You have an anointing!
The Apostle John writes in his first letter to those in the early church
who needed some guidance and encouragement as they went through troubled
and uncertain times. They needed to keep their eyes on Jesus so as not
to be knocked off the true path of life.
In chapter 2, he addresses these children in the faith about this “last
hour” that they are in. He speaks of the hostile opposition to the faith
and about those who deny that Jesus was truly the Messiah and of the
spirit of the antichrist already at work in the world (see 4:3). Today,
we live in a world of fake news, AI and air-brushed images; it’s often
hard to know quite where the truth lies.
John reminds these believers in Jesus that they have “an anointing
from the Holy One” (v20) and so are well equipped to separate truth
from lies. This gift of God is, after all, the Spirit of truth who will
guide them into all the truth, as Jesus had taught in John 16:13.
Jesus was a man full of the Holy Spirit, and he ministered in the
Spirit’s power from the time of his baptism. He was God’s Anointed –
this is the meaning of the Hebrew word Messiah (Christ in the Greek). As
he began his work, he took the words of Isaiah 61 and applied them to
himself, as we read in Luke 4:18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
because he has anointed me...”
As his short time of ministry came to an end, he commissioned his
disciples to continue the work and promised that they would receive
power to be his witnesses. This anointing from on high came on The Day
of Pentecost – the Holy Spirit filled them and set them off to serve as
his ambassadors in the world taking the Good News of his kingdom life to
the ends of the earth.
Those in the early church soon came up against opposition and people who
had other doctrinal ideas, so they needed great wisdom. Jesus declared
in John 8 - “If
you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(31-32). They were soon blessed to have the Spirit within them, and we
who follow Jesus today benefit from this same anointing. He gives us all
we need to navigate through the choppy seas of modern-day living amidst
all the diverse ideologies.
John urges us – “Dear
friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out
into the world.”
(1 John 4:1).
One of the gifts of the Spirit is that of discernment. We all possess a
degree of common sense, but sometimes we need deeper insight in order to
see things clearly and to differentiate between good and evil. The devil
masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14) and his false prophets
appear like harmless sheep but below the surface are in fact ferocious
wolves. We’ll soon know by their fruit or lack of it (Matthew 7:15-20).
The Spirit will help us keep safe and to hold to what is true.
Some may have a special gift of discernment but all of us who are in
Christ have on-board resources to help us know the truth – the anointing
from the Holy One. This equipping from the Holy Spirit is the real deal;
Jesus living presence with us every day granting us clarity of mind and
peace within – not like those counterfeit spirits spreading confusion
and fear and leading folk astray (2:27).
So, let’s keep watchful and alert so we don’t get hoodwinked or knocked
off course; let’s keep rooted in Jesus and know that he is right with
us, by his Spirit, helping us along.
With every blessing for the onward journey,
Grace and peace,
