Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
- KJV Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
- NKJV Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
- NASB Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
- NLT For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Life under the new covenant is marked by Spirit-given liberty.
Overview
Paul closely associates the Lord (Christ) with the Spirit who applies His saving work, affirming their unity in the divine work of redemption. Where the Spirit dwells, there is freedom from the condemnation and bondage of the old covenant. This liberty is not lawlessness but the freedom of those transformed by God's Spirit to know and serve Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 8:2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
- John 8:32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- Gal 5:13For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
- Gal 4:6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
- Gal 5:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- Isa 61:1–2The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- John 6:63The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
- 2 Tim 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
- Rom 8:15–16For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
- Ps 51:12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.
- 2 Cor 3:6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
- 1 Cor 15:45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 3:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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