Credo 32: … (the Holy Spirit), the Lord …

‘Lord’ in this case refers to the Holy Spirit, to whom this particular section of the Creed is dedicated, this particular prolongation being formed at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. Previously, the creed had ended with the words ‘We Believe in the Holy Spirit’, followed by an anathema statement directed at those who declared either the second or third persons of the Trinity to be made, or that there was a time when the Holy Spirit was not.

Why would we call the Holy Spirit by the title which the generally reserve to Jesus Christ? It appears to be a contradiction, as we earlier said that we believe in ONE Lord, Jesus Christ. Why then do we acknowledge yet another Lord?

This is done to signify that the One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of His Son, is truly God. The Holy Spirit is consubstantial with both the Father and the Son, and is inseparable from them in both the inner life of the Trinity and in the gift of love that God gives to the world. When the Father sends His Word, he also sends His Breath. And so the two Lords, the Son and the Spirit, are distinct while remaining inseparable in their joint mission. It is Christ who is seen, but it is the Holy Spirit who reveals Him.

Jesus is Christ, ‘anointed’, because the Spirit is His anointing, and each event that follows the Incarnation derives from this fullness. When Christ is glorified, He can send the Spirit from his place with the Father to those who believe in Him. he communicates His glory to them, that is the Holy Spirit who glorifies Him. From then on, the joint mission will be manifested in the children adopted by the Father in the Body of His Son. The mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite them to Christ and make them live in Him.