The Spirit is also the anointing ointment in the believers to anoint them (2 Cor. 1:21; Heb. 1:9b; 1 John 2:20, 27). The Spirit is not dormant in the believers; rather, He is always in motion and active. His moving, His action, is a kind of anointing to add more of the elements of the Triune God into them. The more this anointing ointment anoints them, the more the divine elements increase in them and the more the Triune God is united with them. The Spirit’s adding the divine elements into them by anointing them is like someone’s painting a piece of furniture. If he continues to paint, eventually that piece of furniture will be completely saturated with the paint, and the entire piece of furniture will bear the color of the paint.
It is also in this way that the Spirit’s anointing causes the Triune God to be mingled with the believers. The Triune God Himself is both the Painter and the paint; the believers are like pieces of furniture. It pleases God to be mingled with them that they may be filled with His elements. Therefore, He has become the Spirit to be the anointing ointment continually anointing them until they are filled with His elements. When paint is applied to furniture, there is no interaction between the two. However, when the Spirit as the anointing is added into the believers, He is mingled with them as one.
The compound Spirit as the anointing is typified by the holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30. The holy anointing ointment was made by mingling four spices with a hin of olive oil. This blending made the oil into a fragrant ointment. Olive oil signifies the Spirit of God. Flowing myrrh smells sweet but tastes bitter, and in the Bible it is used mostly for burial. Hence, it signifies the precious death of Christ. Cinnamon has a distinctive flavor and is used as a spice in cooking. Thus, fragrant cinnamon signifies the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death. Calamus is a reed which grows out of a marsh or muddy place and shoots high into the air. Hence, calamus signifies the precious resurrection of Christ. Cassia was used in ancient times as a repellent to drive away insects and snakes. Cassia thus signifies the power of Christ’s resurrection. These four spices compounded with a hin of olive oil became the holy anointing ointment.
In the compounded ointment there were a hin of olive oil and four spices. In the Bible the number one signifies the unique God, and the number four signifies the creatures. Hence, the holy anointing ointment signifies the mingling of divinity with humanity. The first and the fourth of the spices were each of five hundred shekels. Five hundred signifies full responsibility. The second and third of the spices were each of two hundred fifty shekels. Hence, with the four spices there were three complete units of five hundred shekels. These three complete units signify the Triune God, and the middle unit divided in half signifies that the Second of the Godhead was split through death. The entire picture signifies that the Triune God has passed through death and that in resurrection He is mingled with humanity to bear the full responsibility.
Today the Spirit, who is typified by the holy anointing ointment, is the Triune God processed to become the all-inclusive compound Spirit. In this Spirit we can see divinity, humanity, the death of Christ, the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death, the resurrection of Christ, and the power of His resurrection. Now this all-inclusive compound Spirit is anointing us with all His riches as the ointment.
The Spirit is also the seal in the believers (2 Cor. 1:22a; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). A seal is a mark. The believers’ being sealed with the Spirit means that God has put the Spirit into them as a seal to mark them out, indicating that they are God’s possession. Furthermore, a seal has an image. When the believers are sealed with the Spirit, they bear the image of God. Therefore, they are like God and they express God. The Spirit as the seal comes into the believers once for all, but the sealing of the Spirit is a continuing process. The believers have been sealed with the Spirit unto the redemption of God’s acquired possession (Eph. 1:14), that is, the redemption, the transfiguration, of the believers’ body. The Spirit’s sealing is His continual moving within the believers. It begins in their spirit and it spreads into their mind, emotion, and will. Eventually even their body will be sealed, saturated, with the Spirit. Thus their entire being will be sealed with the Spirit and completely joined to the Spirit as one.
The Spirit is also the pledge in the believers (2 Cor. 1:22b; 5:5b; Eph. 1:14). In God’s economy the believers are an inheritance to God, and God is an inheritance to them. For the believers to be God’s inheritance, they need the sealing of the Spirit. Moreover, because God is their inheritance, they also need the pledging of the Spirit. The Greek word for pledge also means foretaste, guarantee, token payment guaranteeing the full payment, a part payment in advance. The Spirit as the pledge of the believers’ inheritance is not only a guarantee, guaranteeing that God and all that belongs to God are their eternal portion, their inheritance, but He is also a foretaste of what they will inherit of God. In ancient times, the Greek word for pledge was used in the purchase of land. The seller gave the buyer a sample of the soil from the land being purchased. This indicates that the Spirit is the sample of what we shall inherit of God.
The Spirit as the anointing in the believers imparts God’s elements into them; as the sealing He forms the divine elements into an impression that the believers may express God’s image; and as the pledging He gives them a foretaste as a sample and guarantee of the full taste of God. These three matters—the anointing, the sealing, and the pledging—are actually three aspects of one thing. First the believers are anointed, then they are sealed, and then they have the pledge as a guarantee. Hence, they can be completely mingled with the Triune God and be one with Him.