Thursday, May 19, 2011

Don't Grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30)

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(Ephesians 4:30, NASB)

Yesterday, we looked at how we should avoid “unwholesome” words. When we don’t, we “grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”

What does it mean to “grieve the Holy Spirit”? To grieve is to “cause to suffer.” Can you imagine it? Causing the Holy Spirit—part of the triune God—to suffer? As Paul often wrote, may it never be!

And what is the result of our grieving the Spirit? I researched this concept, and the Adam Clarke Commentary says, when we “give to sin,” we grieve the Spirit so He “shall withdraw both [His] light and presence …” And the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary exhorts, “Provoke not the holy, blessed Spirit of God to withdraw his presence and his gracious influences.”

Oh my … The Holy Spirit withdraws His very presence? This puts my using “unwholesome” words—or sinning at all—in a new perspective. I need the Spirit's presence. I need His affirmation and conviction daily. And to think that my sin might cause Him to withdraw His presence and influence?

That causes me to grieve.

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