05/24/2026
Word of the week: Anointing
The biblical meaning of Anointing In 1 John 2:20, refers to the Holy Spirit's secret work in bringing people to faith and new birth. Rather than a physical act, this spiritual anointing operates inwardly, dealing with the inner person-setting apart believers' minds to the truth. Every Christian receives this anointing, and no one becomes a Christian without it. The Spirit grants illumination and enables understanding of truth, which proves essential because by nature everyone is spiritually blind, no one naturally receives God's things as trustworthy, no one can call Jesus Lord, and no one can please God. The initial anointing of the Holy Spirit transforms this condition.
The anointing connects directly to knowledge. John links the anointing with "knowledge," and believers "know" the truth-not through intellectual achievement alone, but through the Spirit's illuminating work. False teachers may temporarily disturb believers, but they cannot persuade Christians to adopt heretical gospels because every Christian possesses this anointing and recognizes falsehood regarding Christ's person.
Importantly, believers are not solely dependent on spiritually gifted teachers to interpret Scripture; rather, the Holy Spirit's anointing serves as the guide to truth. This protective function addresses John's immediate concern: he warned his flock against false teachers "antichrists"-who denied that Jesus is the Christ and thus denied the Father and the Son.
The theological background enriches this meaning. The concept of anointing comes directly from Old Testament priesthood, where anointing was a symbolic ceremony setting priests apart as those who would carry out intercessory ministry between the nation and God. Christians are "anointed ones" in this sense, paralleling Psalm 105:15: Touch not my anointed ones.