Spiritual Anointing

The concept of spiritual anointing has become a clouded, confusing issue in some circles of the modern church. Some evangelicals almost recoil from the very word because of abuses they have seen in this area. In reality, it’s not a complicated matter.

The act of anointing someone in the Bible was a bestowal of divine appointment and empowerment. In the Old Testament, Aaron was anointed when he became a priest. (See Leviticus 8:12) When David was set aside to be king, Samuel the priest anointed him. (See 1 Samuel 16:13) There are numerous times in Scripture when people were anointed with oil as an expression of the reality of God’s Spirit resting upon them for a particular purpose.

When God anoints people, He gives to them the abilities they need to accomplish the work He has for them to do. He imparts a capability that equips them to do more than they could ever do on their own. He chooses them and infuses them with His potential.

There is a beautiful picture of how God anoints those He chooses in Psalms 133. The text describes the scene when Aaron was anointed. Comparing the goodness of unity among God’s people with the time Aaron was anointed, the psalmist wrote:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, Coming down the edge of His robes (Psalm 133:1-2).

The imagery in this text is graphic. When Aaron was anointed, they didn’t just put a little dab of oil on his forehead. Instead, they poured it on top of his head in such excess that it ran down his head, soaked his beard until it dripped off his beard onto his robe. Then the oil ran down his robe all the way to the edge. This was a man who was drenched in oil.

Would you like for God to pour out ability infused with divine power on you in the way they poured out the oil on Aaron? Can you imagine what you could accomplish in your lifetime if He chose to do that? Isaiah said, “the Lord has anointed me,” but does that include you? It does.

Much has been said in the modern church about spiritual anointing. I’ve often had people tell me that they would pray that I might be anointed as I have spoken in their churches. I’ve seen preachers on TV offering special “anointing oil” for a small donation. I’ve had people ask me to pray for them to be anointed.

Isaiah’s words provide some news you will be glad to hear. The news is this: You already have the anointing of God. That’s right, you already possess divine capabilities. How can we know this? It’s because of something Jesus said.

Luke 4:16-22 records an incident in the life of Jesus which is particularly relevant to this matter of anointing. The text tells that one day when Jesus went to Nazareth, He went into the temple on the Sabbath. Somebody handed him the book of Isaiah and He stood up to read. The place where he read was from Isaiah 61, the very text we are examining.

Jesus read the text, closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Every eye was fixed on Him. What would He say? Would He tell them how they, too, might experience the promises of this Old Testament passage? Might they be able to receive the anointing of which Isaiah spoke?

Jesus said to them, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” As He continued to speak, the people were spellbound by His words. They were in awe “at the gracious words which were falling from His lips (Luke 4:22).

When Jesus said that the Scripture in Isaiah had been fulfilled that very day, He was revealing that He is the personification of the anointing of God. The anointing has come to us in the person of the Anointed One! Because Jesus Christ lives inside you, you have everything you need to do anything that God has planned for you to do!

Paul wrote that, “In [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete” (Colossians 2:9-10). If Jesus Christ lives in you, everything you need to succeed in life resides within you. You have need of nothing else.

God’s grace within you is the anointing you need to accomplish everything He has planned for you. Grace equals enablement – miraculous, supernatural, God-given, enablement. That sets you apart from others whose dreams depend on their own ability. The early church grasped this fact and accomplished miraculous results. The same is possible for you. John reminds us, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20). Notice that he doesn’t say you still need it, but that you have it. He further notes, “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you” (2:27). The word “abide” here means “to continue to be present and not depart.”

In Jesus Christ, you already have all you need to have to do all that you need to do to accomplish God’s plan for your life. Do you understand your ability? Like the anointing of Aaron, you haven’t been given a small dab of ability. It just isn’t God’s nature to give sparingly. When He gives, He really pours it on! You are drenched in divine ability to do all that He has planned for you to do. A spiritual anointing isn't an experience we have. It's a person named Jesus Christ and, because you have Him, you have everything you need.