Thomas K M A retired Defence Scientist from Indian Defence R&D Orgn.

The simple answer is that anointing is for ever.

The word anointing today has acquired a broad meaning among believers. It is used to denote a general blessing.

Scripturally, however, there is no such thing as an anointing, only the anointing—the anointing of the Holy Spirit or baptism with the Spirit. Holy Spirit anointing is fully scriptural.


In the Old Testament all who served God had to be anointed. This is replaced in the New Testament by the Holy Spirit—given for all believers. “Anointing” is just one of the synonyms for the baptism in the Spirit used in Scripture.

The anointing comes through a sovereign act of God. The disciples and apostles were never anointed with oil. In the New Testament, all Christians received the Holy Spirit for their work of service. Since Pentecost, believers carry the “spirit of Christ " for ever.

As Christians, our anointing flows out of Christ’s anointing, and we receive it only from Him: “Of His fullness we have all received” (John 1:16)

Scripture calls Jesus “the anointed One” (Dan. 9:25). Peter answered Jesus and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Jesus is as exclusively anointed as He was exclusively the Son of God.

When Jesus healed the sick, it was not just sheer voltage power He wielded. It was also the power of His conquering love. He healed the sick by His stripes—that was the secret wonder of His anointing.

He healed a withered arm, even though He knew it would provoke men to plot against His life. He risked everything and went to any lengths, even to a Roman cross, for the sake of those who suffered.

In Scripture God never anointed anybody twice. David was anointed of the Lord through the prophet Samuel. Later Israel’s elders did not anoint him a second time.

Jesus was anointed by God, not by John the Baptist. In the case of anointing in the upper room, it lasted forever

When someone says that they have been baptized in the Spirit, how long does it last? A week? An hour? Six months?

Does the Holy Spirit leak away like power from a car battery? Is the baptism with the Spirit only one drink, and we need to go for another and another, like cups of tea?

Also, how should we know when the Spirit has gone and we need another renewal? For how long can we say, “I am Spirit-filled”? What signs are there when we are and when we are not?

The anointing renews us; we do not renew it. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of newness. And 1 John 2:27 says: “The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you.”

If we are doing the work God called us to, then the anointing rests upon us without ever becoming less. We receive it moment by moment, like a waterfall fed by a never-failing river. All that is usually necessary is that we release His energies by working 

The inward Spirit is seen by outward effects—physical indications of an inward and spiritual cause. 

The real power of God comes only with the Holy Spirit, who reveals the loveliness of Jesus, the Anointed One, and His graciousness.

July 03 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In my opinion, the anointing of the Holy Spirit that the disciples received at Pentecost (as described in Acts 2) was given greater "visibility" by God (in the form of the rushing wind, the tongues of flame, and the gift of tongues) because it was the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit that marked the real beginning of the Christian church on earth. It was also timed by God to occur when Jews from many different nations would be present in Jerusalem, to aid in the initial dissemination of the gospel message to all those nations.

I find no indication in the Bible that those manifestations of the Spirit's presence with the disciples lasted beyond the day on which they occurred (although there are subsequent isolated instances recorded in Acts of individuals speaking in tongues as a sign of having received the Spirit, but these also occurred in order to make unmistakably clear that the expansion of the church to Gentiles (in Acts 10), and also to those who had previously heard only of the baptism of repentance that John the Baptist had preached (in Acts 19), was the will of God. 

However, that Pentecost day also marked the beginning of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in believers, and the granting of spiritual gifts to believers by the Holy Spirit (including the ability to speak in other languages, as discussed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12), which has continued up to the present day (although normally not with the visibility of the signs that occurred on that Pentecost). Those individualized gifts from God would have then remained with believers to aid them in their effort to bring others to Christ.

July 03 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report