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The
Vital Difference between Gifting and the Anointing
Is “the anointing” as
applied to servants of God today consistent with New Testament usage?
Today
in charismatic circles the terms “the anointing” and “anointed” are
often used to refer to certain servants of God who can prophesy in
the name of Jesus, and in his name drive out demons and perform many
miracles like healing the sick. In this introductory study we would
like to examine whether or not the usage of such terms is consistent
with
the New Testament.
The following are the instances of the words “anointing,” “anointed,” and “anoint” as
found in the New International Version of the New Testament. Instances of anointed priests, prophets, and kings in the Old Testament were types or shadows which were all fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ.
Anointing:
Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore
God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with
the oil of joy.
The word anointing here clearly refers to the anointing on the Messiah
Jesus Christ, and not to an anointing upon believers to prophesy, drive
out demons and perform miracles.
1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of
you know the truth.
Here the word anointing on believers refers to an anointing for them
to know the truth, and not to an anointing on them to prophesy, drive
out demons and perform miracles.
1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received
from him remains in you, 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…
Here the word anointing on believers refers to an anointing which
teaches them about all things, and not to an anointing upon them to
prophesy, drive out demons and perform miracles.
Anointed:
Mark 6:13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people
with oil and healed them.
Here the disciples were physically anointing sick people with oil.
The verse does not refer to them being anointed to prophesy, drive
out demons and perform miracles.
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because
he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me
to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed,
This reference is directly to the Messiah who would be anointed to
preach good news to the poor. It is not a reference to believers who
prophesy, drive out demons and perform miracles.
Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather
together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
Here the reference is directly to Christ, the Anointed One, and not to a believer who can prophesy, drive out demons and
perform miracles.
Note that the Greek can be rendered either “Christ” or “Anointed
One.” Many versions of the Bible use the word “Christ” instead
of “Anointed One.” This observation will be highly significant
later.
Acts 4:27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy
servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
The reference here is directly to Jesus Christ whom God anointed.
It does not refer to believers who prophesy, drive out demons and perform
miracles.
Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit
and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were
under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Here the reference has the Messiah Jesus Christ anointed with the
spirit and power to do good and to heal those under the power of the
devil. It clearly does not refer to believers who prophesy, drive out
demons and perform miracles.
2 Corinthians 1:21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm
in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and
put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to
come.
Here believers in Christ are anointed by God as a seal of His ownership
on us to guarantee our heavenly inheritance. It is not a reference
to an anointing upon us to prophesy, drive out demons and perform miracles.
Anoint:
Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might
go to anoint Jesus’ body.
This reference is to the women physically anointing
Jesus’ body
with spices.
James 5:14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the
church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the
Lord.
This refers to the physical anointing of the sick believer with oil,
not to an anointing on believers to prophecy, cast out demons and perform
miracles.
These instances exhaust the use of the words anointing, anointed,
and anoint in the New International Version of the New Testament.
Conclusion
We see that the only use of the word “anointing” in the
New Testament as applied to a believer is found in 1 John 2 where the
Lord’s anointing teaches us about all things so that we all know
the truth. It clearly does not refer to any anointing upon us to prophesy, heal the sick and cast out demons. Moreover, the use of the word “anointed” in
the New Testament almost always refers to Christ Himself. The only
meaningful instance where it does not is found in 1 Corinthians 1:21-22.
There, believers in Christ are anointed by God as a seal of His ownership
on us to guarantee our heavenly inheritance. Again, this use of “anointed” does
not refer to believers who prophesy, cast out demons and perform miracles
such as healing the sick.
Clearly,
disciples of Jesus Christ have been given power (dunamis)
and authority (exousia) to minister to the oppressed in
His name. However, the Greek word Christos and its Hebrew
equivalent Moshiach meaning "the anointed one" who
saves us are applied only to the Son of God Himself.
It is clear that as the Christ, Jesus was anointed to save us. The
Greek word for save is sozo. The word sozo includes not only saving from
sin, but also to deliver or protect: to heal from sickness, to preserve,
to save, to do well,
to be or make whole. It is clear that only Jesus Christ was anointed
to save us in this way. No man or disciple is anointed to save us and
heal us and deliver us.
What about the Old Testament?
The Old
Testament contains shadows (Colossians 2:17) and types which are
fulfilled in the New Testament. Instances of "the anointing" upon
men
and of "anointed ones" in the Old Testament were all fulfilled in Messiah
Jesus: the only one anointed to save, heal, and deliver.
