II. CORINTHIANS 3, 17. 13

the former, then it is designed to show why turning to the Lord secures the removal of the veil from the heart. It is because the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit is, there is liberty, freedom from the law, from its bondage and ob- scurities. If the latter, then the idea is, that since the veil is removed by turning to the Lord, it follows as a further conse- quence that by thus turning we have liberty. The force of the particle 8c, which so often introduces an explanation, and the Avhole structure of the passage is in fivour of the first in- terpretation. 2. It is plain that the Lord here means Christ. This is clear not only because the word Lord., as a general rule, in the New Testament, refers to Christ, but also because the context in this case demands that reference. In v. 14 it is said that the veil is done away in Christ, and in v. 16 that it is removed when the heart turns to the Lord, and here that the Lord is the Spirit. The main idea of the whole context is, that the recognition of Jesus Christ as Lord, or Jehovah, is the key to the Old Testament. It opens all its mysteries, or, to use the figure of the apostle, it removes the veil which bid from the Jews the true meaning of their own Scriptures. As soon as they turn to the Lord, i. e. as soon as they recog- nize Jesus Christ as their Jehovah, then every thing becomes bright and clear. It is plain, therefore, that the Lord spoken of is ChristT) This also determines another point, viz. that "^^Lord is here^the subject, and Spirit the predicate. Paul says that " The Lord is the Spirit," and not " The Spirit is the Lord." The latter view of the passage is taken by many of the Fathers, who regard it as a direct assertion of the divinity of the Holy Ghost. Although the words would admit of this interpretation, it is evidently inconsistent with the context. It also follows from the fact that " Lord " here means Christ, that it must designate his person and not his doctrine. The apostle does not mean to say that the doctrine of Christ, or the gospel, or new covenant, is the Spirit. It is true that in V. 6, when contrasting the law and the gospel, he calls the one the letter and the other the spirit ; but this does not authorize us to make Lord mean the gospel because the Lord is said to be the Spirit. As in the preceding verses Christ and Lord refer to Christ as a person ; the word Lord must have the same reference here. 3. When Paul says " The Lord is the Spirit," he does not mean to say that ' the Lord is a spirit,' agreeably to the analogy of John 4, 24, where it is said " God is a spirit." This is not only opposed to the force of the arti-