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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
When the word "quench" is used in Scripture, it is speaking of suppressing fire. When believers put on the shield of faith, as part of their armor of God (Ephesians 6:16), they are extinguishing th...
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John Kennedy
The part of this question that mentions grieving the Spirit refers to a phrase. We get the answer (to this part of the question) by looking at this phrase in its context – all of v. 30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Eph. 4:30 NKJV) This latter phrase does NOT go without saying, and yet it is hardly ever quoted along with the first phrase. And that's precisely what grieves the Spirit: a lack of appreciation for His sealing us. Our being sealed is what the Holy Spirit considers to be most important in our lives, but do we? Or do we take it for granted, without really appreciating it? “Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted. (Eph. 4:30 MSG) Whereas the Holy Spirit wants to talk about the Truth that we have been made holy in the Father's presence, all because of Jesus' blood, too many saints continue to want to talk about their sins. What the Spirit has to say about it means nothing to them; they prefer to teach doctrines about how to be cleansed of sins. It should be just the opposite, Paul wrote: “From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God.” (Rom. 6:6 MSG) Pride causes us to want to maintain control of our lives, even once we're born-again. Without putting sufficient emphasis on the Holy Spirit's work, we become prone to deciding how and when our sins should be forgiven – according to our legalistic doctrines of confession and absolution. Grieved by this, the Spirit calls out to us: “Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?” (Gal. 5:16 MSG) We need to humbly contemplate (I Tim. 2:2, James 1:21) the Truth of our being sealed and made fit for God, without insisting on having a say in it (Rom 4:6).
Sean Baker
Based on Eph. 4:29-32, (by which only a small token of the entire book of Ephesians needs to be studied) if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then Christ lives inside you. If Christ lives inside you, would you then want to "grieve" Him by sinning against him "willfully"? (In other words, whilst we are becoming more and more like Him daily (we are not perfect and we are learning still how "not" to sin), would you "want" to sin, especially "willfully" or "on-purpose"?)
Tom Zerbel
One other way that we can grieve God's Spirit is by using doubt-filled words & words that are profane and/or are hurting the hearts of the people we are speaking with, by not helping them to get the TRUTH of the Gospel with our example of a living manifestation of God's love, for GOD is LOVE! Praise JESUS!
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