The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

“If you love Me, you will keep My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” John 14:15–16

The Holy Spirit might be the most mysterious person of the Trinity. Although the Holy Spirit is not given titles like Father or Son, He is still portrayed as a person, particularly in the New Testament, where personal pronouns and personal attributes are consistently applied to Him. As for the Old Testament, the exact term ‘Holy Spirit’ is not used nearly as much. When it is used, it is primarily attributed to God, making Him a spirit that is from God (Ps 51:11; Isa 63:10). His personal aspect becomes more evident once Jesus introduces Him in the New Testament, calling Him the παράκλητος (paraklētos). This word is a compound of the Greek preposition παρά (para, “beside”) and the verb καλέω (kaleō, “to call”), together meaning “the one who is called to one’s side.” In English, this word is usually translated as “Counselor.” His personal attributes are even more emphasized by Jesus in John 14: “the Counselor, the Holy Spirit —the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26) and “… I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you” (John 14:16-18). Jesus introduces Him not just as an invisible spirit, but the third person of the Trinity who will be sent from the Father, Who will speak to us and be called to our side. Considering this contrast between His introduction in the Old and the New Testament, what has been the purpose of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture, and has His role changed after the installment of the New Testament?

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Although in the Old Testament, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is not laid out for us as much as it is in the New Testament, His appearances do reveal a significant picture of His role.

“I will take some of the Spirit who is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself … Then the LORD descended in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed the Spirit on the 70 elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied…” Numbers 11:17,25

Besides the title “Holy Spirit,” the Old Testament often refers to Him using terminology like “the Spirit of God” or “the Spirit of the Lord.” In this passage, God tells Moses that He will appoint 70 men besides him as elders and officers to help him “bear the burden of the people.” Another example of someone receiving the Holy Spirit is Israel’s judge Othniel (Judg 3:9–10). In the Old Testament, everyone who received the Holy Spirit had some kind of leadership position over God’s people. Whether this was a king, prophet, judge, or priest. More exciting language is used when David receives the Spirit in 1 Samuel 16:13. In this passage, Samuel did not just tell David he was going to be king, “…Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD took control of David from that day forward.” He anointed him, causing the Spirit of God to fall upon David and take control of him. Isaiah writes in a Messianic passage: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners” (Isa 61:1). What this tells us is that those who were anointed received the Holy Spirit to step into an office that God had assigned to them.

The Necessity of Anointing

“You are to be holy to Me because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine.” Leviticus 20:26

Prophets, kings, and priests were required to act on God’s behalf. In Exodus 30:22:32, God gives Moses the instructions and ingredients for the anointing oil. With it, he was to anoint the tent of meeting and many of its attributes, and “whatever touches them will be consecrated.” After this, God told Moses: “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests.” Everything and everyone that has been appointed to serve God ought to be holy; the appointed one was not to depend on their own abilities and sinful nature, but on the holiness of God Himself. Therefore, to attain competence for their appointed office, they had to be anointed with His Spirit, sometimes using holy anointing oil. By this, the recipient was set apart for service to God and made holy in some sense as they became a vessel of God. When the Holy Spirit came upon someone, it was God acting through them, calling them to tasks that could not be accomplished by skill alone, but by complete dependence on Him. By giving them His Spirit, He put a piece of Himself in mankind to help them perform their holy duty. Every anointed person in Scripture did not simply receive the Holy Spirit; they received their holy duty to God alongside it to represent Him on earth before His people.

So Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD took control of David from that day forward. - 1 Samuel 16:13

The Holy Spirit in the New Testament

"First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20–21

When we say that the words of Scripture all testify about Christ, we mean that literally. Every word the prophets spoke and every word the writers of the biblical text wrote down was inspired by the Holy Spirit “…and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16–17). And the Spirit testifies about Christ (John 15:26). In stating this, Jesus makes Himself the center of all the words the Old Testament prophets spoke, which He demonstrates by fulfilling the law (Matt 5:17).

Pentecost Reception

Pentecost marks the moment when the Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh (Acts 2:27; Joel 2:28–32). This event seems to contrast with the exclusivity of the Holy Spirit found in the Old Testament. Does this mean the purpose of the Spirit has changed under the new covenant? The Greek verb used for ‘anointing’ is χρίω (chriō), meaning “to anoint” or in a figurative sense “an anointing by God setting a person apart for special service under divine direction”¹ From this word, we also get the derived title Χρίστος (Christos) meaning “Anointed One.” The word χρίω is used in a few instances throughout the New Testament. Paul uses it in his epistle to the Corinthians when he states that "…it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed [= χρίω] us” (2 Cor 1:21). In his first epistle, John tells his audience that they “…have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge” (1 John 2:20), using the related noun χρῖσμα (chrisma, “anointing”). So what kind of anointing do we have today? Paul calls Jesus’ followers “…ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God’” (2 Cor 5:20). God has been revealed to us through the person of Jesus, the Anointed One; the Son of God. Just as in the Old Testament, those anointed with His Spirit are called to plead on His behalf. In 1 Peter 2, Peter goes even further by proclaiming that we as Jesus’ followers “…are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Therefore, “as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15).

Modern Priesthood

To this day, the Holy Spirit is still only given to those who have been appointed by God to speak and act on His behalf. Where in the Old Testament, this was only a select group of people, “when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph 3:13-14). Proverbs 3:5 commands us to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.” This command does not simply serve as advice; it is a roadmap for a life devoted to God. We, as believers, are called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. To do this, we must deny ourselves (Matt 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). To serve a holy God, we must be holy, as He is holy. Since we cannot do this by our strength, God has given us His Spirit, and this Spirit is now received through faith (Gal 3:14); this is the only condition that remains. Therefore, “the world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.”

Recommended readings

• 1 Corinthians 12

Footnotes

1. Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. 2000. In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., 1091. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.