We all know that we want more than just great music on Sunday morning.
We desire more than a tight band, innovative programming, and well executed services.
We want the presence of God. We desire for God to be lifted up and glorified in our midst.
We want to decrease as the glory of God increases. But how does that happen?
For my entire life, I’ve heard a particular word mentioned in the church.
Every worship leader wants it, whether you know what it is or not.
It’s the anointing.
So when we speak of the “anointing”, what do we mean?
People in the Scriptures were anointed by God. Even Jesus was “anointed” by the Holy Spirit for the ministry he was sent to do.
My fear is that we’ve cheapened it. We’ve begun to see the anointing as an emotional feeling more than the favor of God.
We are in danger of equating anointing with the octave-jump chorus in “How He Loves”.
Is anointing just a really humble, yet talented vocalist or is it something deeper?
What Is At Stake
There is a lot at stake here. As we raise up the next generation and develop other worship leaders, we don’t just want excellence in our craft.
We need worship leaders who are desperate for God.
Worship leaders who depend on the Holy Spirit.
Worship leaders who love God more than they love the stage.
If there is such a thing as the anointing, we’d better have it.
3 Questions
So I want to start a discussion, involving three questions.
1. What is the anointing?
2. How do we get the anointing?
3. What is the purpose of the anointing?
I have my own thoughts (which I’ll share in the comments) but I want to hear yours. Many of you read this blog but have never commented or haven’t commented in a while.
Now’s your chance.
Great topic, David. I have my own view of this and I’m going to fly from the hip without any scriptural references. This is all based on personal experience:
1. I see anointing as supernatural influence. It’s not goose bumps or chills. It is holy power to influence a situation. If you sing with an anointing, you have influence to change the atmosphere of the area, which in turn changes hearts.
2. From what I’ve seen, it’s totally grace based. What’s crazy is that I’ve seen ministers or worship leaders that carry a serious anointing that have pretty jacked up personal lives. It’s not based on effort or even holiness. It’s just a gift of God that He places on us.
3. The purpose is to make room for God’s presence. When you carry His anointing, you carry His presence. You can take His presence with you everywhere you go.
It’s different from just having Jesus “live inside of us”. His anointing is influence to change the atmosphere around us.
At least, that’s how I understand it.
Love your points, Tony. Where do you think the idea of “anointing” came from? At least how we use it in the church?
There are allusions to it throughout scripture but the terminology probably comes from 1 John 2:27:
“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.”
It’s about the Holy Spirit power available to us. It is beyond human effort or intelligence. The anointing of the Holy Spirit gives us power that isn’t available by our own gifts or talents.
That’s one of my favorite verses. It think it’s important for us to know what the anointing really means because we throw it around a lot in worship and preaching circles. But how often do we call missionaries in remote parts of the world anointed? Or people who visit nursing homes? It seems we relegate it to an emotional feeling a lot of the time.
Tony J Alicea,
Thank you for the very improtant sharing that you have made
Exactly when carrying Gods Anointing its to change the Atmosphere where ever we are(around us).Especially if we open our mouths the presence of the Holy Spirit will flow out us
I pray for anointing for our Pastors and team members. That the Holy Spirit’s presence will be truly sensed in our midst and that what is done will be taken and used for the Glory of God to reach the hearts of those present. I believe that the anointing is something that we can tangibly feel. Those who have been anointed know that what they accomplished could only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit. We can receive the anointing by asking for it, from a pure and humble heart. To be a vessle of honor filled with the Holy Spirit and poured out in Glory to God.
Are you saying the person who is anointed feels it or the people he or she is ministering to? Or both?
I have experienced both. While working out the music for a service being lead to do certain songs and without knowing what the Pastor’s sermon was going to be about the theme of the songs is right in line with what he is preaching on. While singing truly knowing that the Holy spirit has taken over and the message of the song really speaks to me and to those who are listening. The musicians who are playing in the band have felt a real connection with the Holy Spirit as they are playing the music, it seems to go a lot smoothly than they knew it would on their own strength.
The Anointing is the Spirit of God. To anoint means to “smear on”. It is the covering of a saint in the cloak of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that the anointing is upon the righteous. That is the requirement to have it. Be in right conduct before God. It is the empowerment of God, thru the Spirit, for us to accomplish our callings. There is only one anointing and He is the Holy Ghost. I believe we need the anointing just to go to the supermarket! After all He is the one leading our paths.
