Verse 29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for needful building up, that it may give grace to those who hear.” The Greek word for corrupt signifies something that is noxious, offensive, or worthless. Our conversation should not corrupt others, but should build them up. The church and every member of the church need the proper building up. This building up is accomplished primarily by our speaking. What proceeds out of our mouth should be that which is good for the building up of the church and all the saints.
Furthermore, the word out of our mouth should give grace to those who hear. Grace is God embodied in Christ as our enjoyment and supply. Our word should convey this as grace to others. The word that builds up others always ministers grace to the hearers. Our word should communicate God in Christ as enjoyment, imparting Christ to others as their life supply.
In verse 30 Paul says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in Whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.” The word “and” at the beginning of this verse indicates that in addition to all the things mentioned in verses 25 through 29, one crucial thing is needed, that is, that we should not grieve the Holy Spirit. To grieve the Holy Spirit is to displease Him. The Holy Spirit abides in us forever (John 14:16-17); He never leaves us. Hence, He is grieved when we do not walk according to Him (Rom. 8:4). If we have a life according to the principle of truth with grace for the details of our daily walk, we shall not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. However, if we do not live this way, the Spirit within us will be grieved.
For the Holy Spirit to be grieved means that He is not happy with us. Often when we feel unhappy, that feeling of unhappiness is actually the feeling of the Holy Spirit. However, when He feels happy within us, we are happy also. A proper life according to truth and in grace will always make the Holy Spirit happy and give us the joy of the Spirit.
In the apostle’s exhortation in verses 17 through 32, there are not only grace and truth as the basic elements, but there are also the life of God (v. 18) and the Spirit of God as the basic factors on the positive side and the Devil (v. 27) on the negative side. It is by the life of God in the Spirit of God, with no place given to the Devil, that we can live a life full of grace and truth as the Lord Jesus did.
In verse 31 Paul says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be removed from you, with all malice.” All the evil things mentioned in this verse can be removed from us if we enjoy God in Christ as our grace. For example, there will be no clamor in our daily living, and there will be no evil speaking. No one who lives by the principle of truth and in grace will speak evil of others.
Finally, verse 32 says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as also God in Christ forgave you.” Only the enjoyment of Christ as our life supply and as our joy can make our hearts tender. If we are tenderhearted, we shall forgive others. In our daily walk, we need both to forgive others and to ask others to forgive us. This is necessary because we are easily offended and we easily offend others. If we have offended someone, we need to ask for forgiveness. But if we have been offended, we need to extend forgiveness to others, even as God in Christ has forgiven us.
In his exhortation in this section, the apostle presents God as the pattern of our daily life. By the life of God, in His Spirit, we can forgive as God forgives. If this is our daily living, we shall not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. To have such a living, we need to live according to truth and by God in Christ as our grace.