Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, by whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30

What does it mean to not grieve the Holy Spirit of God? The Holy Spirit of God is the third person of the Trinity. He is a person who points to Christ and is known as the Comforter [see John 14:26 and 15:26]. The Holy Spirit of God will guide us into all truth and will not glorify himself. He will glorify Christ [see John 16:14]. The Holy Spirit of God is not egotistical, for he will always testify of Christ. As a comforter He is a helper that has come alongside a person to help us in our Christian walk. We are sealed by the Spirit of God unto the day of redemption. This means that we have been delivered by a price that was paid by the blood of Christ. We are no longer a slave sold under sin but have been set free from the power of sin by the blood of Christ. We have been bought and purchased by the blood of Christ. 

The Holy Spirit is himself the seal, which is the finished transaction of ownership. A Christian is a believer of Christ birth, death, and resurrection for the remission of sins. A Christian belongs to God because of the death and resurrection of Christ. A Christian is delivered from being sold under sin through the fall of man. Therefore, a Christian should not be under Satan’s rule of sin, or falsehood. A Christian should be under the rule of God’s love and forgiveness. The apostle Paul is telling us in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30 that we should not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by speaking evil or having malice within our heart. In verse 31 of Ephesians chapter 4, Paul tells us to put away all bitterness, wrath, anger, and evil speaking. We are to get rid of every form of malice and be kind and forgiving. As a Christian we are not to be deceived by vain words that have no value such as dirty jokes.

Acting contrary to the love of God grieves the Holy Spirit of God, who has sealed us unto the day of redemption; therefore, we should be careful how we act and ask God to take these desires from us and lay it down at the foot of the cross. Ask God to help you to walk in love as children of light and not darkness. We must recognize that no unclean person or covetous man will have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ [see Ephesians 5:5]. The apostle Paul is warning Christians about their behavior and walk as a child of God. That is why it is so important to having our mind renewed by the word of God which is the Bible. The Bible is the word of God that reveals what God’s will is. The Spirit of God helps us to understand God’s will and helps us to be formed into the image of Christ. Christ in us is the hope of glory every day.

We must remember that when we are contrary to the love of God in our action, there is a struggle of the flesh taking place against the Spirit and vice versa [see Galatians 5:17]. That is why Paul tells us in Galatians 5:24 that those “that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Crucifying the flesh means to lay it down at the feet of Jesus and ask him to change those desire. It is to surrender your will to the will of God and ask him to cleanse your desire to become the desire of Christ. This is when the Holy Spirit comes in as our helper and comforter to assure us that we are the child of God and that through grace we can come to the Father and ask for help. Like David in Psalms 139 we ask God to search our heart and mind to see if there is any wicked way in us so we can be led into the everlasting life and not death. Thank God that we are not alone and that we have a comforter that comes and helps us to walk the way of Christ and to live in the love of God.