2 Corinthians 3:17

That Spirit. Literally, “the Spirit.” Paul does not here identify the second person of the Godhead with the third but refers to their unity of purpose and operation. That such identity is not meant is evident from the next clause, “the Spirit of the Lord.” In the NT the Holy Spirit is designated both as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). Paul here means that: (1) The indwelling of Christ is accomplished by, and is equivalent to, the indwelling of the Spirit (John 14:16–20; cf. Gal. 2:20). (2) The Spirit ministers the wisdom, truth, and righteousness of Christ (John 16:10–14). (3) The Spirit acts as Christ’s agent in carrying forward the work of redemption and in making it vital and effective (John 7:37–39). (4) The fellowship of Christ is the fellowship of the Spirit (John 14:17, 18).

Where the Spirit. The ministration of the Spirit means freedom from the ministration of the letter, which, by itself alone, means bondage. To “walk in the Spirit” is to enjoy Christian liberty (see Gal. 5:13–16; cf. John 6:63). In and of itself the ministration of the “letter” engraved on tables of stone has no power whatever to convert sinners and to give liberty. It is the Son who alone can make men “free indeed” (John 8:36).

The liberty of the Spirit is that of a new life which can always be allowed free and natural expression for the simple reason that when a man is born again his supreme desire is that the will of God be made effective in him. God’s law written upon the heart (see on 2 Cor. 3:3) frees him from all forms of external compulsion. He chooses to do right, not because the “letter” of the law forbids him to do wrong, but because the “spirit” of the law, engraved in his heart, leads him to choose the right. The indwelling Spirit so controls his will and affections that he desires what is right, and is free to follow the truth as it is in Jesus. He consents that the law is good, and delights “in the law of God after the inward man” (Rom. 7:22; cf. Ps. 1:2).

Liberty in Christ does not mean license to do as one pleases, unless one pleases to obey Christ in all things. There must be control. The less of it there is within, the more of it must be imposed from without. The man who is renewed in Christ Jesus can be safely trusted with full liberty, because he will not abuse it by making it subserve selfish objectives.