Verse 16 says, “But whenever it turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” According to verse 15, “it” must refer to the heart of the sons of Israel. This indicates that their heart is away from the Lord when the veil lies on their heart. When their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Actually, their turned-away heart is the veil. To turn their heart to the Lord is to take away the veil.
Do you know why Christians have no light, no revelation? It is because they are covered by a thick, heavy veil. Of course, there may be a small number who turn their heart to the Lord. When their heart is turned to Him, the veil is taken away, and they see light. Many Christians today are covered by such a thick veil. This is the reason there is so little light among them.
Many among us can testify that when we turned to the Lord we were enlightened. We became clear concerning ourselves, our situation, and the condition of our inner being. By turning to the Lord and coming to the church, we became more clear than ever before.
Those who are constituted apostles are believers whose hearts have been turned to the Lord. Saul of Tarsus became this kind of believer. When he was on the way to Damascus, the Lord Jesus said to him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Immediately and unconsciously Saul’s heart was turned to the Lord, and he called, saying, “Who art thou, Lord?” (Acts 9:5). Although he did not know who the Lord was, he still called Him Lord. He called on Him foolishly and even blindly. Many of us have done the same thing. Some time later, however, we realized what happened, and our spiritual sky became very clear.
After the Lord appeared to Saul and he called on Him, Saul became blind. Before that time he was a religious leader and led others to persecute the church. But after he called on the name of the Lord, he needed someone to lead him. The Lord Jesus said to him that he should go into the city and that he would be told what to do (Acts 9:6). Eventually, Ananias came to him, and the scales fell off Saul’s eyes. This indicates that the veil was taken away and that he received light. Because the heart of Saul of Tarsus was turned to the Lord, the veil was taken away. What light this man received! His Epistles were all written under the shining of this light. The reason Paul received so much light was due to one factor: the turning of his heart to the Lord and the taking away of the veil.
Verse 17 says, “And the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” When the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And, furthermore, the Lord is the Spirit who would give us freedom. Since the Lord is the Spirit, when the heart turns to Him, the veil is taken away, and the heart is freed from the bondage of the letter of the law.
According to the context of this section, which starts at 2:12, 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 ver. 16 is the Spirit who pervades and animates the new covenant of which we are ministers (ver. 6), and the ministration of which is with glory (ver. 8). Compare Romans 8:9-11; John 14:16, 18” (Vincent). “The Lord of verse 16 is the Spirit,...which giveth life, verse 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 verse 17 refers to Christ the Lord. They claim that it denotes God in a general way. Furthermore, using John 4:24, they claim that verse 17 is simply saying that God is the Spirit. However, if we consider this verse according to the context, we shall realize that the Lord in verse 17 must refer to Christ. Therefore, this verse tells 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. The Spirit of the Lord is actually one with the Lord. Where the Spirit of the Lord is means where the Spirit, the Lord, is.
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 Nicea (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 in verse 17, who is the ultimate expression of the Triune God, was not yet in John 7:39, because at that time Jesus was not yet glorified. He had not yet finished the process which He, as the embodiment of God, must pass through. After His resurrection, that is, after finishing all of the processes, such as incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, which the Triune God had to pass through in man for His redemptive economy, He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This life-giving Spirit is called “the Spirit” in the New Testament (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. The Spirit of the Lord is the Lord Himself, with whom there is freedom. The freedom here is the freedom from the letter of the law under the veil (Gal. 2:4; 5:1).