End-Time Antichrists Series

In the Old Testament, priests, prophets and kings were often anointed with oil for a special task or to set them apart. This anointing represented the Holy Spirit as seen in 1 Samuel 16:13: “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.”

In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is given to all believers at conversion as stated in Galatians 4:6: “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” There are a lot of strange and unbiblical uses of the word anointing today but here’s what I want you to lock in on – if you’re saved, you’re anointed. It’s not some special or extra blessing, reserved only for some special people. I get this from 2 Corinthians 1:21-22: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” In short, anointing is not a special power; it’s a Person.

2. You have the truth. We see this in the last part of verse 20 and in verse 21: “…and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.” Have you heard the popular, yet syrupy saying that goes like this: “It’s doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere”? There is such a thing as absolute truth and it does matter what you believe. You can be sincere and be sincerely wrong. Real deal believers know the truth.

3. You have the teaching. Look at verse 27: “…and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you…” Cults require that members listen only to their leader or teacher. The Holy Spirit’s job is to guide believers into all the truth and to teach us what God has revealed. John 14:26: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Let me just say that John is not saying that teachers aren’t important. One reason he wrote his letters was to do some teaching. Plus, we know the gift of teaching according to Ephesians 4:11 was given to “prepare God’s people for works of service…”

Here’s the deal. False teachers used two special words to describe those who had a special relationship with God – knowledge and anointing. According to them, the enlightened elite had something special going on. Do you see how these verses addressed this error? They claimed they had a special anointing which gave them special knowledge. John says that all true Christians know God and have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. Period. Case closed.