Hey Christopher, do we have to work to be righteous? Or do we take on His righteousness by grace? If it is by grace, then we don’t have to be in “right conduct” before God to operate under His anointing, do we?
I’m all for holiness but I’m aware how a striving mentality makes the anointing something that is only for a select few that “earn” it.
In my opinion, that’s not the case.
I don’t know about “Right Conduct” Tony…We are not talking about Getting Saved….we are talking about Anointing to perform something beyond our strengths…by help of the holy spirit…like King David taking kingship at a early age…
Was king david still anointed when he sinned with bathsheba?…in psalm 51 he begs God not to take his spirit away…
King Saul’s anointing was taken away for his poor conduct as well…
I don’t know if you can be anointed at a bar somewhere getting drunk…not right conduct…
but of course there is repentance like when David repented…
if at all it seams that the anointing is supposed to work through us for others….but when we start wanting to stray of wonder…it starts working to bring us back to the heart of God…
Sounds really close to the definition of sanctification.
By the way, I discovered your site yesterday David and I wanted you to know that it was a blessing. I appreciate all the articles and the passion I have seen and read in you and your friends’ comments. I have seen myself and my situations so clearly in some of yours and the experiences you all have shared has been humbling and very, very educational and inspiring for me. God bless you all. Thank you.
Chris, thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. My favorite part of blogging is the interaction in the comments and learning from people like yourself. Please continue to share with us!
1. Anointing, in Scripture, is always equated with God’s presence. So anointing is God’s presence or God’s favor. When anointing someone, oil was always POURED on the head of whoever was being anointed. This makes me think that when someone is anointed, it is POURED out on them. Maybe not physically, but spiritually.
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38 KJV) God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit AND with POWER! This is beautiful! Because, I believe when we are filled with His Spirit, & are working in the Spirit, we are anointed. So no longer are we anointed with oil (when praying for people, the Scripture says we should anoint them with oil, but you get what I’m saying) but we are anointed with POWER through the Holy Ghost just like the day of Pentecost.
I am by no means an expert on this subject & I apologize if anything in this sounds incorrect. Just throwing my thoughts out there! Thanks for your blog! 🙂
Adrian, there’s no wrong answer here! We’re all working this out 🙂 I like what you said about the anointing being God’s favor. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on us and we are anointing for works of service. We need to hear this! Thanks!
Here are my thoughts:
When God anoints something, He is marking it as His. That thing or person has been marked with His presence and consecrated unto Him. It’s done to separate something out for God’s purpose. In the Old Testament, this was done with oil. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit does it with His presence. So when we sense His “anointing” on someone or something, what is happening is that our spirit-man is recognizing His Spirit on someone or something else.
Regarding worship specifically, music was created by God to convey spiritual messages. It’s a spiritual medium. So when someone has been anointed (or marked) by God for worship, we will recognize the fragrance of His presence as they walk in their “marking” or anointing.
Ever heard a song done by one Christian artist that seems just OK, yet another Christian artist can do the same song and its like Heaven found its way to earth? Whats the difference? The chords, melody and tempo can be the same but much like an artist signs their painting, so does a composer and performer leave their spiritual mark on their music. And if that artist has been “anointed” for worship, we will sense that “anointing.”
Sorry this is so long but this is one of my favorite subjects! I wrote a little bit about if anyone is interested: http://jamienunnally.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/music-is-a-spiritual-medium/
Jamie, fantastic thoughts. So you’re saying that some Christians have an anointing and others do not? Or one person’s anointing can be stronger than another? Is that a sovereign act of God or can we foster a deeper anointing somehow? Just picking your brain 🙂
David,
I believe all Christians are marked for ministry (or anointed) but all anointings are not the same because they coincide with each person’s individual giftings which are not the same. I think the reason the word anointing gets applied to music so much is because of music’s design to carry spiritual information. People are more apt to sense an anointing on a music minister or preacher because of its prophetic nature as compared to the anointing on a soup kitchen volunteer. They are equal in significance though.
And yes, I believe anointings can be sovereignly given stronger to some than to others but I also whole-heartedly believe that our willingness to pursue and cultivate that anointing will cause us to grow and will be even more impactful and felt stronger by others.
Also, just to throw this out there – I think there are negative anointings too. Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” is one of the most anointed songs I’ve heard. It’s just been consecrated for the wrong purpose!
