Ephesians 4:30

Day 41

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

Ethical Wisdom for Believers
This particular verse diverges a bit from the pattern of Ephesians 4 and 5.  Paul followed the pattern: identifying a destructive behavior that believers should “lay aside,” providing a positive alternative to “put on,” and then giving the rationale behind the commanded change.  Here is a list that shows how the pattern flows throughout much of this section.

Ephesians 4:25
Lay aside: Lying
Put on: Instead speak truth
Reason: We are members of one another

Ephesians 4:26-27
Lay aside: Unrighteous anger
Put on: Be quick to resolve your anger
Reason: The devil uses our unrighteous and unresolved anger to his advantage against us

Ephesians 4:28
Lay aside: Stealing
Put on: Hard work
Reason: We will have resources to share with those in need

Ephesians 4:29
Lay aside: Unwholesome words
Put on: Edifying words
Reason: Grace to those who hear

Ephesians 4:31-5:2
Lay aside: Bitterness, wrath, anger and clamor and slander and malice
Put on: kindness and forgiveness
Reason: Be just like God in the way He has forgiven us in Christ and imitate God by walking in love just as Christ walked in love.

Ephesians 5:3-5
Lay aside: Immorality, greed, impurity
Put on: Thanksgiving
Reason: Believers should not imitate the behavior of those who will ultimately face the wrath of God because of their sinful rebellion against Him

Ephesians 5:15-16
Lay aside: Unwise living
Put on: Wisdom and the purposeful use of time
Reason: The days are evil

Ephesians 5:18-20
Lay aside: Wasting your life by getting drunk
Put on: Being filled with the Spirit
Reason: We can offer praise and thanksgiving can be offered to God in the name of Christ

Despite this repeated pattern, a few passages in Ephesians 4 and 5 diverge from the standard. Consider the verse for today.  “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30) We see the first part of the literary pattern.  We are to “put aside” grieving the Holy Spirit.  The reason follows that we “were sealed for the day of redemption” by the Holy Spirit.  Missing from this command is the second part of the three-part literary pattern as seen in other verses.  Paul commanded the church to cease grieving the Spirit.  Paul then provided the reasoning behind the command, because the Holy Spirit is the One “by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  Missing from the pattern, Paul does not give the church the usual alternative behavior to “put on.”  Likely Paul viewed the alternative choice to “grieving the Holy Spirit” involved simply walking joyfully in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Enjoying the presence of the Spirit of God occurs regardless of the efforts of the believer.  The Holy Spirit indwells every believer.  By no effort of our own, the presence of the Holy Spirit remains with us.  If the Spirit of God truly dwells in our lives, there is nothing that we can ever do that would separate us from the Holy Spirit.  Jesus described the coming Holy Spirit and His abiding presence to the disciples this way.  I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that 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 abides with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17) The Holy Spirit abides with us and in us, forever.  We can grieve the Spirit, but the Spirit will never abandon a believer.  It may be that Paul didn’t add the second aspect to “put on” in this command because the work of the Holy Spirit does not depend on us.  Simply stop “grieving the Holy Spirit.”  The Spirit will do His abiding work in us forever without our help. 

The understanding of the nature of God and expression of divine sorrow creates a theological challenge.  How does an omnipotent and omniscient God grieve what He eternally knows?  Our limited human experience makes this a very difficult concept.  Grief comes into our life when our circumstances change for the worse.  Life was going just fine until suddenly life is not fine. We receive a phone call with news that greatly alters our world in painful ways.  We grieve because of an unpleasant change.  How then can God, who is fully present and with full knowledge of everything, experience grief?  The answer may be found in the eternality of all of God’s attributes. God is eternally a God of grace, mercy, love, compassion, justice, power, knowledge, presence, patience, holiness, and majesty.  These attributes, along with a host of others, never leave His character nor have a beginning or end.  God’s attributes include joy and anger.  If joy eternally belongs in the panoply of the attributes of God, then so does grief.  As such, God is a God possessing eternal grief.  He eternally grieves just as He eternally loves, has mercy, has joy, and is just.  God eternally and consistently grieves certain actions by us.  God’s eternality, specifically seen in His omniscience and omnipresence, means that God is everywhere and everywhen fully present.  God is fully present at the sin of Adam and Eve, at the cross of Christ, and in our day.  God is eternally joyful over a sinner who repents and believes in Jesus.  He is fully present, has been fully present, and will be fully present, at that specific moment of belief.  God does not go into an experience and then come out of that experience. Therefore, God’s joy eternally resides with Him over the repentant sinner.  His joy doesn’t come and go.  God’s joy doesn’t grow and diminish.  Therefore, the same is true of grief.  God is a God of sorrow.  Ultimately God satisfied His eternal sorrow for human sin in His eternal justice at the cross of Christ.  There, at the cross, the grief of God met the mercy of God, forever to be satisfied.  It transcends time and space.  Therefore, we in our human capacity of finite presence and power, struggle to comprehend the emotional aspect of God’s divine nature.  However, our grief is real because His eternal grief is real. We are made in His imagine so we share in His attributes, in a limited way. 

Enter now the discussion of the grief of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit grieves over certain choices we make.  This statement strikes at the core of the surrounding verses.  Lying to one another grieves the Spirit of God.  Unwholesome words grieve the Holy Spirit.  Ungodly anger grieves the Holy Spirit.  Lack of forgiveness grieves the Spirit. Immorality and greed grieve the Holy Spirit. While Paul listed several specific ethical issues, the overarching impact of our failures in these areas falls on the very heart of God.  The indwelling presence of God bears with a heavy heart when we dishonor Him.  That is a weighty thought.  Sin we hold in private, assuming the impact can be mitigated through our secrecy, ultimately breaks the very heart of God.   Sin is not the breaking of an impersonal list of dos and don’ts. Sin violates the very character and person of God.

Paul gives us his reasoning for why grieving the Holy Spirit is such a serious divergence from our theological and spiritual condition as believers in Christ. “You were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30) draws us back to the theological section of Ephesians chapter 1.  “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Suggested Prayer:  Spirit of the Living God, have Your desired will in my life.  Use me for Your glory.  Empower me to do what is right and good.  Through Your abiding presence, bring about my transformation that I may live like Christ in my attitudes, words, and service of others.  Amen.

Ephesians