Obeying the teaching of the anointing is the crucial and central experience of our spiritual life. This lesson is related to all the dealings we experience on the negative side and the building up on the positive side. [Therefore, our obedience to the anointing is the secret of our growth in life. If we desire to follow the Lord in the way of life, we should have a thorough knowledge and experience of this lesson.]
[What is the meaning of the anointing? We can understand this by the term itself and by its origin in the Bible. Firstly, let us look at the meaning of the term itself. The anointing of 1 John 2:27 in the original Greek is not a noun, but a verb pertaining to a certain kind of motion. It is not an ointment in a quiescent state, inactive and motionless, but it is an ointment in a state of motion and activity, involving the movement of anointing. Then what does the anointing refer to?] All Bible students agree that the anointing refers to the moving of the Holy Spirit, and that the ointment in the Old Testament is a type of the Holy Spirit.
Who is the Holy Spirit? Many people misunderstand the Holy Spirit as a power or a thing given by God to do supernatural or sometimes spooky things. No. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God. The eternal God is embodied in the eternal Word (John 1:1). This eternal Word is God who became flesh and was called Christ Jesus (John 1:14). This complete God as a genuine man lived a perfect human life (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). He went to the cross to remove all the negative things in the universe (Heb. 2:14) and to release His life to all His chosen and redeemed people (John 12:24). In resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), that is, the Holy Spirit. Therefore when we talk about the Holy Spirit, we are talking about the Triune God-Father, Son and Spirit-who went through a process to consummate in the Spirit.
This Holy Spirit is typified by the compound ointment in the Old Testament. Exodus 30:23-25 describes how the compound ointment is made. This ointment is made of four spices-myrrh, cinnamon, calamus and cassia-added to a hin of olive oil. Myrrh is a sweet spice used for burials, so it typifies the Lord’s sweet death. Cinnamon has certain healing properties, thus it typifies the effectiveness of His death. Calamus is a reed which grows out of muddy places high into the air, therefore, it must signify the Lord’s resurrection. Cassia, the last spice, repels insects and especially snakes. It reminds us of the power of His resurrection.
Since the compound ointment in the Old Testament typifies the Holy Spirit, we may call the Spirit, the compound Spirit. With this compound Spirit, we have the Lord’s sweet death for us. The effectiveness of His death always kills all the negative elements inside our being (Rom. 8:13). This Spirit also brings to us His resurrection with the life and its power. By this resurrection power we may overcome all our enemies, especially Satan, the snake. Hallelujah! Not only that, the Spirit also brings into us all that God is-love, light, holiness, righteousness, etc.-and all that God has, obtained and attained. What a wonderful Spirit is dwelling in us.
Since the Spirit is a living person, He is always moving. This is why in 1 John chapter two, He is not merely called the ointment, but the anointing. We are unholy naturally. He is Holy. He always moves within us to sanctify us, that is, to separate us from the common worldly things, so that we may be filled with the holy nature of God. He kills everything in us that is not of God and for God. Then He adds to us all that God is. Therefore, to follow the teaching of the anointing is crucial to our experience and growth of life.
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