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What are some signs of grieving the Holy Spirit?

by | Dec 1, 2022 | Doctrine and Theology, Christian Theology

The Bible tells us that we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (see also Isaiah 63:10)grieve the Holy Spirit So, what does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit, and what are some of the signs that we have done this?

The word “grieve” in Greek is λυπέω lupéō. It occurs 26 times in the New Testament. In the NASB 95, it is translated as grieve/grieving (Matt. 17:23; Mark 10:22; John 16:20, etc.), sorrow/sorrowful (2 Cor. 2:2, 4; 6:10; 7;11, etc.), distressed (1 Pet. 1:6, etc.), and hurt (Rom. 14:15). So, it means to afflict people with sorrow and cause them to become sad and distressed.

Lupeo:  “The KJV translates Strong’s G3076 in the following manner: be sorrowful (6x), grieve (6x), make sorry (6x), be sorry (3x), sorrow (3x), cause grief (1x), be in heaviness (1x).” (https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3076/kjv/tr/0-1)

So, to grieve the Holy Spirit means to cause Him sorrow, grief, and heaviness.  This is because He is the third person of the Trinity who speaks (Acts 8:29; 13:2), has a mind (Rom. 8:27), loves (Rom. 15:30), guides us in truth (John 16:13), intercedes (Rom. 8:26), strengthens us (Eph. 3:16; Acts 1:8), and much more.

Since the Holy Spirit lives in us Christians (Rom. 8:9-14; Gal. 4:6), and convicts us of our sins (John 16:8), then we grieve Him by sinning. It is as simple as that. But Scripture also gives us more specifics about how we can do wrong in relation to the Holy Spirit. For example…

  • People can speak against the Holy Spirit. Matt. 12:32, “And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”
  • People can lie to the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:3, “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land?”
  • People can test the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:9, “Then Peter said to her, ‘Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?'”
  • People can resist the Holy Spirit. Acts 7:51, “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit.”

All of these actions would grieve the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we grieve Him by resisting, speaking against, testing, and lying to the Holy Spirit.

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