Thanks for creating such an awesome “anointed” blog! 🙂
Interesting thoughts on the prophetic nature of music. Well said. And thanks 🙂
Jamie, I think I get what you’re saying. Paul states “according to his faith.” So, do I understand you correctly that our anointing is measured by the amount of faith each of us have?
Great questions, David! I’ve learned from scripture that “anointing” is SOOOO broad. I’m with you, though. I think we’ve misrepresented what “anointing” really is. Part of me believes it all rests on the value we place on people. Do we “anoint” people based on their abilities? Do we “anoint” people based on their righteousness? Do we only value those people who are anointed?
When does God “anoint” someone? God revealed to me it’s in how he identifies people. He named “Adam” before Adam knew what his name meant. He called Moses “a great orator” before Moses saw it in himself. An angel of the Lord called Gideon “a mighty warrior” before Gideon saw it in himself. Jesus called Simon “Peter” before Peter knew his “rock” identity in Christ. How is God identifying us? Has he anointed us already, but we have not yet fulfilled it?
We’re also commanded to anoint the sick with oil. Anytime in scripture when someone was anointed with oil, it was a symbol of authority. When we anoint the sick with oil, not only are we saying we value sick and hurting people, we are recognizing Christ’s authority to heal them.
I think where we get caught is this: we tend to look at “anointing” as a finished product instead of an identity despite what we see. We DESPERATELY need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us whom he has anointed because most anointing is unseen.
Hope all that made sense. I’m looking at anointing from the lens of places in scripture where God talks about pouring out his Spirit on men, and how he identifies his people. Blessings to you!!!
Wow, Melanie. This is absolutely beautiful and well said. I’m still processing 🙂
I don’t think anointing is a finished product. We are anointed to preach the Gospel even if we haven’t fully stepped into that calling. God sees differently than we see. He calls us and anoints us despite our weaknesses. So good!
Sheesh, Melanie.
“When does God “anoint” someone? God revealed to me it’s in how he identifies people. He named “Adam” before Adam knew what his name meant. He called Moses “a great orator” before Moses saw it in himself. An angel of the Lord called Gideon “a mighty warrior” before Gideon saw it in himself. Jesus called Simon “Peter” before Peter knew his “rock” identity in Christ. How is God identifying us? Has he anointed us already, but we have not yet fulfilled it?”
You could’ve written that alone and had me on the edge of my seat but you just had to keep writing 🙂
I love your insight and I agree with you that God’s anointing can be a broad subject. While I believe there can be specific instances of God’s anointing, I think you hit the nail on the head here. Too often we are caught up in our lack and our failures and miss out on the fact that God has called us and equipped us.
We have to look past our present and be expectant for our future.
Great stuff!
Very interesting question & discussion. I’ve been told I’m an anointed worship leader before, but I’ve never really accepted it because I don’t know what it means and I’m afraid it’s just a subjective perception. Maybe I should have asked people what they mean when they say it. It’s one of those Christianese terms I tend to shy away from, partly because I’m not sure how to apply the term as its used in the Bible to someone today and partly because I know a non-Christian or someone not raised in the church won’t have a clue what it means.
But… it’s very good to hear how you all use the word. David, I’m interested to hear your definition.
Daryl, I’m not sure I have a full definition of the anointing. But I tend to believe that all believers are anointed with the Holy Spirit. We are sent. We are the “called out” ones. But we do have a responsibility to foster that closeness with Christ so it sees its full expression. We don’t earn it, but we can position ourselves in a way that’s pleasing to the Holy Spirit. When we do what God calls us to do, what His Word teaches, we are anointed to do that. Make sense?
Yeah, that makes sense, and that’s my desire. Basically I hear you talking about holiness – being set apart/called out for God’s purposes, and us choosing to surrender ourselves to that. I’m just not so sure that’s what the phrases “He’s an anointed worship leader” or “that worship set was anointed!” convey.
There’s times I feel that’s going on in my life, but I’m not so sure it’s something I feel I can immediately identify in a person connected with a certain moment. Sometimes when people seem to be very blessed during the worship time, I know my own attitude was not pleasing to God. But He wanted people to be led so He worked around me. Maybe those have been times that others on the team were “anointed” while I was missing out.
Daryl, I think a lot of the “you are an anointed worship leader” comments don’t necessarily mean that person was anointed. That’s where I think we get off track. We equate “anointing” with a talented vocalist or a skilled leader. We need a deeper definition and I think we’re hitting on that in these comments, wouldn’t you say?
