Holy Spirit: What is the unction the apostle John talks about?

To correctly understand this, one must realize that many things changed when this present Dispensation of Grace began at the time of the apostle Paul’s salvation that’s recorded in Acts 9. Then there were even more changes that occurred between that time and the end of the time frame of the book of Acts.  For more information about this and related things, please see my articles about it—

Paul:  Who exactly is this man to us? 

Paul:  Do we make too much of him?

Paul: What’s so special about his teaching?

If you go to the web and ask for a definition of unction, it’ll read something like this—the action of anointing someone with oil or some kind of ointment as a religious rite or as a symbol for inducting them into an office. An example of this is the anointing of David as Israel’s new king.  This anointing was a very significant event, marking the transition from King Saul to King David as the divinely chosen new king of Israel. We have a record of this event in Samuel’s writings. What a wonderful story it is!

1 Samuel 16:1-13

¹ And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil [to anoint David as the new king], and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

² And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul [who was at that time their king] hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.

Isn’t it interesting that the Lord tells Samuel to misrepresent his actual purpose for being there to protect himself.

³ And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.

⁴ And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?

⁵ And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

⁶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.

⁷ But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this.

⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this.

¹⁰ Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these.

¹¹ And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

¹² And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. [Emphasis added]

But what has all this to do with an unction? It is because an unction was the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Note that I didn’t say indwelling but anointing. As it is presented in Scripture there seems to be a difference.  It is also important to note that this word unction is only found once in the King James Version of the Bible and it is nowhere found in the writings of OUR apostle, the apostle Paul. Instead, it is Israel’s apostle John who speaks this.

1 John 2:20

²⁰ But ye have an UNCTION from the Holy One, and ye KNOW ALL THINGS. [Emphasis added]

I wanted to write this article because it has been things like this that so many have been confused about. Do believers today have this UNCTION or something like it? Do believers today have special miraculous abilities of the Holy One that even enable them to KNOW ALL THINGS? Every believer today occupies a special position of privilege and service for our Lord by having the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. But is it this UNCTION or something like it? What we DO have today is the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit and our apostle Paul never speaks of it as an unction.

1 Corinthians 12:13-14

¹³ For by one Spirit are we ALL baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. [Emphasis added]

This IS NOT a water baptism but a Spirit baptism.  It is one whereby every believer is permanently identified with God the Holy Spirit. But does this then mean that God has given us special miraculous abilities through an “anointing”? It does not! All those things passed away with the completion of our Bible.

1 Corinthians 13:10

¹⁰ But WHEN that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. [Emphasis added]

By having the Holy Spirit indwell us we are equipped to be of service to God.  The other part of this equipping is knowledge of God’s word.  This “knowledge” is only gained through one’s diligent study of our Bible.

2 Timothy 2:15

¹⁵ Study [SPOUDAZO = Be diligent] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [Emphasis added]

There is nothing instantaneous about this.  It takes diligent study of our Bible and especially what we speak of as the thirteen Pauline epistles. For more information about this, please see my articles about it—

Paul: Do we make too much of him?

Paul: What’s so special about his teaching?

Paul: Who exactly is this man to us?

Peter & Paul: Did they proclaim the same message?

We all need to let Paul’s writings saturate our thinking.

Colossians 3:16a

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; [Emphasis added]

Our apostle Paul also speaks of this SAME thing as the filling of the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18

¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but BE filled with the Spirit; [Emphasis added]

You will find several articles on this website that explain this which has been so confusing to so many—

Holy Spirit: What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?

There was a time when this equipping of believers included what are called “gifts” of the Spirit. You’ll find a complete article about this on this website—

Spiritual Gifts: Do they exist today?

You’ll also find another one about the performance of miracles.

Miracles: Are they performed today?

If such abilities are in place today, where were these people that had them during the Covid epidemic and other such things. Answer: These gifts of the Spirit don’t exist today! There was a time in the first century AD when they did, but not now. When God’s purpose for giving them was fulfilled, they were completely withdrawn.

Again, 1 Corinthians 13:10

¹⁰ But WHEN that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be DONE AWAY. [Emphasis added]

This is a verse that is mistranslated in some Bibles. The word for “perfect” in the Greek language is in the neuter gender, meaning it is referring to an object and not a person as some translations have it.  The “object” that had to be completed before these special spiritual gifts passed away was the Bible.

The prophet Samuel, acting on God’s command, secretly anointed David with oil while he was still a young shepherd, signifying his future role as king. This anointing, though private, was an important step in God’s plan for David’s kingship.  In addition, Saul himself clearly was not expecting to be made king, for he did not understand why Samuel gave him such honor after he met the prophet [1 Sam. 9:15–27]. But after feasting with Samuel and his guests, Saul was anointed to be the king [or captain] over the people of Israel.

1 Samuel 10:1

¹ Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? [Emphasis added]

Is this in some way an example for us to follow today? It is true that this is a ritual practiced in some churches today for a variety of reasons. But is this something authorized or commanded by the apostle Paul for us today? It is not! If you will do some research, you’ll find that there are other rituals that are performed in churches today that have no divine authorization to be practiced in our time.  The one most common is that of water baptism. You’ll find that in our time it is one if not the most controversial of all subjects in churches today.  For more information about this, please see my articles about it.

Baptism: What are we to believe about it?

Baptism: What was its purpose?

Baptism: Why did Paul baptize so few?

Baptism: Which one is pertinent to us today?

When people don’t understand the principle of right division, they’re subject to practicing all kinds of things that have no authorization of God today. This is a big part of why such studies as this are so important. Most people simply “go with the flow” believing whatever they grew up with or assume to be important.  But you’ll find as I did that most churchgoers have never given this matter diligent objective study.

Conclusion—

This “unction” of the Holy Spirit does not exist today.  With every believer gaining the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have a superior position to believers in the past.  We are now said to be members or parts of the mystical Body of Christ. Positionally speaking, we couldn’t have a more intimate union with our Savior than what we all possess permanently. In fact, a person today who does not have this indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not only not “spiritual,” but unsaved.

Romans 8:9

⁹ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. [Emphasis added]

If a believer today wishes to be of service to God, he must take the initiative to equip himself with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures with an ongoing desire to be obedient to our Lord.  There is no “unction” of God to assist or empower anyone in this.