When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

- from Ephesians 1:13-14

"I believe in the Holy Spirit ..."

- from The Apostles' Creed

We can miss the Spirit, quench the Spirit, ignore the Spirit, harden our hearts to the Spirit, and be out of step with the Spirit. But once we're in Christ, we won't be abandoned by the Spirit.

Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to all who believe in him, marking them with the Spirit to show to all the cosmos that they are his. The Spirit stays with us through thick and through thin, through our ups and our down. And he does this because of Jesus.

This wasn't always the case. In the Old Testament, we can read the story of King Saul, who was anointed by God and filled with the Spirit but betrayed him anyways. The Spirit departed Saul and evil spirits came and harassed him. Saul's successor as king, King David, experienced a significant moment of fear, years later, when the story of his murderous and adulterous plots became public. He cried out "Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me" (see Psalm 51).

How is it possible for us to have the Spirit through our ups and downs, to live without fear of the Spirit abandoning us when we slip up?

Christ has cleansed us of our sin and joined us to himself. He will never let go of us. And because he refuses to lose track of us, we can trust that his Spirit will remain with us as well.

Apart from Jesus, we would have no guarantee of the Spirit's presence with us. In Christ, however, we can trust that the Spirit he sent to comfort and guide us will remain with us forever.