A Sobering Call to Holy Living (Ephesians 4:30)

As Christians, we are not only image-bearers of the living God, but His Holy Spirit also indwells us. In this episode, we examine Paul’s sobering exhortation in Ephesians 4:30 to “not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,” exploring what this command actually means for everyday Christian living.

Rather than treating grief of the Spirit as an abstract theological idea, we look at how our attitudes, words, relationships, and daily choices either align with—or resist—the life and character of Jesus Christ living within us. What does it mean to be sealed by the Spirit for the day of redemption, and how should that reality shape the way we live, speak, forgive, and walk in holiness? This teaching invites believers into deeper intimacy, Spirit-empowered obedience, and a Christ-centered life marked not by self-effort, but by surrendered dependence upon the indwelling Spirit of God.

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Key Passage: Ephesians 4:30

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  
– Ephesians 4:30

Put Off / Put On (Review)

• 4:25 – Lying / Truth… for we are members of one another
• 4:26–27 – Anger motivated by self / Anger motivated by love… don’t give place to the devil
• 4:28 – Stealing / Work … that you might have something to give those in need
• 4:29 – Unwholesome language / Edification … may impart grace to the hearers

Do not grieve the Spirit

• Ephesians 4:30– And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
• Isaiah 63:10– But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy; He fought against them.
• Grieve (lypeite / lypeō): grieve, be distressed, vex, irritate, offend, insult; become sad, sorrowful … can have the idea of anger or to be restless … gives the concept of rebuke, worry, grieve, or to hurt someone’s feelings
  • Verb: present, active, imperative, second person, plural
• 2 Samuel 11:27b (NKJV) – But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

Paul’s Reasoning

• Ephesians 4:30– And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  
  • Sealed (esphragisthēte / sphragizō): seal, seal up, marked … BDAG: 1) to provide with a seal as a security measure [secured or fasted by the seal: of a strone, to prevent its being moved]. 2) to close something up tight [seal up]. 3) to mark with a seal as a means of identification, authentication, or ownership [Eph 1:13]. 4) to certify that something is so [attest, certify, acknowledge]. 5) to seal something for delivery
  • Ephesians 1:13–14– In Him, you also, after listening to the word 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, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Day of Redemption

• Peter Thomas O’Brien – “The ‘day of redemption’, which is unique to Ephesians, refers to the final day of salvation and judgment, that is, the goal of history. Elsewhere in Paul it is called ‘the day of the Lord’ (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 1 Cor. 1:8; 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14), or ‘the day of Christ’ (Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16). Believers have already experienced a present redemption which includes the forgiveness of sins (1:7); but one element of that redemption is yet to be realized. On the final day God will ‘redeem’ his own possession, and the guarantee he has given of this is his sealing of them with the Spirit. The mention of a future redemption is consistent with other references to the future in Ephesians (cf. 1:10, 14; 2:7; 5:5, 27; 6:8, 13), and shows that Paul did not envisage salvation as being fully or completely realized. There is a fulfilment yet to come, and believers eagerly await it.” ⁽¹⁾
• The idea of the “now” and “not yet” (of redemption)
  • Ephesians 1:7– In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace …
  • we have redemption but we will be fully redeemed
  • We were saved (2 Timothy 1:9), are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18), and will be saved (Romans 5:9–10)
• The Holy Spirit has set His seal (Himself) upon all believers (Jews and Gentiles) in order to claim them as His own (possession), to stamp upon them His character (conform them to the image of Christ), and to deliver them unto the day of redemption (they are under His protection and care) … and it is this argument that Paul therefore says “do not sin!”

3 Ideas

1. The Holy Spirit is a Person that can be grieved

• William MacDonald – The fact that He can be grieved shows that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not a mere influence. It also means He loves us, because only a person who loves can be grieved. ⁽²⁾
• Constantine R. Campbell – Rather than an impersonal force, the Spirit desires (Gal 5:17), teaches (1 Cor 2:13), leads (Gal 5:17–18), bears witness (Rom 8:16), speaks (1 Tim 4:1), intercedes (Rom 8:27), and dwells among believers (Eph 2:22). ⁽³⁾

2. We are members of one body

• Ephesians 4:1–3– Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
• Mark D. Roberts – … with our words we can hurt not just God’s people but even God’s Spirit. We do so in particular by using unwholesome words that wound others and shatter Christian community. Since the Spirit forms the community of God’s people, and since the unity of God’s people is central to God’s cosmic purposes, anything we do that divides this community distresses the Spirit. On the contrary and by implication, we can please the Spirit when we use our words as part of making “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” (4:3). ⁽⁴⁾

3. Anything that is not holy grieves the HOLY Spirit

• Philippians 3:20– For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, …
• 1 Thessalonians 4:7–8(NLT) – God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
• Ephesians 1:1 – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus …

The Ten Commandments (a reflection of who God is)

• We are image bearers … and because we have His Spirit, we can exhibit His life and character to the world around us
  • when I live counter/opposite of the life of Christ dwelling within me, I am declaring something He is not
• Ezekiel 36:23– “I will prove the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh,” declares Lord Yahweh, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.”
• Ezekiel 36:23b(NLT) – And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes … then the nations will know that I am the LORD.
• Frank Thielman – Just as in the context of Isa. 63:10, then, Paul’s readers are God’s redeemed people, who can make the Holy Spirit sad by engaging in conduct inconsistent with their status as God’s people. ⁽⁵⁾
• Tony Merida – The Spirit can be lied to, offended, dishonored, and disobeyed. Anything inconsistent with the Spirit’s nature grieves Him. … Ask this question: “Will what I’m about to say or do please the Spirit or grieve the Spirit?” ⁽⁶⁾
• Charles Spurgeon – “He is grieved with us mainly for our own sakes, for He knows what misery sin will cost us; He reads our sorrows in our sins … He grieves over us because He sees how much chastisement we incur, and how much communion we lose.” ⁽⁷⁾
• Galatians 2:20– I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
• Philippians 1:20–21 – … according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

FOOTNOTES

(1) Peter Thomas O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 349.
(2) William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1940.
(3) Constantine R. Campbell, The Letter to the Ephesians, ed. D. A. Carson, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2023), 213.
(4) Mark D. Roberts, Ephesians, ed. Scot McKnight, The Story of God Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 155–156.
(5) Frank Thielman, Ephesians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010), 318.
(6) Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 114.
(7) C. H. Spurgeon, “Grieve Not the Holy Spirit,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 13 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1867), 122.

Photo Credit: Bryan Switalski

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In Our Next Study Together …

I invite you to join me on this journey from the book of Ephesians to discover God’s eternal purpose, His plan for your life, and learn how to practically live out an abundant and fruitful Christian life. 

• The focus of our next study: Ephesians 4:31–32
  • We are going to dive into the concept of living in light of the Spirit.
  • I encourage you to read through Ephesians a couple of times this week and focus specifically on Ephesians 4.