Jesus Lifts the Veil From a Woman's FaceBible World
3:172 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present there is liberty. This liberty belongs to the ministry of the Spirit, which gives life and righteousness, in contrast to the letter that kills. When a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed, and by the Spirit that person beholds the Lord's glory and is changed into His image and likeness. Where the Spirit is there is freedom from sin and its condemnation for those who obey God's law, and this freedom is not rebellion or independence from authority, since salvation requires submission to Christ's rule. This liberty means freedom to serve Christ without human power restricting or ruling over believers, for true Bible religion leads people to govern themselves rather than control one another.
Setting and Meaning
Paul wrote this word to the church at Corinth to settle minds about the gospel of Christ against trouble and dissension stirred by Judaizing teachers. Those teachers kept presenting the virtues of the law and the ceremonies, exalting them above the gospel of Christ. They condemned Paul because he did not urge upon the people the ceremonies that typified Christ and were of no value since Christ's death.
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present there is liberty. This liberty belongs to the ministry of the Spirit, which gives life and righteousness, in contrast to the letter that kills. When a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed, and by the Spirit that person beholds the Lord's glory and is changed into His image and likeness.
John illustrates this change, for by studying Christ's life in the Word he was shaped from character to character into the likeness of the One he loved. That transformation gave him experiential knowledge of Christ, engraved Christ's lessons on his soul, and made his witness a sincere declaration of what he had seen and known. Christ's glory and the beauty of holiness were reflected in John's character and countenance.
The brightness on Moses' face came both from the sacred, exalted character of God's law and from the glory of the gospel revealed through Christ, the heavenly light streaming from Calvary. On the mount God presented to Moses not only the tables of the law but the plan of salvation with Christ's sacrifice prefigured by all the types and symbols of the Jewish age. That divine illumination symbolized the glory of the dispensation of which Moses as visible mediator was representative of the one true Intercessor. It illustrates the blessings received by God's commandment-keeping people through the mediation of Christ, so that the closer the communion with God and the clearer the knowledge of His requirements, the more fully believers are conformed to the divine image and become partakers of the divine nature.
Moses as a type of Christ veiled his countenance as intercessor because the people in guilt and sin could not endure its glory. So Christ the divine Mediator veiled His divinity with humanity and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He humbled Himself to gain access to people in their sinful state and lift up the fallen race, who could not have endured the brightness of heaven.
The veil remains when people turn from the plain teaching of Scripture, which places a veil before the face and obstructs sight of the Invisible. Worldly customs and practices also act as a veil that hides the Lord's glory. Fixing the eyes on God and becoming Christlike frees people from being absorbed by the things of the world and prepares them to see His face. Drawing near to God brings encouragement and strength for the conflict.
Transforming Freedom in Christ
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom from sin and its condemnation for those who obey God's law. This freedom is not rebellion or independence from authority, for salvation requires submission to Christ's rule, and the Holy Spirit works on human minds to bring them under it. Freedom belongs to those who follow Christ, take His yoke and learn meekness and lowliness of heart from Him, finding rest for their souls. It belongs to those who are led by the Spirit of God as sons of God and have the Spirit of Christ as belonging to Him, while refusing the words of Christ sent to save the soul works departure from faith. Serving God in truth brings freedom of spirit with peace, rest, and satisfaction, which superstitious rites possessing no virtue, faithless service as a mere round of ceremony, and human tradition hiding sacred truth cannot give.
John illustrates this transformation, for by studying Christ's life in the Word he was shaped from character to character into the likeness of the One he loved. That change gave him experiential knowledge of Christ, engraved Christ's lessons on his soul, and made his witness a sincere declaration of what he had seen and known. Christ's glory and the beauty of holiness were reflected in John's character and countenance as the Spirit brought liberty and transformed beholders of the Lord's glory into His image. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, meekness, patience, gentleness, and long-suffering are present, and a true disciple seeks to imitate Christ and do God's will.
