LIVING BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Part 37).
Ephesians 4. Verses 30-32 read:
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Having considered the very solid partnership Jesus had with the Holy Spirit, we want to turn our attention to some acts the believer must desist from when relating to the Holy Spirit. In today’s text, Apostle Paul admonishes believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit. To grieve the Holy Spirit is to make him unhappy and withdrawn. The Holy Spirit’s symbol of the dove sheds some light on his nature. In its gentility, the dove will gently withdraw from any threats and hostilities. Even so, the Holy Spirit pulls away from every hostile act and environment.
One very important reason why we must not grieve the Holy Spirit is that by him, believers have been sealed unto the day of redemption. Seals normally represent ownership and authenticity. They also point to the fact that the sealed item is untampered. Accordingly, the seal of the Holy Spirit on the believer means that:
- The believer is owned by God. He does not own himself. Rather, he owes all that he is, all that he has, and all he will ever be to God. He is a carrier of God’s mark of ownership.
- A believer is authentic or genuine. God’s seal signifies his approval of the genuineness of a life.
- The believer has an untampered life; one that is solely consecrated to God and set apart from the contaminations of the flesh and the world.
As far as God is concerned, the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. This refers to the day when believers will realize the full benefits of the price Christ paid for their purchase from the grip of sin and death. Unfortunately, ungodly acts on the part of the bearer of the seal are able to make the Holy Spirit withdrawn. Bearers of the seal have a duty of maintaining the seal with a godly life. We must, therefore, be weary of acts that grieve the Spirit as they can curtail the operations of the Spirit.
Apostle Paul innumerates some of the acts that grieve the Holy Spirit as bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking, and malice. Believers are to put away these acts. Rather, they are to engage in the right acts for the maintainance of the seal and presence of the Spirit. Some of these acts include kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness. Let us keep the seal of the Holy Spirit intact by staying off acts that cause him grief.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