Spirit of the Lord.
This verse is connected with the preceding by the simple particle of transition de>, but. The natural consequence of the liberty mentioned in v.
17 is what is here stated. We all, i.e. all whom the indwelling of the Spirit of the Lord has made free. They are delivered from the bondage of the law, the veil has been removed from their face, and being turned to the Lord, they behold his glory with open face, ajnakekalumme>nw| prosw>pw|, i.e.
with a face which has been, and which remains unveiled. The darkness arising from alienation, ignorance, misconception and prejudice has been dissipated, so that we can see clearly. Beholding as in a glass or mirror.
This is probably the proper interpretation of the word here used.
Katoptri>zw, in the active voice, means to show in a mirror, and in the middle, (the form here used,) it generally means, to see one’s self in a mirror. This is its constant use in the classics. But in Philo it is used to express the idea of seeing by means of a mirror. As this sense is perfectly
suited to this passage it is generally adopted by commentators, because the other explanations given to the word are either contrary to usage or to the context. Some render it simply beholding. But to this it is objected that it overlooks the special etymological signification of the word, and that ajteni>zw, which occurs twice in this chapter, vs. 7 and 13, is the proper term for that idea. Besides, this interpretation loses sight of the figure involved in the passage. It is an image we see, and therefore we see, as it were, by reflection, or as in a glass. Luther, after Chrysostom, renders the word, reflecting as in a mirror. This explanation is adopted by Bengel, Billroth, Olshausen and others. They understand the apostle to say that Christians reflect, with an unveiled face, the glory of the Lord. They suppose that allusion is had to the glory of God as reflected from the face of Moses, which was transient and veiled; whereas, in the case of
Christians, the glory of the Lord is constantly and clearly manifested in them and by them. They reflect his image wherever they go. But, in the first place, this explanation is inconsistent with the signification of the word, which never means to reflect; secondly, it is contrary to the context.
The contrast is not between Moses and Christians, but between the Jews, or the unconverted, and Christians. The former were blinded by a veil, the latter see with an unveiled face. The one see and the others do not. This is obviously the antithesis implied, and not that the one class do, and the other do not reflect the glory of the Lord. In the third place, the relation in which this verse stands to the preceding forbids this interpretation. We have here the effect of turning to the Lord. We are delivered from the law, we are made free, we are introduced into the presence of the Lord, and enabled to behold his glory. And, finally, this interpretation overlooks the causal relation between the two clauses of this verse. We are transformed into the image of the Lord by beholding it, not by reflecting it. The common interpretation is therefore to be preferred; beholding as in a mirror. Though in comparison with the unconverted those who are turned to the Lord see clearly, or with an unveiled face, still it is only as in a mirror. <461312>
1 Corinthians 13:12. It is not the immediate, beatific vision of the glory of the Lord, which is only enjoyed in heaven, but it is that manifestation of his glory which is made in his word and by his Spirit, whose office it is to glorify Christ by revealing him to us. <431614>
John 16:14.
The object which we behold is the glory of the Lord, i.e. as the context evidently demands, of Christ. The glory of Christ is his divine excellence.
The believer is enabled to see that Jesus is the Son of God, or God manifested in the flesh. This is conversion. Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. <620415>
1 John 4:15. The turning unto the Lord mentioned in the preceding verse is recognizing Christ as Jehovah. This is not only conversion, it is religion. It is the highest state of the human soul. It is eternal life. <431703>
John 17:3. Hence our Lord prays that his disciples may behold his glory, as the
consummation of their blessedness. <431724>
John 17:24. And the apostle John says of all who received Christ, that they beheld “his glory as of the only begotten of the Father,” <430114>
John 1:14. The idea here presented is more fully unfolded in the beginning of the following chapter.
Beholding his glory we are changed into the same image, th<n aujth<n eijko>na metamorfou>meqa, we are transformed into the same image. The verb is commonly construed with eijv, into, or kata>, after, but sometimes, as here, with the simple accusative. The same image, that is, the same which we are by the Spirit enabled to behold. ‘Beholding we are
transformed;’ there is a causal relation between the one and the other. This is a truth everywhere recognized in the word of God. While, on the one hand, it is taught that the natural man cannot see the things of the Spirit, because they are spiritually discerned, <460214>
1 Corinthians 2:14, and that this blindness is the cause of alienation and pollution, <490418>
Ephesians 4:18; on the other hand, it is no less clearly taught that knowledge is the source of holiness, <490509>
Ephesians 5:9; that spiritual discernment implies and produces congeniality. We shall be like Christ, because we shall see him as he is. <620302>
1 John 3:2. The conformity to the image of Christ, as it arises from
beholding his glory, must of course begin here. It is the vision of that glory, although only as in a glass, which has this transforming power. As the vision is imperfect, so the transformation is imperfect; when the vision is perfect, the conformity will be perfect. <450829>
