Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
- BSB Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
- 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 the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
- John 8:32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
- Gal 5:13For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
- Gal 4:6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
- Gal 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
- Isa 61:1–2The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
- John 6:63It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
- 2 Tim 1:7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
- Rom 8:15–16For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
- Ps 51:12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
- 2 Cor 3:6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
- 1 Cor 15:45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
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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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