Christians: The People Anointed by God
And no, I'm not talking about the weird stuff we see on TV.
I had a crazy thing happen to me in college.
I was minding my own business at a non-denominational worship service when a random guy approached me and said, “God told me to pray for you because you’re hurt.”
Little did that guy know I had hurt my arm that weekend pitching at LSU.
So here I am, freaking out on the inside.
I went from trying to figure out why people were raising their arms in worship (we didn’t really do that at the Catholic Church I attended growing up) to shaking in my team-issued Nike shoes when a guy who was pretty sure he had the gift of healing wanted to pray for something only God could have told him about.
He prayed once and asked, “Did it work?” I said, “No.”
So he prayed again, with more fervor.
“Did it work this time?”
“Uhh, yeah!”
I lied. It didn’t work. It still hurt. But I was crumbling inside, and I had to get out of there.
I had never experienced anything more charismatic than my girlfriend (now wife) crying during worship. I was so taken aback by her tears that I rubbed her back, trying to comfort her, because I thought something was wrong.
For years I did my best to stay away from anything charismatic.
But then God started to speak to me.
He started telling me stuff that there’s no way I would have known unless it was coming from Him.
I even thought, “Maybe that dude wasn’t so crazy! Maybe my lack of faith kept my arm from healing that night?”
But it wasn’t just that God started to speak to me.
I started to see things in the Bible that were clearly supernatural. Things that were clearly only going to happen if God’s presence was made manifest.
And I saw that God expected the things that happened in those days to happen in these days.
So here I am today—a proud Bapticostal who just wants God’s presence to overwhelm us in such a way that we live faithfully to Him and His Word all of our days.
So, let’s talk about the anointing.
There’s a connection between the anointing oil in the Old Testament and the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Here’s David being anointed in 1 Samuel:
“Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.”
—1 Samuel 16:13 ESV
Think of it this way: The anointing oil was God’s way of saying, “I’m pleased to dwell here.”
This brings us to the New Testament and the first time we see God from heaven, saying, “I’m pleased to dwell here.”
The moment comes during the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
—Matthew 3:16-17
God literally says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
God is pleased, and that’s where He dwells.
Anointing that follows a washing wasn’t a new concept, either. In Leviticus 8 the Priests were washed, clothed, and then anointed with oil as part of the consecration process. This was required for them to be God’s ministers to His people.
This moment, Jesus’s baptism, kickstarted His ministry as well. He was washed, then anointed, and then He started His ministry.
Jesus is the One, True, Anointed
Jesus is the Messiah.
Do you know what the word Hebrew word Messiah means?
“The Anointed One”
Yes, Jesus is the Anointed One. The physical representation of that was what happened at the baptism. God was confirming his promise—this is my Anointed One, the one I am pleased with and sending my Holy Spirit to rest on.
This really is all about Jesus.
Just like the Holy Spirit comes to dwell on Christ at His baptism, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell on the Christ in you at salvation.1
Which begs the question… If Jesus is the Anointed One, how are we also God’s Anointed people?
We’re anointed in two ways
We have every spiritual blessing in Christ
We actually have been anointed by the Holy One
First, we have every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
—Ephesians 1:3
If you need to read that verse again, do it.
If you are in Christ, you have been blessed with every. spiritual. blessing.
Anything Christ has, you have.
His death.
His life.
His resurrection.
His baptism.
His spirit.
His standing before God.
His anointing.
So yes, Jesus gets the Father speaking over Him saying, “This is my beloved son, with whom I’m well pleased,” but because you are wrapped up in Christ that blessing is also being spoken over you.
This is a mind-blowing reality and one that’s worth spending our life investigating.
Think about the impact this truth can have on your life.
In the same way that God the Father said, “This is my beloved son, with whom I’m well pleased,” if you have repented and believed in Jesus, then because of Christ and His work, God speaks over you, “This is my beloved son/daughter, with whom I’m well pleased.” and His Spirit has rested on you and lives inside you. You are anointed.
Second, we actually have been anointed by the Holy One.
But you have been anointed by the Holy One…
—1 John 2:20
At the same time we’re wrapped up in Jesus' anointing, He blesses us with an anointing. An anointing for what?
According to the surrounding verses in 1 John 2, it’s to be set apart from the world and to know the truth.
We are anointed by God and by the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to be different than the people around us and live according to the truth only. That’s our responsibility and future.
So what does that mean for us?
As you can imagine, this carries some weight for us. We must do something as a result of the anointing. Here’s my encouragement:
Lean in, don’t fear.
Spend time asking God for clarity on how it impacts your life today.
Submit to him a humble heart willing to be obedient—no matter what.
God is faithful and will give you precisely what you need to live set apart and obedient.
If you’re interested, I’ve written a little more in-depth on a few areas of responsibility. These posts are for paid subscribers.
But let’s be honest, if you have the Holy Spirit, you don’t need my “Paid Subscriber” posts. God can teach you all you need to know for following Him and living faithfully.
—Brandon
“The Dove” by Kari Jobe is a fantastic song and really leans into this idea. That song is where I got the wording for this sentence in the article.
"Bapticostal" ... 🤣😂. That's a hoot!
Leaning in without fear!