Is there a difference between quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit?
In one of his latest videos, Pastor Benny Tate answered the question about the difference between the Holy Spirit being quenched and grieved.
“We quench Him by what we don’t do, and grieve Him by what we do,” Tate said.
One of the key understandings that Tate explained as to why we can both quench or grieve the Holy Spirit is from the fact that the Holy Spirit is much more than just a fantastical power source that so many people treat Him to be. He’s a person.
“I hear people talking about ‘it’ as if the Holy Spirit is an ‘it.’ Folks, if your Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as an ‘it,’ that’s a bad translation. Because see, He’s not an ‘it.’ He’s a person. He’s not energy, He’s not force, He’s not excitement. Literally the Holy Spirit is a person,” Tate said.
Tate also shared how coming to know the Holy Spirit is pivotal and necessary to live out the Christian life. Otherwise, a believer is not completely filled with God’s presence and guidance.
“God doesn’t want people to blow up. God doesn’t want people to dry up. God wants a balance of Spirit and truth. And when you have a balance of Spirit and truth people won’t blow up. People won’t dry up. People will grow up,” Tate said.
Because the Holy Spirit is a person and not just some mere power, we cannot treat Him as though He is only a force. Instead, we must realize that because He is a person and because He is completely holy and perfect, there are times when He will speak truth to us that is even if it isn’t exactly what we want to hear. Tate points out that this is where many churches go wrong because they are so careful to be seeker sensitive that they end up pulling the truth of the gospel away from their core messages.
“I was taught you need to design services to attract people,” Tate said. “Felt-needs, seeker sensitive. Some would say ‘don’t say anything that would offend anybody’…this is what I believe: I don’t believe we need to try to attract the people. I believe you need to try to attract the Holy Spirit. Because see I believe if you will attract the Holy Spirit you will attract the people.”
While it is critical for churches to preach the gospel and bring in new people seeking a relationship with God, it is impossible for anyone to truly meet and build up that relationship without the Holy Spirit.
“If we want to attract the Holy Spirit, it can’t be about individuals, it can’t be about a financial status, it can’t be about status in any way. We’ve got to lift up Jesus and brag on Jesus and promote Jesus, and when you do that you will attract the Holy Spirit,” Tate said. {eoa}
Benny Tate’s new book, “Unlimited,” can be found at MyCharismaShop.com.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
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