I’d definitely agree. I’d say what we seem to be hitting on here is equating anointing with walking in the Spirit or being filled with the Spirit and our varied understands of what that means, how to get there and how you can tell if you or someone else walking in the Spirit. Important stuff to understand, I believe. I hope this helps me grow in understanding and experiencing that.
Daryl, I appreciate how you said this.
There is an old song that has been running in my brain since reading the post today. “Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning burning burning, give me oil in my lamp I pray (sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the Lord) Give me oil in my Lamp, oil til the break of day.”
Tony asked me the following today and somehow our discussion didnt make it to the comments section. I accidently sent to Davids email, so I apologize. Here was the postings from Tony and myself. Sorry Tony, Im new here and got lost somewhere, lol.
Author: Tony J. Alicea
Comment:
Hey Christopher, do we have to work to be righteous? Or do we take on His righteousness by grace? If it is by grace, then we don’t have to be in “right conduct” before God to operate under His anointing, do we?
I’m all for holiness but I’m aware how a striving mentality makes the anointing something that is only for a select few that “earn” it.
In my opinion, that’s not the case.
The greek definition for righteous means “right conduct toward God”. The annointing can be there and then not be, yes. Samson was caught unaware that it had departed from him.
He was found to be alone working in his own strength because he ddnt obey God. The anointing and salvation must not be confused. We are saved by grace and not works, but there is a price to pay for the anointing. There is nowhere in scripture that says that we can be saved by our righteousness, but there is multiplied scriptures that puts it in our court to remain righteous. If not, why does james tell us to cleanse our hands ye sinners and purify our hearts ye doubleminded? Why does Paul comnand us to put on the whole armor of God? Why was is our choice to put in the garment of praise for heaviness. Sacrifice brings anointing. We stopped burning rams and bullocks when Jesus became the final blood sacrifice for all sin, yet we are still cpmmanded to enter His courts with thanksgiving and to offer continually the sacrifice of praise. God puts no fire where we have put no acceptable offering! Ever! Hope ive answered what you wree asking me. 🙂
Hey Tony, for the record, text and email can sound argumenative and I want you to know this is not the case. I just do not believe the anointing is automatic because ur saved. You cannot recieve the baptism of the holy ghost just because of salvation. Acts 5:32 says God gives the Spirit to them they obey Him. Paul said to strive to enter in for straight is the gate and narrow is the way and FEW there be that find it. Why strive if its done already? Who are those who Christ will spew out of His mouth for not being found righteous in His sight? You have to be in the body to be spewed out! So apparently theres a distinction made strongly in the Word between being redeemed from sin and living in such a way that keeps us righteous. The blood has to be applied by us and our prayer life and relationship with Christ. Theres no scriptural foundation for eternal security or “once saved always saved”. That is the doctrine of the nicolaitans that Jesus said he hated. We choose to die daily, not claim jesus to do all the work. He defeated sin and hell for us. We choose to appropriate its availability to us. I can offer someone a shower to use, but they have to get in and use it. The anointing comes from sacrifice. Theres a price to be paid for it. That price is right living before God. John exhorted us to sin not, and whether people sin or not is up to them. God would never ask us to not sin unless we were given the ability not to. Christ is the atonement for our sin and he is our righteousness but noone skips to my loo thru the pearly gates. We strive daily and take up that cross daily or we cannot be his disciples. Thats why he will say to many who tell him how they did wondrous works in his name and even cast out devils and he will say depart from me, i never k ew you. Because they were trying to hide behind grace as if its a covering for their sins, when in reality its the power to overcome sin now. Think about this: David was saved long before anointed either time. God declared Jeremiah a prophet before His birth. Yet Jeremiah had to choose to pursue that calling and he was then annoited for it. God anoints whom he wills for what. Everyone is eligible for it in their calling, but not everyone recieves it. There is nothing given of God that doesnt have conditions to be met except His love. Even salvation requires a turning away and commitment to Him. Its a free gift, but to keep it requires something of us. God bless.
From the sounds of it you come from a Wesleyan background. I think you did a great job explaining.
Is anointing something only God does, or is it also something other believers in authority and leadership with and over you can notice and affirm and support you with God in, such as a ministry given from God in your home, your workplace, your church, your community, or wherever He is employing and engaging and transforming you?
