30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice.
The Greek word translated as “grieve” in Ephesians 4:30 means “to cause to feel sorrow, pain, sorrow, unhappiness, or distress.” Paul tells us as believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person, and as the third Person of the Trinity, He has a personality and the ability to feel emotions. He can feel joy (Luke 10:21), He can be insulted (Heb 10:29 29 How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Refusing to do the will of God in our life, after knowing the truth, is offensive to the Spirit of God. Paul’s command not to grieve the Spirit mirrors the Old Testament verses that speak of God’s Spirit being “distressed,” “grieved” Isaiah 63:9–10 9 In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.10 But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. See the incident at Miribah in Numbers 20, also Psalm 106:32-33, Psalm 81:7.
The Holy Spirit of God lives within us as Christians. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says 16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; 17 the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. We are encouraged to protect and treasure this salvation, this eternal life which has been given to us by guarding our heart against all kinds of evil. 2 Timothy 1:13-14 13 Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Protect, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. We are His temple 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. So, God holds us accountable for how we treat our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and when we don’t walk in the holiness and love of Christ and in harmony with fellow believers, we grieve the Spirit of God with our sinful thoughts and behaviors.
When we do not allow God’s Spirit to be seen in our behavior, when we do what we know is wrong, we suppress or quench the Spirit. We do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself as He wants to, with “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). Instead, we decide to operate in our flesh, committing the deeds of the flesh, which are (Gal5:19-21 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Both quenching the Spirit and grieving the Spirit hinder a godly lifestyle. Both happen when we sin against God and follow our own worldly desires, living as we did before accepting Christ’s salvation.
“by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Remember that it’s the Holy Spirit that seals us in God until the day that we are finely redeemed. The verb “sphragizó” primarily means to seal or to set a seal upon something. In the biblical context, it conveys the idea of authentication, ownership, security, and approval. In ancient times, seals were used to signify authority, authenticity, and ownership. So our redemption begins when we as believers are set free from sin and its obligation to judgement, and at that point, God marks us as “HIS”, and the idea is that the quality of our inmost being, our soul that He has purchased is not going to deteriorate before He can pick up His merchandise, so to speak. We are sealed, and we are to keep ourselves as a Bride for her husband until Christ comes for His Church, setting us free from the presence of sin.
Verse 4:31. “Let every kind of bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and abusive speech together with every kind of malice be put away from you.
But what makes the Holy Spirit sad or sorrowful?
[Let] every kind of bitterness.–The definition of bitterness is “an embittered and resentful spirit that refuses to be reconciled”–“bitterness, resentment.” Remember that a root of bitterness which we allow to grow in our lives, can, and will be used by the enemy to spread like cancer among those we are around, often other believers, until many are defiled, and walk in their flesh instead of their Spirit too.
and anger and wrath.” These two words are discussed together because they are synonyms θυμός Thumos in classical times had the idea of the spirit or passion of a person. Getting hot under the collar is a modern vernacular. The term ὀργή orge was already discussed in Eph 2:3. It is used of both human and divine anger. Thumos was more passionate and temporary anger that boils up, whereas orge was more settled and abiding, a state of anger.
and shouting and abusive speech
The fourth noun κραυγή has the idea of “crying, screaming, shouting,” Unwholesome words impede our spiritual growth, and impede the growth of those Brothers and Sisters around us as our witness is hurt, and as they think that if it’s o.k. for us to speak this way, it’s o.k. for them too! So, no wonder the Holy Spirit is grieved. When the Holy Spirit says “don’t say it!” then don’t say it! The word used in Ephesians speaks of something that has gone “rotten.” This includes obscene language, profanity, dirty stories, vulgarity, double entendres, etc. It refers to shouting or clamor, probably between members of the body of believers.
βλασφημία blasphemia is used of profane or abusive speech, abusive words against God, speaking against God . Fits of rage and uncontrolled anger make the Holy Spirit sad and sorrowful. “Rage” speaks of the person who is easily angered and who raises his voice—shouting and screaming. “Slander” is speaking evil of others behind their backs. “Malicious behavior” speaks of ill will and plotting evil against someone.
The Spirit, then, is a light to us in three ways: by exposing our guilt, by illuminating the word of God, and by showing us Christ. Or to put it another way, as Divine Light, the Holy Spirit works to reveal sin, reveal the truth, and reveal glory. When we close our eyes to this light or disparage what we are meant to see by this brightness, we are guilty of resisting the Spirit (Acts 7:51), or quenching (1 Thess. 5:19) or grieving the Spirit (Eph. 4:30).
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we use him to excuse our sinfulness. The Spirit is meant to be the source of conviction in human hearts. How sad it is, therefore, when Christians try to use the Spirit to support ungodly behavior. We see it when people—whether genuinely deceived or purposeful charlatans—claim the leading of the Spirit as the reason for their unbiblical divorce, or for their financial impropriety. The Holy Spirit is always the Spirit of holiness. He means to show us our sin not to excuse it.
Second, we grieve the Holy Spirit when we pit him against the Scriptures. The Spirit works to reveal the truth of the word of God, not to lead us away from it. The way that the Holy Spirit (John 16:13) “will guide you into all the truth” to illuminate the scriptural truth about Jesus.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we suggest he is jealous of our focus on Christ. The Holy Spirit’s work is to serve. He speaks only what he hears (John 16:13). He declares what he is given; his mission is to glorify another (John 16:14). All three persons of the Trinity are fully God, yet in the divine economy the Son makes known the Father and the Spirit glorifies the Son. That is the Holy Spirit’s work. The symbol of the church is the cross and not the dove, that’s because the Spirit would have it that way.
together with every kind of malice be put away from you. –Don’t do what evil people do to one another.