What Exactly is the Anointing?

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Acts 10:38

The anointing is the Holy Spirit. Every teaching you hear about the Holy Spirit is a teaching about the anointing.

The word ‘anointing’ is both a verb and a noun. ‘Anointing’ can mean the substance used to anoint a person; for example the anointing oil. Anointing can also mean the act of pouring oil on someone.

When I speak of the anointing, I speak of the person of the Holy Spirit that is given to you to do the work of God. It is important to go beyond the anointed to see the anointing. The anointed is enveloped with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth went about doing good because He was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power. Jesus could have been anointed with olive oil, engine oil, coconut oil or with Vaseline. If he had been anointed with any of these things we would safely say that the anointing substance is the olive oil, engine oil, coconut oil or Vaseline. But Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. We can therefore say that the anointing substance with which Jesus was anointed was the Holy Spirit. The mysterious Holy Spirit comes to abide upon a person who is anointed by God.

When a person is anointed, Almighty God moves to rest upon a person within a person or to be with a person in a special way. This is what makes the person anointed and powerful. When you are dealing with an anointed person you are actually dealing with God. When you are dealing with an anointed person you are dealing with the Holy Spirit.

This is why there are such severe reactions to people who mishandle the anointed and his anointing. They are not actually mishandling men but they are mishandling God. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter, who was anointed to be an apostle, they died instantly. This was a severe reaction which frightened the other church members. But Peter explained the mistake that Ananias and Sapphira had made. He said, “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to LIE TO THE HOLY GHOST, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.” (Acts 5:3-5).

You may ask, ‘Why is it that many people lie to pastors today and do not seem to die instantly? Is it that they are not anointed?’ The answer is simple. There are different types of manifestations of the Spirit at different times. Even in Peter’s ministry, no one else died for telling lies. You can never tell when God’s power will manifest in a certain way. I am sure many other people have died for telling lies to the Holy Spirit. It may not be instant death but death is still death.