This freedom is freedom from the enemy's control and from the bonds that held a person, so that Christ sets the person free to rejoice and live without fear trusting in the Lord's love. It is liberty from bondage to satanic power and oppressive fanatical control, coming by strength from heaven to rise above mesmeric influence, so that children of God who were held in bondage breathe free and rejoice in the Lord. True liberty is freedom from bondage to an evil spirit given by God's Spirit, and to assert liberty in the Lord's name is to rebuke every particle of that evil influence, come out from it entirely, go down into the water in baptism, and live in newness of life unto God as free sons of God. Where the Spirit is there is also liberty from bondage of mind, emancipating minds embedded under thick darkness and scientific sophistries. The Spirit frees them from the fetters of erroneous science and theories of mind working upon mind, opens the wonderful things of God's Word, and gives converting light that leads to testimony, with angels breaking fetters from minds and flashes of the Spirit indicating truth.
Christ and the hope of His soon coming bring freedom through the Spirit that gives joy and ability to speak openly about what God has done even when others try to silence believers. This freedom from bondage is experienced in family prayer and in bearing testimony at the meeting. True freedom is present where the Spirit is present and absent when the Spirit withdraws. When hearts are humbled and believers do individual work for backsliders and sinners, a spirit of freedom enters meetings, while taking credit lifts a person up and leaves him to his own judgment. Faithful warnings, cautions, and reproofs given in union with God's reproof do not restrict liberty or bring bondage, so to call them restriction is misjudgment from pride and grieving the Spirit.
Freedom Toward Other People
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, and applied to slavery that liberty is expressed in the principles of the gospel. A converted slave becomes a member of the body of Christ and a fellow heir with the master of the blessings of God and the privileges of the gospel, to be loved and treated as a brother. The Spirit so unites people across differences of status as to make them one in Christ with equal standing. These principles strike at the very foundation of slavery, and put into practice they undermine the system and its oppressive relations.
That same liberty means freedom to serve Christ without human power restricting or ruling over believers, for God desires people to be free to use the powers He has given them. True Bible religion leads people to govern themselves rather than to control one another. Decisions, methods, or rules that repress individual action and deprive people of their rights and privileges oppose that freedom and incur God's disapproval. A greater presence of the Holy Spirit is needed so that God's message can be borne without pride.
Because liberty comes with the working of God's Spirit, encroachments by people upon the liberty of their fellow human beings stand under God's condemnation. Such encroachments cut off the opportunity for God to work upon minds by His Spirit. They are inspired by God's enemy and are carried out by those who do not know God and refuse to hear His voice or be ruled by Him, standing ready to bind the Lord's workers and hinder their efforts.
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present there is liberty. This liberty belongs to the ministry of the Spirit, which gives life and righteousness, in contrast to the letter that kills. When a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed, and by the Spirit that person beholds the Lord's glory and is changed into His image and likeness. Where the Spirit is there is freedom from sin and its condemnation for those who obey God's law, and this freedom is not rebellion or independence from authority, since salvation requires submission to Christ's rule. This liberty means freedom to serve Christ without human power restricting or ruling over believers, for true Bible religion leads people to govern themselves rather than control one another.
Setting and Meaning
Paul wrote this word to the church at Corinth to settle minds about the gospel of Christ against trouble and dissension stirred by Judaizing teachers. Those teachers kept presenting the virtues of the law and the ceremonies, exalting them above the gospel of Christ. They condemned Paul because he did not urge upon the people the ceremonies that typified Christ and were of no value since Christ's death.
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present there is liberty. This liberty belongs to the ministry of the Spirit, which gives life and righteousness, in contrast to the letter that kills. When a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed, and by the Spirit that person beholds the Lord's glory and is changed into His image and likeness.
John illustrates this change, for by studying Christ's life in the Word he was shaped from character to character into the likeness of the One he loved. That transformation gave him experiential knowledge of Christ, engraved Christ's lessons on his soul, and made his witness a sincere declaration of what he had seen and known. Christ's glory and the beauty of holiness were reflected in John's character and countenance.
The brightness on Moses' face came both from the sacred, exalted character of God's law and from the glory of the gospel revealed through Christ, the heavenly light streaming from Calvary. On the mount God presented to Moses not only the tables of the law but the plan of salvation with Christ's sacrifice prefigured by all the types and symbols of the Jewish age. That divine illumination symbolized the glory of the dispensation of which Moses as visible mediator was representative of the one true Intercessor. It illustrates the blessings received by God's commandment-keeping people through the mediation of Christ, so that the closer the communion with God and the clearer the knowledge of His requirements, the more fully believers are conformed to the divine image and become partakers of the divine nature.