Right conduct keeps us saved. In order for the anointing to flow in and thru us, the Spirit of God must not be grieved. We are the temple of the Holy Ghost. He wont live in a filthy house. Our thoughts and intents are the pictures on the wall of His home. Therefore to keep it sanctified, we must daily wash our minds by the water of the Word. We must take up our daily cross and walk in truth. Sanctification is cleansing the temple. Righteousness is of Christ. We are made righteous in the eyes of God thru what Jesus did on Calvary. Our true righteousness is to come when we are made to be just like him. They that endure until the end shall be saved. Holiness, without which no man shall see God, is walking in His Word in right conduct, applying the Word to our outward life. His laws made manifest in our obedience before men. Not hiding our candles under a bushel!
love Melanie’s thoughts & scripture references!
I believe worship anointing is community-specific. that an individual can be unquestionably anointed to lead a certain community while missing the anointing to lead another.
agree with many who’ve responded above that anointing isn’t skill-dependent. I once witnessed a gifted vocalist lead a song with confidence yet there was very little ‘visible’ response from the congregation. same service, next song was led by a very clumsy, off beat, not-super-confident gentleman and from the first verse the people sang with abandon, hands lifted high. I was stunned. whatever it was that made people want to sing from their guts, he had it!
For we, [not relying on the Law but] through the [Holy]
Spirit’s [help], by faith anticipate and wait for the
blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God [our conformity to His will in
purpose, thought, and action, causes us] to hope. (Galatians 5:5 AMP)
We all have opinions about what is and what is not, but our only source of truth is what God says on a subject. Facts and true statements are not Truth. Facts are what are presented in court. Yet often people are wrongly convicted on facts. Witnesses offer true statements yet the Truth is never revealed. I just wanna encourage more scriptural study and Truth and discourage more opinions. The Bible says that “theres a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the ends are the ways of death”. Our theology must be proven by the Word. If the word doesnt back it, its not Truth. God said to prove all things and hold fast to that which is good! 🙂
http://www.gotquestions.org/anointed.html
Apparently from this link, the origin of anointing with oil was by the shepherd to keep insects and infection out of the sheep’s ears. Signifies God’s blessing and calling on a life. His chosen ones.
“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
Wow, what an awesome conversation! Great questions David.
I would say the anointing is “God’s power to do God’s work, God’s way”
It is often confused with emotional response to talent and gifting, but I would say “anointing” has a supernatural dimension and is spiritually discerned.
It is the favor of God, a gift to be received and tended.
I would also that God anoints for His work, His purpose to be accomplished, you may get outside that and “lose” the anointing.
I also agree somewhat with Whaba that God can anoint you in some contexts and not in others, it’s related to the time and place He has called you to serve.
Wow David your questions really got me. And all the response to it man. Amazing discussion.
First, I believe that the anointing is a derivative from the Holy Ghost.
-It is task specific, in that it enables a person to carry out a god-given task i.e. David-King, Jesus-teacher, etc.
It is audible and both tangible (my experience and opinion)
*I listened to a former R&B singer who is a woman. Then, I heard the change – the very anointing of God in her voice (after she became born again), when she spoke, you could HEAR that she had been in a CONSECRATED place through the HOLY GHOST. can’t reference it exactly, but our spirit should bear witness…
-I agree with the other poster…gifts and callings come without repentance. It may seem crazy to us that God anointed many for service that have NOT repented…falling into the category “Didn’t we prophesy, cast out devils…”depart from me, I knew you not”
All in all God will use any (and all) to accomplish his purpose here on earth.That’s why MANY are called but FEW are CHOSEN.
As long as you don’t abuse, misrepresent, and cheapen God’s anointing (HIS task-specific stamp on you) with gimmicks and filler
Hello,
A fascinating topic. I have a question that has been on my mind and heart for some time. Can “a song” be anointed? Can that song suddenly lose that anointing? Interested in people’s thoughts. I have my own thoughts but I’m interested to see what others think…. Cheers
I think that the anointing of the spirit is a truly misunderstood subject. When we read through the Bible and study those that were anointed in one way or another we see that any anointing was to set them apart for a specific work. The people that were anointed were chosen of God to carry out a work and that anointing was done outside of a service. If there was any preaching or talking at all the anointing was given prior to that. I believe as some here have said that we are confusing the anointing with a mere emotional response. I would be interested in the verses of scripture that show anything differently. I have found that when we do not base everything we do , say and feel on the word of God then we are opening ourselves up to deception from satan. We must use the same methods that Christ Himself used while on this earth, a clear thus saith the word. Leave the human interpretation out of it, Isaiah 28:9,10
Hello Chris (your post: March 11, 2013 at 7:05 am)…I’m quite late on this response but just bumped into this while searching materials on a personal study of David.