Therefore,
current usage of the word “anointed” and “anointing” to
refer to those who can minister with power does not follow New Testament
practice. Proper usage applies to one person alone in the New Testament:
the only one anointed to save, the Messiah Jesus Christ. Messiah (in
Hebrew Moshiach)
also means
"the anointed one." Only Christ, through His death on the
cross, is anointed to save us from
sin and
subsequent consequences like disease and the second death. No disciple
of His should presume to take on anything resembling or even approaching
that title.
We
should
therefore
exercise
discernment toward those who come in the
name
of Christ and
who claim to have “the anointing” or to be “anointed.” Why?
Watch out that
you are not deceived by the "anointed ones"
Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives
you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and
will deceive many. (NIV)
Here Jesus commands us to watch out so that we are not deceived by
the many who will come in his name and claim to be the Christ. This
verse as it stands makes little sense. This is because any servant
of God who comes to us in the name of Jesus claiming to be the Christ
will be promptly rejected by the Church. He will in fact deceive no
one. In line with this, there is no one in the Church today who actually
claims to be the Christ. But Jesus warns us that there will be many.
How can we understand his warning? It is vital that we understand it
properly in order that we will not be among the many who will be deceived
in the last days. The answer is that we may have misunderstood what
Jesus actually meant.
As mentioned earlier, the Greek expression for Christ
can also be translated Anointed One. If we make this substitution
in Matthew 24:5,
we come up with “for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I
am the anointed one,’ and will deceive many.”
Today
there are in fact many who come in the name of Jesus Christ who claim
to be “anointed ones.” They claim
to have the anointing or to be anointed to prophesy,
to cast out demons, heal the
sick, and perform miracles. The practices and the supernatural manifestations
which appear in their meetings are usually attributed to the anointing upon
them or their ministries. Unfortunately the use of such terms to refer
to such people, as we have seen, is not consistent with the New Testament.
Matthew 24:11 and many
false prophets will appear and
deceive many people.
...23
At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is
the Christ [or anointed one]!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do
not believe it. 24 For false Christs [or false “anointed
ones”]
and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and
miracles to
deceive
even the elect—if that were possible. 25 See, I have told you
ahead of time. 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is,
out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in
the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
Jesus'
warning here is a bit cryptic. There
is no one today within mainstream Christianity who has been proclaiming
that Christ has appeared
"in the desert" or "in the inner rooms"---or
anywhere else on earth for that matter---and that we should gather
there to meet with him.
How
then should we
interpret his warning? Today in some circles
people are drawn by the thousands to meetings wherever an “anointed” servant
of God is ministering miraculous healing to the sick in the name of
Jesus Christ. Could the above Scriptures be warning
us to beware of such ministers? Whenever and wherever
these “anointed
ones” are
ministering, people will shout, “Come, he’s over there!” or “Come,
he’s
over here!” and the crowds will be irresistibly drawn like moths
to a flame to experience the miracles and “the anointing.” But
it will not be like that when the Messiah Jesus Christ, the true Anointed
One,
appears.
Matthew 24:27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible
even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever
there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
What could
this “carcass” refer to? Who are these “vultures” who
gather at the carcass? Now we might have some light on this enigmatic
verse.
Matthew 7:15 Watch
out for false prophets. …22 Many will say
to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me,
you evildoers!’
2
Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just
as there will be false teachers among you… 2 Many will
follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into
disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit
you with stories they have made up…
1
Timothy 6:5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who
have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means
to
financial
gain.
We must be careful
How can
we be careful not to be deceived by false prophets who can perform
miracles? The primary gauge must be Scripture itself. The
miracles must be performed as they are performed in Scripture. We
must be
very cautious toward 1) methods and practices and 2) supernatural
manifestations
which are not strongly supported by Scripture.
In the Elijah Challenge, there are three general criteria for determining
what supernatural practices are acceptable. We do this to stay on the
safe side.
1. The practice or method must be clearly commanded
by the Lord for
us to perform it.
2. The practice or method must have actually been performed by a disciple
of the Lord in Scripture.
3. It is best if the practice or method is not simply a one-time occurrence
in Scripture, but is based solidly on Scriptural principles.