Moses as a type of Christ veiled his countenance as intercessor because the people in guilt and sin could not endure its glory. So Christ the divine Mediator veiled His divinity with humanity and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He humbled Himself to gain access to people in their sinful state and lift up the fallen race, who could not have endured the brightness of heaven.
The veil remains when people turn from the plain teaching of Scripture, which places a veil before the face and obstructs sight of the Invisible. Worldly customs and practices also act as a veil that hides the Lord's glory. Fixing the eyes on God and becoming Christlike frees people from being absorbed by the things of the world and prepares them to see His face. Drawing near to God brings encouragement and strength for the conflict.
Transforming Freedom in Christ
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom from sin and its condemnation for those who obey God's law. This freedom is not rebellion or independence from authority, for salvation requires submission to Christ's rule, and the Holy Spirit works on human minds to bring them under it. Freedom belongs to those who follow Christ, take His yoke and learn meekness and lowliness of heart from Him, finding rest for their souls. It belongs to those who are led by the Spirit of God as sons of God and have the Spirit of Christ as belonging to Him, while refusing the words of Christ sent to save the soul works departure from faith. Serving God in truth brings freedom of spirit with peace, rest, and satisfaction, which superstitious rites possessing no virtue, faithless service as a mere round of ceremony, and human tradition hiding sacred truth cannot give.
John illustrates this transformation, for by studying Christ's life in the Word he was shaped from character to character into the likeness of the One he loved. That change gave him experiential knowledge of Christ, engraved Christ's lessons on his soul, and made his witness a sincere declaration of what he had seen and known. Christ's glory and the beauty of holiness were reflected in John's character and countenance as the Spirit brought liberty and transformed beholders of the Lord's glory into His image. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, meekness, patience, gentleness, and long-suffering are present, and a true disciple seeks to imitate Christ and do God's will.
This freedom is freedom from the enemy's control and from the bonds that held a person, so that Christ sets the person free to rejoice and live without fear trusting in the Lord's love. It is liberty from bondage to satanic power and oppressive fanatical control, coming by strength from heaven to rise above mesmeric influence, so that children of God who were held in bondage breathe free and rejoice in the Lord. True liberty is freedom from bondage to an evil spirit given by God's Spirit, and to assert liberty in the Lord's name is to rebuke every particle of that evil influence, come out from it entirely, go down into the water in baptism, and live in newness of life unto God as free sons of God. Where the Spirit is there is also liberty from bondage of mind, emancipating minds embedded under thick darkness and scientific sophistries. The Spirit frees them from the fetters of erroneous science and theories of mind working upon mind, opens the wonderful things of God's Word, and gives converting light that leads to testimony, with angels breaking fetters from minds and flashes of the Spirit indicating truth.
Christ and the hope of His soon coming bring freedom through the Spirit that gives joy and ability to speak openly about what God has done even when others try to silence believers. This freedom from bondage is experienced in family prayer and in bearing testimony at the meeting. True freedom is present where the Spirit is present and absent when the Spirit withdraws. When hearts are humbled and believers do individual work for backsliders and sinners, a spirit of freedom enters meetings, while taking credit lifts a person up and leaves him to his own judgment. Faithful warnings, cautions, and reproofs given in union with God's reproof do not restrict liberty or bring bondage, so to call them restriction is misjudgment from pride and grieving the Spirit.
Freedom Toward Other People
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, and applied to slavery that liberty is expressed in the principles of the gospel. A converted slave becomes a member of the body of Christ and a fellow heir with the master of the blessings of God and the privileges of the gospel, to be loved and treated as a brother. The Spirit so unites people across differences of status as to make them one in Christ with equal standing. These principles strike at the very foundation of slavery, and put into practice they undermine the system and its oppressive relations.
That same liberty means freedom to serve Christ without human power restricting or ruling over believers, for God desires people to be free to use the powers He has given them. True Bible religion leads people to govern themselves rather than to control one another. Decisions, methods, or rules that repress individual action and deprive people of their rights and privileges oppose that freedom and incur God's disapproval. A greater presence of the Holy Spirit is needed so that God's message can be borne without pride.
Because liberty comes with the working of God's Spirit, encroachments by people upon the liberty of their fellow human beings stand under God's condemnation. Such encroachments cut off the opportunity for God to work upon minds by His Spirit. They are inspired by God's enemy and are carried out by those who do not know God and refuse to hear His voice or be ruled by Him, standing ready to bind the Lord's workers and hinder their efforts.