What’s is it like living without a veil? It’s freeing … liberating. You don’t have to be something you’re not. You don’t have to make up anything. You don’t have to impress. You don’t have to follow the rules. (There are no rules.) You don’t have to hide anything, because you don’t have anything to hide. You don’t have to worry about your reputation. You are free to be who you are, because who you are is loved and accepted completely, unconditionally, and God is fully in charge of who you are becoming.

Now all this honesty might be a little scary at first. You’re vulnerable. You’re transparent. What if somebody doesn’t like you? But when you discover that you are not alone — that the Lord, who is the Spirit — is living inside you and in the process of transforming you to be like Him, well, you no longer care what anyone thinks about you. That’s real personal freedom — freedom to be who God intended you to be.

And out of all this comes the confidence that Paul talks about so often throughout this passage. It’s a confidence that comes from knowing the Lord is inside him and is making him into the man he always wanted to be. The confidence comes from knowing we are not depending on anything from us because everything comes from God who is the Spirit.

And oh how different life can be

When all the changes don’t depend on me

From the song “Ways and Means” from the New Covenant musical, by John Fischer

“The Lord — who is the Spirit” is important to notice here. Paul uses it twice. It’s because of the role the Holy Spirit plays in the new covenant. Virtually everything comes by way of the Spirit, but Paul wants us to know who the Spirit is. The Spirit is the Lord. The Lord is the Spirit. They are one and the same. The Spirit is not a ghost. He is the part of the Godhead that conveys Christ to us. He is the indwelling Christ. As he says elsewhere, “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

This is it. To know the Spirit’s presence in our lives and to walk in awareness and dependence on Him for everything. “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:25) That’s constant communication with the Spirit.

That’s our challenge for today. Follow the Spirit’s leading in everything (remembering that the Spirit is the Lord). What does He want me to do here? How does He want me to think about this person or this situation? What is His will for me right now?

The 21 Day Challenge

— Day Twelve —

Living without a veil

2 Corinthians, Chapter 3:18

When you start looking at the One who is doing this in your life, the Lord Jesus, and beholding him with all your veils taken away so you are not afraid to look at your own evil capacity, then a wonderful thing happens:

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

And here is the best news: It is the work of the Spirit to remove the veil, which is what is keeping us from seeing ourselves, and how futile it is for us to try hard to please God.

There is another way of pleasing him — accepting what he gives you. As long as you are trying hard, you never can lay hold of what he is ready to give. Therefore, the work of the Spirit is to show you to see how futile your efforts at trying have become. These are what we call “moments of truth” – the ah-ha moments.

For your consideration

1. Have you ever had an ah-ha moment? We all have. When was the time that you suddenly recognized how futile it is to try to be good, but how wonderful it is to realize that, by the gift of God, you already are good in his sight?

1. What do you suppose is the greater glory and how does it manifest in you?

1. What will result at last in love, which fulfills the Law?

And we all, with unveiled face,[having come to the end, having accepted the fact that we cannot make it before God or man by pretense, by image, by trying to look good.] When we come to that place we are beholding the glory of the Lord, and we are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18 RSV)