1. Though I can’t necessarily say a song is anointed or not, I can make this examples: An instrument is not anointed, but an anointed man or woman of God can play that instrument, or sing that same song you know (though you might have heard the same song sung or same instrument played many times before)and the anointing in him/her can make both young and old weep, including surrendering their lives to Christ because they can’t stand or deny the Presence of the Holy Spirit – the man/woman is completely dependent on the Holy Spirit and whtever they do, Holy Spirit is able to manifest Heaven on earth (…”on earth as it is in Heaven…” Another thing is that the writer behind the song when he/she penned it down, was under the influence of the Holy Spirit (just like Bible writers of old), so Holy Spirit was able to manifest words through the man/woman knowing well in advance how the song should touch people’s lives when sung or played by another anointed man or woman. That is why God’s Presence is from Glory to Glory….from the writer, this ripples with every broken vessel who will use that song: to sing it, to play it, to dance or mime it, etc…Hope this helps…:-)
Hi David and all,
The anointing is an important concept. It goes to the pattern of the Holy Spirit for his ministry. Unfortunately this is seldom recognised and there is very little good teaching on it in Christian circles. I’ll add some words about this pattern for your reflection. Much of our worship today is unfortunatley based on human agendas rather than the Holy Spirit’s agenda. The first thing is the willingness of the worship leader to look to the Lord in leading worship and to sincerely and earnestly want to serve him and go the way he wants to go. A sponaneous context is the first really important thing for anointed worship and ministry. The ability to subjugate our human agendas to his agenda. You have to be prepared to throw the worship, sermon, communion or whatever pattern your church follows out the window if He shows you he wants to do something different. Finding a pastor or church leader prepared to go like this is the first thing. Becoming sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit is a vital but often missing characteristic of christian leaders. Maybe you can get some anointing, the Holy Spirit tends to work around our human resistance and will do something anyway despite our resistance to his Lordship. Getting the anointing for ministry should be the concern of every Christian. We need to be over accepting church as a form of entertainment, untill this happens, things won’t change. If you have a free context centered on the Holy Spirit and his leading you have the basis for an anointed worship or teaching or preaching or whatever. It’s about corporate worship and ministry rather than individual ministry entertaining the masses. Unfortunately we as Christians are a bit slow about getting the Holy Spirit’s message. My interest is in evidence and accountability in this area. I agree with the comments above that when you have the word gifts like prophecy in operation along with free worship and half the sermon gets preached before the message, that that is evidence of the anointing – this evidence is called confirmation. Without the context though you are only going to get a pale shadow of what the Holy Spirit really wants to do with your Christian meeting.
1. What is the anointing? – It is the Holy Spirit ministering through his power. One term here is “manifestation” which means to show forth or to make the presence of his power known. There is the individual manefestation where one individual person senses the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit and then there is the general manefestation where most of the people in a situation recognise the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit. Better still the anointing can be recognised by its effects. Along with this sensing of the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit there may be other ministries of the Holy Spirit being made known like healing both physical and psychological or other miraculous acts. There is also the corporate communication of the Holy Spirit with the church and his ministry thorugh the word gifts.
2. How do we get the anointing?
By getting him – the Holy Spirit. By being prepared to minister under him in a discipleship position. By being open to recieve and asking for his presence and power to minister through us. By asking for and recognising his spiritual gifts as mentioned in the Bible. By worshipping him the way he wants to be worshipped, putting him in authority over our corporate worhsip rather than a human pattern or human leadership not in submission to him.
3. What is the purpose of the anointing? – So the Holy Spirit can minister to the church – so he can minister sanctification to the saints. His ministry is infinitely better than mere human ministry. Why do people settle for less? We should be truly hungry for the anointing.
Hey Matthew
Would love to know what Scriptures you’re pulling your definitions from. I’ve studied much of what you’re discussing but never has the term “anointing” come up in my NT study of Justification or sanctification, apart from the anointing of the Spirit at the point of salvation (1 John 2:27, 2 Corinthians 1:20-22) which empowers us to live a Christ-imitating life and avoid the deception of false teachings.
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