We’re useful when we’re obedient
When taking up a study of the Holy Spirit, our focus is often in one direction: we consider all the ways the Holy Spirit affects our lives. But there is another side of this relationship: how the believer affects the Holy Spirit. This second aspect is just as important to the child of God as the first.
There are two words found in the epistles that define our influence on the Spirit of God: “grieve” and “quench.” Both are placed within a negative context and a strong negative command:
“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Eph. 4:30)
“Quench not the Spirit.” (1 Thes. 5:19)
First, we must understand the meaning of these two words. Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries inform us that grieve in Ephesians 4:30 means “to distress, to cause grief, to be sad, to be in heaviness, to be sorrowful, to make sorry.” And quench, as used in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, means “to extinguish, to stifle, to put out.” The meanings are similar to how the words are used in the English language today. These words form a progression: grieving the Holy Spirit repeatedly will lead to quenching the Holy Spirit. Let’s consider them in that order.
Grieving the Holy Spirit
The context of Ephesians 4:30 provides us with an indication of what causes the Holy Spirit to grieve. Verses 25 to 32 list a variety of sins which sadden the Spirit of God living within us. Anything that is ungodly is distasteful to Him. We learn two important truths from this passage:
1. The third member of the Godhead is a real person who has genuine feelings and emotions. He loves us and grieves over our failures.
2. Our sinful conduct can bring heaviness and sadness to the heart of God the Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit who grieves in the presence of sin. By our sin, we actually negatively affect the very heart of God.
Before the cross, our sin brought the Son of God from the realms of eternal glory to earth as the “man of sorrows…acquainted with grief.” He won the victory by suffering the penalty of sin at Calvary. He has imparted to us the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to have victory over sin. When we yield to sin instead of submitting to the Spirit’s work within us to resist sin, the Holy Spirit becomes the Spirit of sorrow, acquainted with grief.
The Holy Spirit is the seal or security of the saving work of God in each believer. His presence within us marks us out as children of God. This sealing work of the Spirit continues unto the day of redemption. He indwells us until we are eternally removed from the very presence of sin. This was not true of the Old Testament saints. In past dispensations, God’s Spirit came upon men temporarily for a variety of purposes according to God’s will. He was not a permanent resident. In the dispensation of grace, the Holy Spirit cannot leave the human temple of the believer. This then becomes the setting for His grief.
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Tim. 2:19)
The Holy Spirit longs to dwell in a morally clean temple. He is holy. He is God. His work within us is to bring us more and more into the image and likeness of Christ. He has the power to do it. Sin in the life of the believer hinders this process. This is a grief to Him. Under Old Testament conditions, the Holy Spirit could leave a defiled human temple. However, within the New Testament believer, He is permanently assigned to stay within us, no matter how distasteful the human temple may become to Him. No wonder He can be grieved, consigned to live in a dirty house. And there He remains sadden, heavy with sorrow, grieving until sin is confessed and the energy of His power is appropriated for future victory over sin. The process of being conformed to the image of Christ can then be resumed.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
Quenching the Spirit
When a believer consistently disregards sin in his life and fails to yield to the Holy Spirit’s power within, the grieving leads to a quenching. As you may have sensed, this is a far more serious matter for the child of God. As already identified, the word quench means to extinguish or put out. We have already established by Scriptures that the Holy Spirit will not be put out of the life of the believer. Take note of a few more passages that confirm this truth.
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Rom. 8:9-10)
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:13-14)
The convicting, prompting, and admonishing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer can be resisted, hindered, stifled, and even quenched. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the word quench is used in relation to fire. It is the process of snuffing out the flame. The illuminating light of a candle is quenched as the wick is pinched. The candle is still there, but it has ceased to give any illumination. Quenching the work of the Holy Spirit would deprive us of His ministry.
Notice the strong negative not coupled with the word quench. It is in the present continuous tense. The phrase could be more accurately translated, “stop continually stifling the Spirit” or “desist from attempting to extinguish the fire.” Whether the Holy Spirit’s power and voice could be completely extinguished or silenced is uncertain. Scripture seems to leave open the possibility. It commands the believer to stop the process before the Holy Spirit’s work in our life is extinguished or rendered nonfunctional. If and when that could occur is known only to God.
A positive reversal of this process is called for in 2 Timothy 1:6. Paul challenges Timothy to “stir up” or “rekindle” the gift of God within him. It literally means “fan the embers to a flame.” Instead of allowing sin to stifle the working of the Holy Spirit within us, we should be making every spark of spiritual activity and zeal into a flaming fire for the Lord. We can only do this by yielding to the voice and power of the Holy Spirit who enables us to resist temptation and flee from the sin which so easily sets us back.
“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:1)