The Anointing - What is it?

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Recently the subject of preachers 'under the anointing' has come up.
Brother Fretwell wrote:
[snip]
> Rapid-fire yelling into the microphone is, at best, a very poor imitation
of
> the Anointing of God.  Often as phoney as a three-dollar bill.

>From what I see in the scripture, the anointing has nothing whatsoever to
do with an influence or a power when preaching.  Please bear with the
length of this post.  It is intended to be as thorough as possible in this
limited space.

-----------------
The Nature of the Anointing

The nature of the anointing of Jesus Christ is crucial to understanding of
this matter.  Acts 10:38 is a key verse.

(Acts 10:38 KJV)  "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."

The key word in the above verse is 'anointed'.  The Strong's definition is
as follows:

anointed = G5548. chrio, khree'-o; prob. akin to G5530 through the idea of
contact; to smear or rub with oil, i.e., (by impl.) to consecrate to an
office or religious service:--anoint.

To use Acts 10:38 to support the supposition that Jesus did his works as
the Son of Man, as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit, would be favorable
if the anointing was some mystical force or power, but it is not.  Consider
also your second reference, Luke 4:16-19, specifically verse 18:

(Luke 4:16-19 KJV)  "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up:
and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and
stood up for to read. {17} And there was delivered unto him the book of the
prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where
it was written, {18} The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, {19} To preach
the acceptable year of the Lord."

This reference illustrates my following point – 'anointed' carries a
meaning of designated or separated to an office or position in the same way
that the priest in the Old Testament was anointed and thereby designated as
High Priest.  Likewise, the kings of Israel were anointed and thereby
separated to their position.  The anointing designated their station, their
status, their position and their authority.  Consider that Luke 4:18, 19 is
a quote from the book of Isaiah.
(Isaiah 61:1-2 KJV)  "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the
LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound; {2} To proclaim the
acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to
comfort all that mourn;"

In this passage the word 'anointed' is used and it is the Hebrew word which
is transliterated maschah.  This is the same word from which the word
Messiah is derived.  In Luke, Jesus is clearly associating himself with
this passage in Isaiah and thereby identifying himself as the Messiah. 
This Hebrew concept of the Messiah is transferred into the Greek as
'Christ'.  Most Bible scholars confirm that 'Christ' is equivalent to
'Messiah'.  Please read the attached appendix for a further exposition on
the subjects of Christ, Messiah and anointing.

The Greek word for 'Christ' is transliterated 'christos', the Strong's
definition is as follows:

Christ = 5547. Christos, khris-tos'; from G5548; anointed, i.e., the
Messiah, an epithet of Jesus:--Christ.

The whole scheme points to the fact that Jesus was the Anointed One, the
one set apart, the one designated to this office.  The verses in Luke
describe the function of Christ (e.g., to open blinded eyes, to set the
captive free etceteras).  These things are the duties of the office.  Being
Christ identifies Jesus as the particular one who is designated, set apart,
separated, consecrated to do these particular things.  No where in these
verses does it indicate that Jesus' 'anointing' is a mystical force or
power.  The anointing does not give Him the ability; the anointing gives
Him the authority.
  
In the New Testament there are at least two words which are translated as
power.  One is 'dunamis', the other is 'exousia'.  The first carries the
meaning of ability or capability.  The second carries the meaning of
authority, permission, right to.  Jesus' anointing gave Him the authority
to fulfill His office, to perform His duties.  He was anointed with the
Holy Ghost and with power.  The word power in Acts 10:38 is the dunamis
power – the power of ability and capability.  If the anointing was the
power, why was Jesus also anointed with power?  Jesus was anointed as a
designation of His authority and position to carry out the duties of His
office.  It is not indicative of strength or force to perform the works.
Let me point out that the power that the believer receives comes when the
Holy Spirit comes upon him.

(Acts 1:8 KJV)  "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part
of the earth."

Power in this verse is 'dunamis'.  It is this power that we receive so that
the Spirit can do the same works as Jesus through us.

Since nowhere in the subject of the anointing is there any connotation of
an 'unction' as in a special force or divine effect, it would be incorrect
to use it to describe preaching under or with some particular influence or
in a particular manner.

(1 John 2:18-21 KJV)  "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have
heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists;
whereby we know that it is the last time. {19} They went out from us, but
they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have
continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that
they were not all of us. {20} But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and
ye know all things. {21} I have not written unto you because ye know not
the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth."

unction = 5545. chrisma, khris'-mah; from G5548; an unguent or smearing,
i.e. (fig.) the spec. endowment ("chrism") of the Holy Spirit:--anointing,
unction.

Again, this unction is a designation, the special endowment is not a
mystical power when preaching, but it is a special endowment to understand
truth.

(1 John 2:27 KJV)  "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth
in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

In the above verse, the word anointing is also 'chrisma', these two verses
are the only time this word is used throughout all of scripture.  Notice
that both times John is addressing 'ye', i.e. 'you all' or 'all of you'. 
Notice also that the anointing, the special endowment is for the purpose of
teaching us (from within) not for the purpose of teaching or preaching to
others.  Notice also that this unction is resident in us, it is not
transient, changeable, variable; it does not come and go when someone gets
behind a pulpit.  And it certainly is not exclusive to preachers.

Did ye realize that the word anointing is only mentioned a total of three
times in the New Testament.  The two times above and one other time when it
(being a totally different Greek word) refers specifically to anointing
with oil for the sick.

However the word 'anointed' is mentioned twelve times.  Seven of those
times it is the anointing with oil for the sick or as when anointed Jesus'
feet.

(2 Corinthians 1:21 KJV)  "Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ,
and hath anointed us, is God;"

We are all anointed (designated, set apart, appointed) in the same manner
as Jesus was if we have received the Holy Spirit.  We are His body on earth
to accomplish His purposes.

Kathy (glad to be set apart from this world, privileged to be named by His
name) Dimick
Falkville, Alabama
kdimick@colsa.com
kedimick@hotmail.com
http://members.tripod.com/~coffeepleaz/index.html

"For to me to live is Christ"