WHO YOU ARE CHILD OF GOD… LOOKING AT EPHESIANS 4
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”-Ephesians 4:30.
Is it really possible to grieve the heart of an all-knowing, all-powerful God? Paul says it is. He gives us the command to not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is God and we can actually grieve Him. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity…and as such He can be grieved. What is it that grieves Him? It is the offenses that have been listed. When a Christian lies…it grieves the Holy Spirit. When a Christian has dirty thoughts…it grieves the Holy Spirit. What happens when any person is grieved? It harms, or breaks the fellowship that once was there. The Holy Spirit cannot work in our lives when we have grieved Him…when our fellowship with Him is broken. Not because He is made impotent…but because when our fellowship with Him is broken, we place ourselves in a position that is unavailable to the Spirit of God.
Paul goes on to tell us in this verse that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. This means that though we can grieve the Holy Spirit…we cannot grieve Him away! Why? Because we are sealed by Him…and there is no one big enough or bad enough to break that seal. At the moment you responded to the call of the Holy Spirit and trusted in Jesus as your Savior, you were sealed. How long does that seal last? “Until the day of redemption”…He seals you until the day He will present you to the Lord Jesus Christ. Once you with Jesus…you no longer need to be sealed…for the purpose for which you were sealed will be accomplished. Even the true believer cannot unseal what the Holy Spirit has sealed…though we may grieve Him. The great difference in the lives of believers today is that some live with a grieved Spirit and some live with an ungrieved Spirit.