Ephesian 4:30: Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit

If I were to ask you ‘why shouldn’t the Christian sin?’, ‘what makes a sin wrong?’ we would likely hear a number of different arguments. Today many feel that a certain action is inappropriate because it is not culturally acceptable, it is a taboo, it is not a societal norm and this is what makes an action wrong. This betrays a more post-modern way of thinking where we are trying to live with the premise that everyone has their own truth and that our morality is a societal construct. You will also hear the more pragmatic view that says we should do those things that work for personal and societal benefit and not do those things that cause harm. Here you can see that the rationale behind the morality is the supremacy of human comfort. In contrast to this is the view the says that freedom is the basis of morality, as long as I choose to do what I want, it does not matter whether it hurts me or not, the point is I chose it. And as long as I don’t stop your choices then all is good. Then there is the Christian ethic, now you might think off hand that this is an ethic that is based on a set of rules, the law of God, and in part this is true for God’s law reflects Him, but Paul gets to the very heart of why a thing is a sin and the ultimate compass for Christian behaviour, Eph. 4:30, ‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.’ The rationale behind all Christian ethics is God. In this verse Paul is seeking to motivate the Ephesians to put off those ways that belong to their old...

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