Grieving The Holy Spirit
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--" (Jn. 14:16).
The Greek word for "another" in this verse is the word allos. "It means one of the very same kind; same character; same everything; or a duplicate." (Renner, Sparkling Gems, p.195)
"Just as Jesus is the exact image of the Father in every way, now Jesus unmistakably tells the disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will exactly represent Jesus in every word. That's why the word allos is used to make this point. It leaves no room for doubt that the Holy Spirit will be exactly like Jesus." (Renner, p.196)
"Jesus did only what the Heavenly Father would do, and now the Holy Spirit will do only what Jesus would do. As Jesus' Representative on earth, the Holy Spirit never acts on His own or out of character with the life of Jesus Christ." (Renner, p.196)
"You see, the Spirit of God was sent to bring us the life of Jesus. Just as Jesus told Philip, 'If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father,' now He is telling us, 'If you have the Holy Spirit, it will be just as if you have Me."
"I've often heard Christians ask, 'I wonder what it must have been like to walk with Jesus. Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk with Him and to hear His voice and talk to Him?' But believers who ask these kinds of questions don't understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If they did, they'd know that having the Holy Spirit with them is just like having Jesus right at their side!" (Renner, p.195)
"You and I must stop looking backward and grieving over what we missed by not living two thousand years ago. Instead, we must learn to let the Holy Spirit lead and guide us, just as He did in the Early Church. Jesus' physical absence didn't stop the early believers from performing miracles, raising the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick, or bringing multitudes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Because the Holy Spirit was with them, the ministry of Jesus continued uninterrupted in their midst." (Renner, p.196)
This relationship with the Holy Spirit should not be taken for granted nor abused. His love for us has been depicted as passionate as a husband should be for his wife and as disciplinary as a good parent in times that warrant it. This is why Paul firmly instructs the believers in Ephesus and down through the years -
"Just as Jesus is the exact image of the Father in every way, now Jesus unmistakably tells the disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will exactly represent Jesus in every word. That's why the word allos is used to make this point. It leaves no room for doubt that the Holy Spirit will be exactly like Jesus." (Renner, p.196)
"Jesus did only what the Heavenly Father would do, and now the Holy Spirit will do only what Jesus would do. As Jesus' Representative on earth, the Holy Spirit never acts on His own or out of character with the life of Jesus Christ." (Renner, p.196)
"You see, the Spirit of God was sent to bring us the life of Jesus. Just as Jesus told Philip, 'If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father,' now He is telling us, 'If you have the Holy Spirit, it will be just as if you have Me."
"I've often heard Christians ask, 'I wonder what it must have been like to walk with Jesus. Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk with Him and to hear His voice and talk to Him?' But believers who ask these kinds of questions don't understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If they did, they'd know that having the Holy Spirit with them is just like having Jesus right at their side!" (Renner, p.195)
"You and I must stop looking backward and grieving over what we missed by not living two thousand years ago. Instead, we must learn to let the Holy Spirit lead and guide us, just as He did in the Early Church. Jesus' physical absence didn't stop the early believers from performing miracles, raising the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick, or bringing multitudes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Because the Holy Spirit was with them, the ministry of Jesus continued uninterrupted in their midst." (Renner, p.196)
This relationship with the Holy Spirit should not be taken for granted nor abused. His love for us has been depicted as passionate as a husband should be for his wife and as disciplinary as a good parent in times that warrant it. This is why Paul firmly instructs the believers in Ephesus and down through the years -
What does it mean to grieve someone? To grieve someone over something means to go against a set standard, law or teaching for personal gain, knowing that the action is wrong and will hurt the other person.
The original Greek word for "grieve" is Lupete whose root word Lupe means pain or grief within an intimate/close relationship of two.
Another way a scholar has said Ephesians 4:30 is - "Stop deeply wounding and causing such extreme emotional pain to the Spirit of God, by whom you have been sealed until the day of your redemption." (p.10, Sparkling Gems From The Greek, Renner)
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"
Crucial to living in harmony with the Holy Spirit and not grieving the Holy Spirit as Ephesians 4:30 speaks about are at least two strategies to implement -
- View yourself as a "mobile-temple" of God.
- At least try to do what is good, pleasing and is God's perfect will.
Temple life, therefore, should be lived daily as to make your physical person and personality attractive while making your faith desirable. You might be an attractive bee, so-to-speak, but the honey others are drawn by is the sweetness of your strong faith in God.
The second point, to try, is important also. Some believers after accepting Christ as Savior, do not even try to find out what is good, pleasing and God's perfect will - then follow it and/or stay in it.
Paul instructs the believers in Rome and down through the ages on this line of thought in Romans 12:2 by saying,
- Do not conform to the world
- Transform (to God's thoughts, actions and words)
- By...Renewing (Remodeling, through God's help) of your mind or thought-life.
Within the parent/child relationship analogy, the child grieves the parent, the parent reveals the hurt and wrong to the child, there is discipline administered and the parent may remove him/herself from the area and situation for a while.
Likewise, when we grieve the Holy Spirit, God reveals how we have hurt Him, disciplines us and may remove His favor from our lives for a while. We are still His Son or Daughter. He is just grieved until restored through sincere confession, apology and asking for help in that area.
"Why don't you start opening your heart to the work of the Spirit today? Remember, if you have the Holy Spirit working alongside you, it's just like having Jesus right there at your side!" (Renner, p.196)
This is what it means to not be living in harmony with the Holy Spirit. Therefore I challenge all of my brothers and sisters in Christ to avoid Grieving The Holy Spirit.
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