BIG "S" OR LITTLE "s"?

Paul writes "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). Most translations capitalize "Spirit" taking it as a reference to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. However, the word translated "spirit" (πνεῦμα) could refer to the force that animates or gives life to someone (BDAG, p.674). Is Paul saying "the Lord is a life-giving force" or "the Lord is the third person of the Trinity"?

There are four arguments for understanding "spirit" as a life-giving dynamic or power. 1) The context focuses on a contrast between the two covenants, not an explanation of the Trinity. 2) The emphasis is on the spirit as a dynamic that produces life in contrast to the letter of the Law that produces death (cf. 2 Cor. 3:6,8,17,18). 3) If Christ as Lord is equivalent to the Holy Spirit, this confuses the distinct persons of the Trinity. 4) Christ is called a "life-giving spirit" in 1 Corinthians 15:45 (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, pp.115-121).

I think it best, without being dogmatic, to understand the Spirit throughout this section as the Holy Spirit (Big "S"). However, the emphasis of the passage is not on the Holy Spirit as a person but the Holy Spirit as the dynamic power from God who produces life in us who were once in bondage (Martin, 2 Corinthians, p.71). The Big "S" is a life transforming force unleashed by God when we turn to the Son.

"The Lord is the Spirit" (ὁ κύριος το πνεῦμά ἐστιν). The definite article before "Lord" is an anaphoric article pointing back to "Lord" in the previous verse. The language reflects back to Yahweh in Exodus 34:34.  Paul's argument in these verses is that the Spirit equals Yahweh - God in three persons (Moulton, Howard, Turner, Grammar, 3:174). Paul is not confusing the second and third persons of the Trinity by making the second the same as the third. Paul is stating that the Yahweh of the Old Testament is the Spirit who transforms our lives today.

"Where the Spirit of the Lord (Yahweh) is there is liberty." The veil over our hearts is removed in Christ (2 Cor. 3:14) by the power of the Spirit of Yahweh whose glory was veiled from their hearts in the Old Covenant. Paul expresses it clearly in Galatians when he writes that "God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba! Father!" (Gal. 4:6). "It was for freedom that Christ set us free" (Gal. 5:1). We have a direct and open relationship with Yahweh as our Father through the Son who has set us free from the Law.

Paul goes on to write that we are being transformed (2 Cor. 3:15) by "the Lord, the Spirit" (ἀπὸ κυρίου πνεύματος) There are at least five different possible translations of this last clause (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.120 fn23). However, it is best to translate it as "by the Spirit of the Lord" since an attributive genitive generally comes first in the word order making "Spirit" (πνεύματος) the object of the preposition not "Lord" (κυρίου) so "Lord" modifies "Spirit." (Blass/Debrunner, Grammar, p.250).

All three persons of the Godhead are involved in our transformation. The veil over our hearts is removed in Christ. God the Father is transforming us into the image of His Son by the agency of His Spirit who produces life and liberty in, through, and for us! Praise be to Yahweh from whom all blessings flow.