Question: What does the Greek word κύριος mean in 1 Cor. 12:3?

Is the phrase «κύριος Ἰησοῦς» to be understood as "Jesus is Yahveh" (where κύριος is a substitute for the Tetragrammaton), or "Jesus is the lord" (where κύριος simply means "master," "lord")?

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> [1 Cor. 12:3](http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=1Co&c=12&t=KJV#s=t_conc_1074003)
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> So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is **Lord**, except by the Holy Spirit. (New Living Translation)
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> διὸ γνωρίζω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἐν πνεύματι θεοῦ λαλῶν λέγει ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦς καὶ οὐδεὶς δύναται εἰπεῖν **κύριος** Ἰησοῦς εἰ μὴ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ (Textus Receptus)
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Answer: 
The Greek word **κύριος** means "Master-Lord-Ruler". It has no connection to "Yahveh", which in Greek is translated (excluding pronouns and articles) using forms of the verb "εἰμὶ" (to be) . Also, the audience of the epistle has a Greek cultural background, where the word "κύριος" (lord) is not used in place of the word "θεός" (god).

However, Paul, being a former Pharisee, uses the word "κύριος" extensively when refering to Jesus, as for a religious Jew this is a reserved way of refering to "Yahveh". He would call Jesus either "Lord Jesus" or "Jesus Christ" (Jesus the Annointed; "Christ" is a transliteration of "Χριστός", a Greek word). The whole point of Christianity is that Jesus is the Son of God sent by God to earth as the Messiah that brings salvation to the human kind. From a Jewish standpoint, calling Jesus *Lord* is calling him *God*, and calling Jesus *Annointed* is calling him *Messiah*.

In this verse, Paul proclaims that one cannot recognize that Jesus is more than a man if not by enlightment by the Holy Spirit. Even though the word does not mean or imply "God" in Greek, it is obvious that it used in this way, since what Paul teaches is that Jesus is God.
This is a theological assertion by Paul, to the effect that only through Holy Spirit can one understand the divinity of Christ. 

Jesus Himself says the same, when He asserts that the Prophet David perceived through Holy Spirit His Lordship (Matthew 22:45), interpreting in this way the Psalmic expression "Lord told to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand" (Psalm 110:1); who can be above the only prophetic king in the world who is under direct protection of one true God, for only his kingdom on earth is free from worship of idols? No other king, no other prophet, for prophets do not call each other "Lord"; perhaps an angel? But no angel or archangel or super-archangel sits at the right hand of Lord, as an indication of equality with Him and bearing the same name for in Greek, which was the basic language of Christian preaching, both are called κύριος in this psalm). Thus, as in Matthew's Gospel Jesus asserts His own divinity revealed to David through the Holy Spirit, here also, Paul asserts the same: that the divinity of Christ is revealed to humans through the Spirit, and moreover, without Spirit's instruction and guidance nobody can discern it. 

Thus, Father reveals His Son's divinity through His Spirit, as in case of Peter, who discerned the unique Sonship of Jesus not by any human effort ("flesh and blood"), but "by My Father in Heaven" (Matthew 16:17), implicatively, through the Holy Spirit; and similarly, the Holy Spirit's guidance reveals to Thomas the divinity of Christ at the sight of His resurrection, when Thomas worships Him with appellation: "my Lord, my God" (John 20:28).