Definition
Anointing (Heb. מָשַׁח mashach; Gr. χρίσμα chrisma) refers in pneumatological context to the operative presence of the Holy Spirit in the ministry, proclamation, or speech of a person, through which that speech becomes living and powerful for those who hear. The anointing is the spiritual dimension that makes the difference between dead letter and living Spirit (2Cor. 3:6). All believers in Christ — “the Anointed One” — share in the same anointing (1John 2:27); its expression in speech and ministry is, however, dependent on personal communion with the Spirit.
Usage in the Corpus
George Warnock
Warnock links anointing directly to the corporate participation of the Body of Christ in the anointing of Christ himself. “‘Christ’ means ‘Anointed One’ and we share the ‘same anointing’ (1John 2:27), are partakers of the same Spirit, and therefore become ‘of his flesh, and of his bones’ (Eph. 5:30).” The law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) operates in the anointed generation of Christ. Anointing is not individual but corporate: the Body collectively bears the anointing of its Head. [Warnock, Evening and Morning, Ch. 2]
Cees and Anneke Noordzij
Noordzij draws a sharp distinction between speaking under the anointing of the Spirit and speaking about the Bible without anointing. Speaking under the anointing is the prerequisite for living and powerful communication: “What someone speaks under the anointing of the Holy Spirit is also living and powerful for those who have ‘ears’ to hear.” The alternative — citing Bible verses and rehearsing scriptural texts without anointing — “can never replace the speaking of the Word of God. Such words are not living, not powerful, do not penetrate deeply into the heart (Col. 3:16). They remain lodged in the intellect and give no genuine life.” This distinction connects to the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17): it is anointed speaking that cuts and brings life. [Noordzij, The Word of God and Scripture, section on Eph. 6:17]
Stephen Jones
Jones uses anointing typologically through the oil-cleansing in Lev. 14 (the cleansing of the leper). The three washings in the leper-cleansing — oil (spirit), blood (soul), and water (body) — correspond to the three feast-times: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The anointing with oil symbolizes the Spirit-dimension of sanctification, belonging to the Pentecost experience. “There are three baptisms (washings and sprinklings) in the cleansing of the leper. They pertain to oil (spirit), blood (soul), and water (body).” [Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch. 10]