-we who say that according to Isaiah 9:6 the Son is the Father and according to 1 Corinthians 15:45 and 2 Corinthians 3:17 the Lord Jesus today is the life-giving Spirit, or those who have two divine Fathers and two life-giving Spirits? What heresy to have two divine Fathers and two life-giving Spirits! We must tell people of these heresies, and these heresies must be exposed. We are absolutely scriptural, but those who have two divine Fathers and two life-giving Spirits as the result of twisting these verses are heretical. Let us wait and see how they can clear themselves from this charge.
The orthodox creed formulated at the Council of Nicaea was a repudiation of modalism, exemplified by Sabellius, and tritheism, represented by Arius. Sabellius did not believe in the simultaneous existence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To him, They were merely three manifestations of the one God who manifests Himself in different ways according to circumstances. Arius, on the contrary, believed in three Gods. According to him, the Father was one God, the Son was another God, and the Holy Spirit was still another God. This, of course, is heresy. Although the heresy of Arius was condemned at the Nicene Council, many Christians, probably including some of our critics, today subconsciously still hold to three Gods. In the past, many of you, deep within, secretly held to this belief.
Modalism has some ground in the Scriptures, but it has gone much too far, to a heretical extreme. The modalists see the aspect of the one, but they misuse the side of the three, saying that after the revelation of the Father and the Son had ceased only the Spirit remained. They deny the co-existence and co-inherence among the Three of the Godhead in eternity. While they deny this, we believe it. Modalism neglects the safeguard of the twofoldness of the truths in the Bible. Every truth in the Bible has two aspects. If you would be safe, you must be balanced between these two aspects. According to God’s regulation, principle, and law, nothing in the universe can exist without being two-sided. This is even true of a sheet of paper. Because the modalists hold to one side and misapply the other, they lose their balance and safeguard.
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