“God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness,” and if we measure up to our calling as saints, all uncleanness must go. The infilling of the Holy Spirit demands the cleansing of one’s life. Two commands given to Christians regarding their relationship with the Holy Spirit reveal this fact very strikingly.

Ephesians 4:30

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Grieve is a love word. You cannot grieve one who does not love you. You can hurt him or anger him, but you cannot grieve him. To grieve the Holy Spirit means causing pain to Someone who loves us. What, then, in us causes this divine One grief?

He is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17), so anything false, deceitful, hypocritical, grieves Him.

He is the Spirit of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13), so doubt, unbelief, distrust, worry, anxiety, grieves Him.

He is the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29), so that which is hard, bitter, ungracious, unthankful, malicious, unforgiving, or unloving grieves Him.

He is the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4), so anything unclean, defiling, or degrading grieves Him.

He is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17), so ignorance, conceit, arrogance, and folly grieve Him.

He is the Spirit of power, love, and discipline (2 Timothy 1:7), so that which is barren, fruitless, disorderly, confused, and uncontrolled grieves Him.

He is the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2), so anything that savors of indifference, lukewarmness, spiritual dullness, and deadness grieves Him.

He is the Spirit of glory (1 Peter 4:14), so anything worldly, earthly, or fleshly grieves Him.

He dwells within us to enable us “to grow up into Him in all things” (Ephesians 4:15); to bring us daily into conformity to Christ’s image (2 Corinthians 3:18); until we have reached “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13); so, anything in us which hinders Him in carrying out this purpose grieves Him. Knowingly, willfully, to permit anything which is contrary to what the Holy Spirit Himself is to remain in your life, now His domain, must mean that you love sin more than you love Him. Such unfaithfulness grieves Him. Refusing obedience to God’s revealed will constitutes a rejection of Him in favor of His enemy.

Spirituality depends upon a harmonious and happy relationship with our divine Helper and Advocate. Sin, then, which impairs such a relationship, must inevitably hinder any true spirituality. As long as we are indulging known sin, we are living in the same abode with a grieved Spirit who is thereby hindered from manifesting Himself fully in and through us. It is clear, then, that if one is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, all conscious, willful sin must be put away. “God does not require golden vessels, neither does He seek for silver ones, but He must have clean ones.” To be filled, one must be cleansed.

1 Thessalonians 5:19

“Quench not the Spirit.”

We “grieve” the Spirit when we say yes to Satan when he lures us into sin. We “quench” the Spirit when we say no to God when He woos us into sanctification and service. To bring the believer to will to let God’s will have absolute sway over the entire being is part of the Spirit’s work; perhaps it is His hardest task. Self-will is a latent thing in every one of us, which is prone to manifest itself in secret if not in open rebellion against God.

The only cure for self-will is a deliberate, determined choice to do God’s will in all things, at all times, at all costs. It is to have one’s heart firmly fixed upon the doing of God’s will as the rule for daily life and to permit no exception to this rule. “So, a yieldedness to the will of God is not demonstrated by some one particular issue; it is rather a matter of having taken the will of God as the rule of one’s life. To be in the will of God is simply to be willing to do His will without reference to any particular thing He may choose. It is electing His will to be final, even before we know what He may wish us to do. It is, therefore, not a question of being willing to do one thing; it is a question of being willing to do anything, when, where, and how it may seem best in His heart of love” (L. S. Chafer, He That Is Spiritual, p. 113).

God’s first man had the right to will and the power to will Godward. But he chose to will Satanward. God’s second Man had the right to will and the power to will Godward, which He invariably did in every choice. If you are a Christian, you are God’s new man in Christ. You have the right to will, and the Holy Spirit dwells within you to enable you always to will Godward. But if you say no to God at any point, you have allied yourself with the evil forces that are in rebellion against God. Such resistance and rebellion are sin, and the Holy Spirit cannot occupy His abode in your life fully until you are cleansed.

The indwelling Spirit longs to fill the life of each one whom He indwells. So, He is constantly working toward the purifying of the life. Indeed, He is there for that very purpose. In a darkened room, there would be much dust which would pass unnoticed, but when the sun shines in, it is all brought out into the light. The more fully the light fills the room, the more perfectly the dust is revealed. The Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer brings out into the light the sin in the life, and the more fully He indwells, the more perfect will be the revelation and recognition of sin. The nearer God comes to us, the more sensitive to sin are we made. Some things that five years ago, a year ago, or a month ago you would not have called sin, you now acknowledge as sin. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us is there to purify our hearts and to sanctify our lives. “Giving them the Holy Spirit, purifying their hearts by faith.” 

Source: “Life on the Highest Plane” by Ruth Paxson

“Lord, through this speaking today, You have made it impossible for us to stand before You on the day of Judgment and claim we didn’t know what You required of us. You came and gave Your life to pay for our sins. You died so we would be free from our old man and become a new creation in Christ Jesus. You were willing to endure hell on our behalf so we wouldn’t have to. Through Your death, You defeated Satan and his hosts on the cross. You stripped them of all their power. Now, all power in heaven and on earth belongs to You alone. Through Your resurrection life, we now have the Holy Spirit living within us, bringing us the blessing of Abraham so we can be a blessing to others. Thank You for giving us Your written Word, by which You command that we live by every Word. We now have the Bible in so many forms that we are without excuse for not reading it. Lord, have mercy on us!!”