“How does the anointing of the Holy Spirit take place?”

October 2021 – Grace & Truth Magazine

QUESTION: How does the anointing of the Holy Spirit take place? What effect does it have upon a person? How can others recognize it? What is the difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the anointing of the Holy Spirit?

ANSWER: On His last night with His disciples and after Judas Iscariot had gone out, the Lord Jesus shared a number of things with His disciples. He promised that after He left them to go back to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit to be both in them and with them forever. In Acts 1, just before He ascended back to heaven, He told His disciples that they would be witnesses to Him. Meanwhile they should remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came and empowered them.

On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came in a very unique manner upon 120 followers of the Lord Jesus, who were “all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4 NKJV).

In this way the Holy Spirit united these believers into one body, which is called the Church (literally, the Assembly). The Church was something altogether new. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus had promised that He would build His Church. Notice, “will build,” not “had built” or “was building” His Church. Here on the day of Pentecost the building began. Jesus, the Head in heaven, was united to the body the Holy Spirit formed of these 120 believers, joined together into one. This body very quickly grew, for 3000 Jews believed Peter’s message that day. They acted on what they were told by repenting, and they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and so received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

All who after this have personally trusted the Lord Jesus and thus been saved have, according to 1 Corinthians 12:13, been “baptized into one body.” In other words, every person who has trusted the Lord as his Savior has thereby become a part – a living member – of the Church. He has come into the good of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit essentially was a one-time event resulting in many individual believers being united together into one body, the Church, of which Christ is the Head.

Sad to say, many Christians and even many preachers have never understood this. They think that the baptism of the Spirit is something that is being repeated over and over again, which it is not. Because of their ideas they pray to be baptized with the Spirit and expect something spectacular to happen to them, or they go about trying to make it happen and are often disappointed when this does not happen. Not realizing that God’s Spirit has added them to the Church, they feel they must join one of the churches that man has formed here on earth, something God’s Word does not teach. It does teach, however, that believers should gather together to the name of the Lord Jesus, and not to forsake such assembling of ourselves together (Mt. 18:20; Heb. 10:22-25).

God’s Word speaks also of personal blessings given the Christian through his relationship with the Holy Spirit. Some of these are that he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, sealed by Him, filled with Him, and anointed with Him. The Lord told His disciples in John 14:17 that each of them would be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9-11 also speaks of the Spirit dwelling in the believer. He is the source of the believer’s spiritual life and bears witness that he is a child of God. He leads the believer, and it is by Him that we cry, “Abba, Father” (v.15).

We are also sealed with the Spirit. Sealing is associated with ownership. He is the One who marks us out as belonging to the Lord, who has purchased us with His precious blood. Closely tied with this is the fact that we have the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance, in fact, of all that God has for us that is still in the future (2 Cor. 1:21-22; Eph. 1:13-14).

The believer is exhorted in Ephesians 5:17-21 to be filled with the Spirit. This is in contrast to being filled with wine, a situation in which one may well lose control of himself. Unlike other features we have been looking at, to be filled with the Spirit is not automatic when one gets saved. This calls for deliberate commitment to an active course of action. Singing, joy of heart, thankfulness and submission to one another are all virtues that we should strive to acquire as a part of our lives.

Another feature of the wonderful salvation we are given by our Lord Jesus is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Priests and kings in the Old Testament were anointed in view of the service they were to do. Three passages in the New Testament refer to the anointing we receive as part of this package of blessings that is given to us in our salvation: 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 and 1 John 2:20 and 27, where the King James Version uses the old term “unction.” This anointing enables a believer to know – to instinctively sense or recognize or understand – what is of God and what is not. In the passage in 1 John 2 this is associated with understanding and applying God’s Word and thereby being able to recognize and reject false teaching or teachers.

This gift from God is not something given us for us to display or show off, or to boast of before others. It is nothing outwardly spectacular. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is for our protection as we keep close to the Lord, getting well acquainted with His Word, for in the presence of the Lord we can thus discern whether something is of God or not. There are many false teachers teaching false doctrine in this world. We are confronted with erroneous teachings and practices and are subject to being influenced by our likes and dislikes if our walk is carnal, or fleshly, rather than spiritual. All this the Holy Spirit desires to help us with, that our lives may be what the Lord wants them to be.

A priest in the Bible was supposed to be able to teach others what was right and what was wrong. A king was to govern righteously in the fear of God. Both were not only to know what God was looking for, but they were also to be examples of it in their lives. The closer we live to the Lord in separation from whatever displeases Him, the more we will enjoy our anointing of the Holy Spirit and the less we will make of ourselves. We will not look for the recognition of others. Instead, we will receive our Lord’s, “Well done.”

Answered by Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.

His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” — Matthew 25:21 NKJV