DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT

By Leslie M John

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30, ESV).

Do not cause Holy Spirit to suffer grief. In other words – do not cause Holy Spirit to be mournful or, lament. The very instruction that we should not grieve Holy Spirit is to say, that we have the capability to grieve Him, cause Him to be sorrowful, or allow Him to lament. The causative actions of believers in grieving the Holy Spirit, shows that Holy Spirit is not an influence, or power or inanimate object to refer Him as, “it”, but the reference should always be, as “He”, or “His”, or “Him” etc., it also shows that Holy Spirit can be grieved, can be lied to, can be blasphemed, or can be quenched.

Every believer should speak one to another, the truth because the entire flock of believers constitutes the body of Christ, and the Lord is the head of the body.

If at all one gets angry for some valid reasons, it should be borne in mind that such anger should not be allowed to continue. It should be discarded before the sun goes down. If it is allowed to continue, then there is a possibility of anger turning, one to become enemy of the other.

It gives opportunity for the devil to take advantage, to drift the believer into the darkness of the world. Salvation of believer is never lost, but the blessings are withheld as long as the believer chooses to continue to lead a life unpleasant to the Lord.

Apostle Paul writes,

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30 ESV).

This instruction is addressed to believers. That is to say, a believer can drift occasionally into sin, but the conviction by Holy Spirit renders him to come back to God. 

Apostle John writes to believers,

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”. (1 John 1:8-10, KJ2000).

As one body of the Lord we, the believers in Christ, should make it a point that no corrupt talk comes out of our mouths. Every effort should be made, to see that the body of Christ is built up, and His kingdom expands.

Our endeavors in edifying the Lord’s body should fit the occasion. Such efforts would render grace to those who hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

While doing such work, as is pleasant to the Lord, believers should make it a point to see that the Holy Spirit is not grieved. The Holy Spirit is the one, who sealed our salvation for the day of redemption.

The Scriptures demand from every believer, that bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander, and malice should be discarded. As the children of God, we are given the privilege to call God, as “Abba, Father”, and to be called as “sons of God”.

We should, therefore, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, just as the Lord is toward us. We must forgive one another, as God in His only Son, Jesus Christ forgave us.

If we keep all these instructions, we would be under the perfect influence of the Holy Spirit, who will infuse joy, happiness, boldness in our hearts. He will make sure that we rejoice in the Lord.

When we feel sorrowful, He will bring to us joy, and assure us that we belong to the living God, and will be with His Son, Lord Jesus Christ, forever and ever, when the Lord comes again. Otherwise, we will be causing the Holy Spirit to grieve.

The Holy Spirit does not command us (the believers), or point out our sin, but will lay in low profile and grieves, when we trespass the commands of God.

It is too bad to grieve our helper, our comforter, the Holy Spirit, because we are the children of God, born-again, and are peculiar people chosen by God, a Royal priesthood.

On the other hand, if we give pre-eminence to the Holy Spirit to guide us according to His ways, He takes control of our lives. He leads us in a perfect way beneficial to us, and honor to God.

Lord Jesus Christ gave two great commandments.  All the commandments in the Bible, come under the purview of these two great commandments. The Lord’s commandments are…

“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ‘This is the great and first commandment, ‘And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend on all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 ESV).