Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:30-32 ESV

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

1. What does it mean to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God”?

2. In what ways might we grieve the Holy Spirit?

3. What things need to be put away from us? How?

4. How are we to treat other people?

And I am going to refer back to chapter one so that we know who “we” are here. For we are not those who merely make a confession of Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives. We are not those who just make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ but who then continue in deliberate and habitual sin while claiming that God’s grace covers it all. The ones being addressed here are the saints of God who are faithful in Christ Jesus, and a saint is one who is living a holy life different from the world because becoming like Christ.

And in chapter two we read that we are those who were (past) dead in our trespasses and sins in which we once (past) walked (in conduct, in practice), in which we once (past) were following the course of this world, and Satan, the devil, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among them we once (past) lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were (past) by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But all that is to be past, not present.

These are those who were sealed for the day of redemption, not those who merely gave lip service to the Lord Jesus while continuing in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against their fellow humans. For the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say “No” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (see Titus 2:11-14).

Also, Jesus Christ said that to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Christ we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life in him. For he also said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Luke 9:23-26 and Matthew 7:21-23).

So, when we who were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who were raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness – when we return to living in sin and for self and to following after the ways of the world and not after the ways of God, it grieves the Holy Spirit of God. It is much like when a person’s spouse cheats on him/her with another and has thus committed adultery. It grieves the spouse who has been cheated on, and it hurts!

It is that whole feeling of betrayal. For when Jesus Christ, who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – shed his blood for us on that cross it was to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of living in sin and for self so that we will now honor God with our lives. For he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And he died that we might live for him, and no longer for ourselves, and so we would no longer be slaves to sin but to righteousness.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

And this is why we are given all these instructions in Ephesians 4, and some in Ephesians 5, with regard to the things in our lives that we are to put away from us, and with regard to the things that we are to embrace and to put into practice instead of us still living like we did before. But this isn’t just about grieving the Holy Spirit, for the Scriptures are filled with warnings to professing Christians that if sin is their practice (their habit), and if obedience to the Lord and to his commands are not their practice, they will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what their lips profess.

So, all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander, et al, are to be put away from us. We must say “No” to these things, and in the power of God we must stop doing what is wrong and to start doing what is right, in practice. And we are now to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave us. We are not to be those who deliberately and habitually sin against God and against our fellow humans, for if that is how we live, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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