We Can Grieve the Holy Spirit

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye 
are sealed unto the day of redemption,” Ephesians 4:30.

In the counseling world there are different types of counseling. My favorite is direct, not beating around the bush, state the problem and the way to resolve the problem. Paul seemed to like the direct counseling approach as he counseled the Ephesus believers.
When a person becomes a believer in Christ, his soul is sealed by the Holy Spirit until he is redeemed fully in Heaven. After sealing, the soul never sins, but the carnal mind and body is a different matter.

Now and again our minds may have amnesia about our salvation and might try to fall back into old pre-salvation habits or sins. We are supposed to be new creatures in Christ. We have a sanctified soul, but it lives in a sinful body. Therefore, we must grow in Christ and learn a new way of talking, walking and living. We must allow the Holy Spirit to help us suppress the old, sinful self. Easy to say, hard to do—even after being a Christian for years, there will always be temptations to slide backwards. The problem with many Christians is they never slid forward. They never really gave up their old lives. As a result, they do not grow into mature, full-grown believers, but remain immature, anemic, spiritual babes.

One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to help us understand the truths of the Bible. But, if we never read or study the Bible, the Spirit cannot fulfill His burning desire to grow the believers. This lack of interest in God’s Word and the lack of desire to grow as believers grieves the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTION: Put off the old man, renew your mind to 
spiritual truths, remember that Jesus paid the debt 
for your sins, and do not fall back into your old ways.

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