3:17 the Lord is the Spirit. Here Paul stresses the close relationship between Christ and the Holy Spirit. By virtue of His resurrection and ascension, Christ and the life-giving Spirit are closely identified in function (1 Cor. 15:45). It is also possible to translate this phrase, “Now the Spirit is the Lord.” The Holy Spirit is truly God; like the Father and the Son, He is the One who is known simply as “the Lord” in the Old Testament. Such a translation gives a natural sense to the word “is.”

there is freedom. The bondage was to death, sin, and hopeless effort to obey the law by our own power.