The Holy Spirit is a person, not a force as wrongly taught by the Charismatics. The Holy Spirit is same in essence and glory with God the Father and God the Son. He can come upon anyone without the person’s control. The Lord Jesus also baptises us with the Holy Spirit at the point of our conversion, and the Holy Spirit indwells us from that point on.

As people with emotions, we can be grieved by those close to us, especially those whom we love dearly. The Holy Spirit too can be grieved. And He is grieved by those who have a relationship with God, i.e. believers. So, when believers sin, the Holy Spirit is grieved. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, but when we sin against Him, He will not hear us but will prick our conscience, and we will not have peace in our heart.

Types of believers who will grieve the Holy Spirit:

1.  The ignorant ones: They are supposed to be mature believers but they are not even though they may have been believers for a long time. The Holy Spirit’s ministry will never end. Even in our glorified body, the Holy Spirit still indwells us. We must not use ignorance as an excuse to grieve the Holy Spirit.

2.  The proud ones, the unteachable ones: They will criticize, complain or self-justify when rebuked, and refused to be corrected.

3.  The carnal ones (e.g. Lot): Believer Lot was vexed by the world around him in Sodom, but he was not willing to let go of his worldliness and carnality.

Are we like those described above? If we are and we do not feel anything, we need to check our salvation to ensure that we really have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us.

It is important for us to study and have Bible knowledge, but obeying God’s Word is more important. The only way to stop grieving the Holy Spirit is to submit and obey Him, repent of our sins and turn back to God. At the point of our conversion, Christ has already put a seal on us. He will never leave us no matter how much we may grieve the Holy Spirit. But let us not grieve the Holy Spirit any longer, and repent quickly when we have sinned against Him.