Grieve Not the Spirit

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

In the previous devotion, I mentioned that Lewis Sperry Chafer, in his writings, had listed three essential conditions necessary in the believer’s life to experience the filling of the Spirit. These essential conditions are “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess 5:19), “Grieve not the Holy Spirit” (Eph 4:30), and “Walk by the Spirit” (Gal 5:16). In this devotion we will look at the condition to “Grieve not the Spirit.” To understand these requirements, we need to look at them in the context of their writings.

The context of the verse in the Ephesians passage that commands the believer to “not grieve the Holy Spirit,” deals with the issue of sin (Eph 4:25-32). While I will not read the entire passage, the immediate surrounding verses give us the picture.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 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.” (Ephesians 4:29–31, ESV)

I remember growing up in a good home with loving parents. Unfortunately, I was like most kids, far from perfect. I did a lot of things that my parents specifically told me not to do. There were certain behaviors that I knew were wrong. When I violated the house rules, while my parents still loved me, it grieved them. Moreover, there was a price to be paid. It usually involved some sort of corporal punishment. I was never grounded, so to speak. Most often is would be a good spanking and a loss of privileges.

The issue in the Christian walk is that sin in the believer’s life will grieve the Holy Spirit. When there is unconfessed and unrepentant sin in the believer’s life, we will lose the great privilege of experiencing the filling of the Spirit. Now we must remember that every believer has and will never lose the indwelling presence of the Spirit. Yet there is a unique difference between the indwelling presence and the manifest presence of the Spirit in filling the believer. Sin in the believer’s life grieves the Holy Spirit and creates a barrier to the Spirit’s work of filling.

For this reason, the believer must continuously seek to maintain a pure heart towards sin. What is meant by this? There are two things to remember. First, when a believer sins, he or she must confess this to God. John gives this promise to us. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV).

The verb translated “confess,” homologeo, literally means to say the same thing as another. In confession the believer agrees with God that his or her attitudes or actions have missed the mark.

Repentance is different. The verb translated as repent in the New Testament, metanoeo, refers to a change of mind towards something. It has to do with purposing in one’s heart to turn from the former ways of sin to the righteous ways of God.

To keep from grieving the Spirit, every believer must continuously seek to live a life which rejects sin and pursues righteousness.

David characterized this heartfelt attitude in this prayer.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24, ESV)

This should be the attitude of every believer in Jesus. It is a critically important condition if the believer will experience the filling of the Spirit.