The Anointing According To The Scriptures

This practice of anointing priests with this special anointing oil was an Old Testament ordinance that has not come forward into the New Testament. In the New Testament the anointing is solely the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. (1 John 2:20-27)

The New Testament Greek words for “anoint” are chrio, which means “to smear or rub with oil” and, by implication, “to consecrate for office or religious service”; and aleipho, which means “to anoint.”

Another meaning for the word anointed is "chosen one." The Bible says that Jesus Christ was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit to spread the Good News and free those who have been held captive by sin (Luke 4:18-19; Acts 10:38). After Christ left the earth, He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). Now all Christians are anointed, chosen for a specific purpose in furthering God's Kingdom (1 John 2:20). "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

The Bible never says or even implies that the anointing is a supernatural power given to humans by which they are able to perform miracles. The Bible never says or implies that there is any such thing as a double or triple portion of the anointing as suggested by some teachers.

But didn’t Elisha in 2 Kings 2 request a double portion anointing? In 2 Kings 2:9 before Elijah was taken up to heaven, he asks Elisha what he can do for him. Then Elisha ask for “a double portion of (Elijah’s) spirit.” The Hebrew words used here do not indicate that Elisha received a “double portion anointing " (2 Kings 2:9). Elisha wanted to be Elijah's successor; he was requesting to be considered as a firstborn .

In Deuteronomy 21:17 tell us that "a double portion" was the right of the first born, therefore Elisha’s request was to be heir to Elijah’s office and gifts. The purpose was to affirm his ministry. Today the "anointing" is said to mean having more power or to have an immediate experience , but this is not what is presented in Scripture.

There are no double portion today, we all share the same anointing equally as He is in us. (1 John 2:27) Nowhere in the New Testament teach such a thing. While we all need to be continually filled with the Spirit, it is dependent on us to yield ourselves, be humble so our life has Holy Spirit control.

It is impossible to have a clear biblical understanding of what anointing means if the word “anointing” is wrongly defined as the “power of God.” Simply reading through the Bible and noting its usage throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament, demonstrates that anointing is not the “power of God” but the act of being consecrated or set apart for God.

What is the anointing that we hear so much about today? The anointing has become an experience that states that God is not confined to the Scripture alone. While there are shreds of truth in the statement that God is not limited, neither is He excessive. We don't put an experience before the word of God, nor a special revelation over the word of revealed revelation (Rev. 22:18-19). If there is to be any true experience it would be complimentary to the word and not contradict it.