This is a sin which believers commit, to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” We cannot grieve a person unless that person loves us. We can anger one who does not love us, but we cannot grieve such a one. Thus our verse reminds us of “the love of the Spirit.” When a Christian grieves the Holy Spirit, He does not go away, for by Him we “are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Our Lord promised that “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth … for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” But though He never departs from the believer, sin in our lives grieves Him, so that instead of making Christ real to our hearts, as He longs to do, He must instead occupy us with our sin and the resulting broken fellowship, to bring us to confession. Any sin in our lives grieves the Spirit, but notice especially the admonition to “let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. … And grieve not the Holy Spirit. … Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another.” |