We have seen that in the third stage of the Spirit’s work in the believers the Spirit works to maintain our fellowship with the Triune God. In this message we shall consider further aspects of this stage of the Spirit’s work.
The New Testament reveals that the Spirit anoints the believers. Second Corinthians 1:21 says, “He who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” In Greek Christ means the anointed One. Christ, the anointed One, is full of ointment, full of anointing. Because we have been attached to Him, we have been anointed also. In the universe there is only One who has been anointed by God, and this One is Christ, the anointed One. Now we are all in this anointed One. We have been anointed by being attached to Him. The Spirit moves in us, anointing God Himself into us that the element of God may become our constituent and that we may know God and desire His will in everything.
Two verses in the Epistle of 1 John refer to the work of the Spirit in anointing the believers. First John 2:20 says, “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.” Verse 27 of the same chapter goes on to say, “The anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.” According to grammar, the word “anointing” is a gerund, a verbal noun. Such a noun conveys action. As used in these verses, the anointing denotes something experiential that is taking place within us. The anointing is the moving and working of the indwelling compound Spirit. The anointing is just the function of the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit. If we carefully read 1 John 2:20-27, we shall realize that the anointing is actually the personification of the compound Spirit, who is the processed Triune God. This all-inclusive Spirit from the Holy One entered into us at the time of our regeneration and abides in us forever.
The Triune God reaches us as the Spirit. If God were only the Father and the Son, He could not enter into us. It is only as the Spirit that the Triune God can enter into our spirit. The word anointing in 1 John 2:20 and 27 refers mainly to the Spirit. Actually, the ointment is the Spirit, and the anointing is the moving of this ointment. When we speak of the anointing, we mean the Triune God reaching us as the Spirit. When the Triune God comes into our spirit, He is the life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit, who dwells in our spirit, is now moving within us. This moving is the anointing.
The anointing Spirit in 1 John 2 is the fulfillment of the type of the compound ointment in Exodus 30. In this compound ointment there are a number of different elements that are ingredients of the ointment. These elements include the processed Triune God and His activities. The Triune God has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. These are the steps in His activity. All these steps have become elements of the compound, life-giving Spirit. Therefore, the anointing Spirit is actually a compound of the Triune God and His activities. The anointing Spirit includes divinity and humanity, the divine nature and the human nature. Such a compound Spirit includes incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. All these are elements of the compound Spirit typified by the compound ointment in Exodus 30.
In the compound Spirit we have the Father, the Son, the Spirit, divinity, humanity, incarnation, human living, the effectiveness of Christ’s death, the power of His resurrection, and His ascension. The anointing is the moving of this compound Spirit with all His elements. By applying Himself to us in this way, the compound Spirit teaches us concerning the Triune God and His activities.
In verse 27 John says, “You have no need that anyone should teach you.” Concerning the indwelling of the divine Trinity (John 14:17, 23), we do not need anyone to teach us. By the anointing of the all-inclusive, compound Spirit, who is a composition of the divine Trinity, we know and enjoy the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as our life and life supply.
According to verse 27, the anointing of the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit teaches us concerning all things, which are the things concerning the divine Trinity. This is not an outward teaching by words; it is an inward teaching by the anointing through our inner spiritual consciousness. This teaching by the anointing adds the divine elements of the Trinity, which are the elements of the anointing compound Spirit, into our being. As a result, the Triune God is transfused, infused, and added into all the inward parts of our being so that our inner man may grow in the divine life with the divine elements.
Only through the Triune God becoming the anointing Spirit can we be taught concerning the Triune God and His activities. This kind of teaching is not objective; rather, it is very subjective. The Triune God has become the anointing Spirit, and His anointing is now within us. This subjective anointing, the moving of the composition of the Triune God with all His activities, can now teach us the things concerning the Triune God and His activities. Therefore, it is such an anointing that teaches us the things concerning the Triune God.
The anointing has much to do with our abiding in the Lord. This abiding is a matter of the Lord as the Spirit dwelling in our spirit. Apart from the anointing, we cannot abide in the Lord. If we do not abide in the Lord, we cannot maintain our fellowship with the Triune God. Furthermore, if we do not maintain the divine fellowship, we cannot enjoy the riches of the divine life. We may also say that to enjoy the riches of the divine life, we need to maintain the fellowship; to maintain the fellowship, we need to abide in the Lord; and in order to abide in the Lord, we need to take care of the inner anointing, which is the moving of the indwelling Spirit in our spirit.
First John 2:27 concludes with an exhortation to abide in the Triune God. The Greek word translated “abide” is meno, a word that means to stay (in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy); hence, abide, remain, and dwell. To abide in Him is to abide in the Son and in the Father. This is to remain and dwell in the Lord (John 15:4-5). It is also to abide in the fellowship of the divine life and to walk in the divine light (1 John 1:2-3, 6-7). We should practice this abiding according to the teaching of the all-inclusive anointing so that our fellowship with God may be maintained.
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