We must exercise caution and discernment toward practices or methods
involving the spirit realm that do not meet these criteria.
As just one example, did Jesus ever command his disciples to drive
out territorial spirits and principalities? And was this action actually
performed anywhere in the Bible by a servant of God? No, Jesus never
commanded it nor did anyone in the Bible ever perform such an action.
These same three criteria we also apply to the many different supernatural
manifestations that we see in charismatic churches today. As just one
example, do the supernatural manifestations of gold dust and diamonds
appearing during meetings find strong support in Scripture? No, they
do not.
Why do
we need to be so careful and conservative? Because Jesus commands us
to “watch out that no one deceives you.” He
commands us to watch out for the many false anointed ones
and false prophets
who will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even
the elect, if that were possible. It is safer to err on the side of
being too cautious than on the side of being too liberal and then
falling prey to deception.
If we
do not heed the Lord’s
repeated warnings, we may be deceived. If we are, we will not be
able to
blame the false
prophet who deceived us. We all have access to the Scriptures. There
will be consequences for those who allow themselves to be deceived.
Not
"anointing" but power and authority
It is
not at all clear from New Testament Scripture that New Testament
disciples have been “anointed” or
given “the anointing” to minister with supernatural power
as is commonly claimed today.
By contrast,
it is abundantly clear from New Testament Scriptures that we have
been given power and authority by Jesus
Christ to heal the sick and cast out demons for the proclamation
of the kingdom of God to the lost.
Let us
heed Jesus’ warning about being deceived and be careful
to discern and to divide the Scriptures properly.
Not
the "Christ"
but the Son of Man
Interestingly,
when Jesus teaches about his Second Coming in Matthew 24, he never
refers to himself as “Christ.” He
consistently refers to himself there instead as “the Son of
Man.” (The
same thing is true of the parallel passages in Mark 13 and in Luke
17 & 21.)
Whenever
Jesus uses
the terms “Christ” or “Christs” as rendered
by the NIV in Matthew 24, he in fact is referring to a
false Christ or false anointed one. He makes a clear distinction
and puts distance between "Christ" as rendered in the NIV and "the
Son of Man."
This is
consistent with the possibility that incidences of the term “Christ(s)” in
Matthew 24 should instead be rendered “anointed one(s)”---
as in “false
anointed ones and false prophets” in verse 24.
It is significant that in November 2008 J. Lee Grady, Editor of Charisma
Magazine, wrote an article which was entitled Preparing
for a Charismatic Meltdown.
Some years
ago Mr. Ed Tarkowski independently wrote a relevant article which
has been reprinted below.
A Christian Perspective on Chakras and "The
Revival"
"Though
many tie the current revival to the laughing phenomenon of Rodney
Howard Browne and The Toronto Experience, there are many other
manifestations besides the laughing phenomenon. But more important
than what we call these phenomena is that we know the source of these
manifestations.
Call it what you will, the power that has gained a foothold on the
Church through Browne and Toronto is the foundation of the entire global
"revival." I can personally testify to the fact that it is kundalini
power. I can testify that it is real power. I can tell you it is power
straight out of the practices of the New Age and the Manifest Sons
of God doctrines that have penetrated Christianity. I can tell you
it is not power coming from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The laughing
phenomena itself has been associated with the 5th chakra (the Throat
Chakra) of the New Age, but one of the
major manifestations
during the past two years has been the manifestation of spiritual fire.
The shaking of the "hot hand" manifesting "the anointing" is
now a common thing among those distributing it, such as [some well-known
charismatic ministers], all seen on [a certain Christian TV program].
It is apparent the so-called "fire
of the Holy Spirit" introduced
by Browne and Toronto only three short years ago has indeed spread
among "the anointed ones." But this type of spiritual fire,
with its physical sensations and intense burning in the body, is not
scriptural. Jeremiah did not have literal fire burning in his bones,
but the modern "prophets" do. It is not Holy Ghost fire we
are seeing today, but the kundalini experience of the New Age burning
its way through the Church. That should become more evident when I
post a section on occult terms associated with such phenomena. For
now, I submit this material so you can do your own comparison."
This study
by Ed Tarkowski and much more are available on the internet at: http://www.velocity.net/~edju/kundalini.htm and
also at http://www.velocity.net/~edju/test1.htm.
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Back to 'Classic' Christianity
By J. Lee Grady, Editor of Charisma Magazine
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