The Spirit received by the believers essentially is also the Spirit of life. The Spirit of life is the reality of life, for the Spirit contains the element of the divine life. Actually, the Spirit Himself is life. Therefore, with the Spirit of life we have the riches of the divine life. Life belongs to the Spirit, and the Spirit is of life, for these two actually are one. The fact that we cannot separate life from the Spirit is indicated by John 6:63, “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.” Here the Lord Jesus connects the Spirit and life. If we do not have the Spirit, we do not have life. But since we have received the Spirit, we have life, the eternal, uncreated life of God.
We have pointed out that the Spirit of reality is the reality of the divine Trinity. The reality of the divine Trinity is mainly life. Life is the intrinsic essence of the divine Trinity. Hence, the Spirit is not only the Spirit of reality but also the Spirit of life. The Spirit is of life, and life is of the Spirit. Life is His content, and He is the reality of life, even life itself. We, the believers in Christ, have received the Spirit as the Spirit of life.
The Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God anoints the believers. In particular, the Spirit anoints us with the reality of the divine Trinity as life.
Second Corinthians 1:21 says, “He who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” Christ, the anointed One, is full of anointing. Because we have been attached to Him by God, we have been anointed by the Spirit. Now the Spirit moves in us, anointing the Triune God into us that His element may become our constituent.
Hebrews 1:9b is another verse that indicates that the believers are anointed by the Spirit: “Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your partners.” In God’s economy Christ has been anointed to accomplish God’s plan, and we are Christ’s partners in the divine interest. He was anointed by God, and now we share with Him in this anointing for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Two verses in 1 John speak of the Spirit’s anointing the believers. First John 2:20 says, “You have an anointing from the Holy One,” and verse 27 says, “The anointing which you received from Him abides in you.” According to grammar, the word “anointing” is a gerund, a verbal noun, and as such conveys action. The anointing is the moving of the indwelling Spirit. Hence, the anointing is the function of the all-inclusive Spirit. Actually, according to 1 John 2:20-27 the anointing is the personification of the all-inclusive Spirit, who is the consummation of the processed Triune God. This all-inclusive Spirit came into us at the time of our regeneration and will abide in us forever.
In His economy, the Triune God reaches us as the Spirit. When the Triune God comes into our spirit, He is the life-giving Spirit. This Spirit, who dwells in our spirit, is now moving within us. This moving of the Spirit whom we have received essentially is the anointing.
The Spirit also seals the believers. In 2 Corinthians 1:22 Paul tells us that God has “sealed us and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.” Ephesians 1:13 says, “You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,” and 4:30 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.” To be sealed with the Holy Spirit is to be marked with the Holy Spirit as a living seal. The Spirit as the seal of God upon us bears the image of God. This implies that the seal of the Spirit is the expression of God. The Holy Spirit, who is God Himself entering into us, causes us to bear God’s image signified by the seal. Therefore, when we bear the Holy Spirit as the seal of God, we bear the image of God, His expression.
The seal of the Spirit is not separate from His anointing. As we are under the Spirit’s anointing, the anointing becomes a sealing which causes us to bear the image of God. When the Spirit anoints us, the anointing is the sealing. First, the Spirit through the anointing, adds the essence of the Triune God into us. Then the anointing seals us with this essence and makes us the image of God. This means that the anointing brings in the essence, and the sealing produces the image.
In addition to anointing and sealing the believers, the Spirit pledges in them. Second Corinthians 1:22b speaks of “the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts,” and 5:5 says, “He who has wrought us for this very thing is God, who has given to us the pledge of the Spirit.” Furthermore, Ephesians 1:14 tells us that the Spirit is “the pledge of our inheritance.” The pledge of the Spirit is the Spirit Himself as the pledge, and the pledge is a guarantee that the Triune God is our inheritance. Because God is our inheritance, the Spirit is a pledge of this inheritance to us.
The pledge of the Spirit involves the moving of the Spirit within us. The Spirit is not only a pledge guaranteeing our inheritance; He is now pledging within us. This means that the pledge of the Spirit is not merely a once-for-all matter, because the Spirit is continually pledging within us. On the day we were saved the Spirit began to pledge in us, and this pledging continues day by day. Furthermore, this pledging of the Spirit involves the dispensing of the Triune God into us. As the Spirit pledges in our being. He dispenses Himself into us. Actually, the Spirit’s anointing, sealing, and pledging all involve the dispensing of the processed Triune God into our being.