Romans 8:29; <620302>
1 John 3:2.
Only they are Christians, who are like Christ. The conformity of which the apostle speaks, although it is spiritual, as here presented, is not confined to the soul. Of the body it is said, since we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall bear the image of the heavenly. <461549>
1 Corinthians 15:49; <500321>
Philippians 3:21. From glory to glory. This may mean that the
transformation proceeds from glory (i.e. from the glory of Christ as apprehended by us), and results in glory. This explanation is adopted by the Greek fathers. Or the expression indicates progression from one stage of glory to another. Comp. <198407>
Psalm 84:7, “They go from strength to strength.” This is the common and most natural interpretation. The transformation is carried forward without intermission, from the first scarce discernible resemblance, to full conformity to the image of Christ, both as to soul and body. As by the Spirit of the Lord. As, i.e. as might be expected from such an agent. It is a work which corresponds to the nature of its author. By; the preposition is ajpo>, from, as indicating the source whence this glorious effect flows. The Spirit of the Lord. The Greek is kuri>ou pneu>matov, which the Vulgate renders Domini Spiritu, an explanation which is adopted by Augustin, Calvin and many others, as well as by our translators. But this inverts the order of the words, and is the more unnatural here because in the immediately preceding verse the apostle had said to< pneu~ma kuri>ou, Spirit of the Lord; he would
therefore hardly express the same idea in the same connection by kuri>ou pneu>matov. Others render the words the Lord Spirit, i.e. the Spirit who is Lord. We have in the Old Testament and in the apocalypse the familiar phrase, “the Lord God;” but this is only the translation of Jehovah
Elohim, Jehovah who is God, which the Septuagint render ku>riov oJ qeo>v, the Vulgate Dominus Deus, and the English, “Lord God.” More analogous to the passage in the text is the Hebrew, Adonai Jehovah, which the Septuagint render ku>riov ku>riov, the Vulgate Dominus Deus, and the English Lord God. In <062222>
Joshua 22:22, we have the unusual combination, El Elohim Jehovah; Septuagint, oJ qeo<v qeo<v ku>rio>v ejsti; and
immediately after qeo<v qeo>v; Vulgate, Fortissimus Deus Dominus; the English, “The Lord God of gods.” As then in Hebrew, Adonai Jehovah, in Greek ku>riov ku>riov (or ku>riov oJ qeo>v), in Latin, Dominus Deus, and in English, Lord God, all meaning God who is Lord, so ku>riov pneu~ma may mean the Spirit who, is Lord, i.e. the divine Spirit. This is the
explanation adopted by Chrysostom, Theodoret and some of the moderns, in accordance with the interpretation which they give of the first clause of v. 17, which, as stated above, they understand to mean, the Spirit is Lord, pro<v to< Pneu~ma ejpistre>fwn, pro<v Ku>rion ejpistre>feiv ku>riov ga<r to< Pneu~ma, kai< oJmo>qronon, oJmoprosku>nhton kai< oJmoou>sion Patri< kai< uiJw|~. But as in v. 17 Paul does not say the Spirit is the Lord,
but on the contrary that the Lord is the Spirit, so it would be unnatural to make him here say we are transformed by the Spirit who is the Lord. If Lord is the subject in the one case, it must be in the other. According to others, the phrase in question should be rendered Lord of the Spirit, i.e.
Christ, who may be said to be Lord of the Spirit, in a sense analogous to that in which God is said to be the God of Christ. That is, as God sent Christ, and was revealed by him, so Christ sends the Spirit and is revealed by him. This is the interpretation of Billroth, Olshausen, Meyer and others. But the “Lord of the Spirit” is an expression without any
scriptural authority or analogy. It is only of the incarnate Son of God that the Father is said to be his God. There is no grammatical necessity for this interpretation, and it does not accord with v. 17. Luther, Beza and others render the phrase ajpo< kuri>ou pneu>matov, the Lord who is the Spirit. In favor of this interpretation is, first, the analogy of such expressions as aJpo<
qeou~ patro>v, from God who is Father, <480103>
Galatians 1:3; and secondly, the authority of v. 17. There the apostle had said, ‘The Lord is the Spirit,’
and here he says, the transforming power by which we are made like Christ flows from ‘the Lord who is the Spirit.’ The former passage
determines the meaning of the latter. The Lord who is the Spirit means, the Lord who is one with the Spirit, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; who is where the Spirit is, and does what the Spirit does.
CHAPTER 4
In vs. 1-6 the apostle resumes the theme of 3, 12, viz. the open and faithful manner in which he preached the gospel. In vs. 7-15 he shows that his own personal insufficiency and suffering served to manifest more clearly the power of God, who rendered such a feeble instrument the means of producing so great effects. Therefore, vs. 16-18, he was not discouraged or faint-hearted, but exultingly looked above the things seen to those unseen.
As Paul had been made a minister of the new covenant, intrusted with the ministration of righteousness and life, he acted as became his high
commission. He was neither timid nor deceitful. He doubted not the truth, the power, or the success of the gospel which he preached; nor did he in any way corrupt or conceal the truth, but by its open proclamation commended himself to every man’s conscience, vs. 1, 2. If,
notwithstanding this clear exhibition of the truth, the gospel still remained hid, that could only be accounted for by the God of this world blinding the eyes of men. Nothing short of this can account for the fact; for, says the apostle, we preach Christ and not ourselves, and Christ is the image of God. In him there is a revelation of the glory of God to which there is nothing analogous but the original creation of light out of darkness, vs. 3-6.
This treasure, however, is in earthen vessels. The gospel is the revelation of God. It is to do for the world what the creation of light did for the chaotic earth. But we ministers are to have none of the glory of the work.
We are nothing. The whole power is of God; who so orders events as to make his power apparent. I am so perplexed, persecuted, down-trodden and exposed to death, as to render it evident that a divine power is exercised in my preservation and continued efficiency. My continuing to live and labor with success is a proof that Jesus lives. This he tells the Corinthians is for their benefit. vs. 7-12. Having the same faith that David had, he spoke with equal confidence, assured that God, who raised up Christ, would not only preserve him while in this world, but also raise him hereafter from the dead. As all Paul endured and did was for the benefit of the Church, thanks would be rendered by the people of God for his preservation and success, vs. 13-15. Therefore, adds this great apostle, I
do not faint; although my outward man perishes, my inward man is renewed day by day; for I know that my present afflictions are not only temporary, but that they are to be succeeded by an eternal weight of glory, vs. 16-18.
1. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we