Liberty

2 Corinthians 3:17 KJV

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Much talk is made of liberty in this day. Christians of every stripe, and those who have grown up in independent Baptist churches are no exception, are focusing now on what they believe is our Christian liberty. Activities that would have once been completely avoided are now participated with an "in your face" sort of publication of it. The young Fundamentalists cry "legalist" at preachers who preach standards today. They understand that they have liberty in the Spirit.

But the context of this liberty has little to do with standards of separation from this world. Paul is not giving liberty to imbibe in the world because of the Spirit. The context has to do with the "approachableness" of God through Christ. In the past, Moses, who had met with God, wore a veil to conceal the glory of God upon him. That veil, Paul said, was still there every time the Jew opened the Old Testament. It was a closed book to him. He could see it but he could never see the fullness of the glory of God in it. But if and when that same man turns his heart to Christ the veil is removed and he is granted liberty to see that fullness.

This passage isn't granting liberty to live without Christian standards. My understanding is that New Testament grace lifts those standards to a new high (only they are in Christ and not performed in the power of the flesh). This passage is teaching us a new liberty in the Spirit to be changed into the glory of the Lord through a spiritual understanding of God's Word.