Ephesians 4:30

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin)" Ephesians 4:30

I don't know how we can come out of this study without a renewed or heightened desire to seek what it means to walk in the Holy Spirit... to be sensitive to His leading... to recognize Him over our self, our flesh... and as Paul says here, "not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him]". He was sent to us upon salvation to help us... a part of God... His Spirit... Our Creator... inside us, yet we (too many of us) hardly know Him. That is what grieves The Holy Spirit.

The Amplified adds that, "do not offend or vex or sadden Him"... that is what happens when He stirs us to hand over all that's in our hand and instead we count out exactly the price agreed. We sadden Him when He says don't have the surgery or do have the surgery and we do what our friend says instead. We must search ourselves to know the difference between His voice and our fickle minds. It does take some time to learn or discern The Holy Spirits leading... sometimes it takes a leap of faith, but it's part of "trusting".

Fortunately, for us, Paul follows with a very profound reality, for he says... "by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured)... the very same Holy Spirit that we grieve, He says we were sealed by! Now Friends, just as we learned in our study of Colossians, here is another of many verses where God assures us of salvation. The Amplified rightly adds "marked, branded, and secured, based on (not only) the interpretation of this verse, but also John 10:28-29, I John 2:19, Phil 1:6, just for starters.

But, to finish what Paul says... we are, "sealed for the day of redemption, and that day of redemption can only mean, the final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin, which is eternal death. So, again... why do we grieve the Holy Spirit whom has sealed us from that day? Earlier Paul reminded us in this same context that the same Christ that ascended is He whom descended. The suggestion is to the authority and divine power Christ has in the works of The Holy Spirit in our daily life, "if and when" we do not grieve Him! We must connect and stay connected to The Holy Spirit through prayer... through study... through mediating on His presence. We must become more sensitive to His leading and direction in our lives. Oh, I hope we can grasp the truth in this verse today!

Let's pick up with Ephesians verse 4:31 next time.

I love you.