You are a spirit.
Let that sink in for just a moment. You are not a soul. You are not a body. You are a spirit. You have a soul. You live in a body. But you are a spirit. That’s who you are. Your body is not the real you. The real you is your spirit.
At the moment of your salvation, something dynamic happened. The person of the Holy Spirit became one with your spirit. The Scripture is clear on this where it says, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17, KJV). When the Holy Spirit and your spirit became one, at that moment, life, rebirth, cleansing, renewal and regeneration took place. The moment this oneness between the Holy Spirit and your spirit took place, a mighty force was released. This force within us is what we call the anointing.
The anointing of God is a vast subject. The study of it is almost endless because it has so many different streams. They are mysteries. But there’s an answer to every mystery in the Bible.
I’ve also had the privilege of being close to some of the most remarkable people that ever lived, and I’ve seen firsthand how God used them. I learned a great deal from working with the Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation for four years and also through my close personal friendships with Rex Humbard and Oral Roberts. I’ve probably talked with Oral Roberts more than any other human being about the mysteries. In his later years I’d go to his home almost every week, and we’d spend hours and hours together.
You can’t be close to people such as these and not learn something. You can’t be in your own ministry for decades and not learn something either. Even with their fellowship and teaching, however, after decades of worldwide ministry I didn’t understand much of what I am about to share. It wasn’t until 11 years ago that the Lord gave me many of these profound insights about the anointing. I didn’t find them in any book or teaching. I found them by seeking the Lord and His Word. What the Lord revealed to me after I went in search of answers, I share with you now.
Three Major Anointings
In the Bible, we find three major anointings: the abiding anointing, the empowering anointing and the dominion anointing.
The abiding anointing. “The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).
The anointing in 1 John 2:27 is what I call the abiding anointing. This anointing is for living. It’s an inner anointing, working from inside you to deepen your connection to God.
As we begin our journey, I want you to notice something that many people miss. The abiding anointing is the anointing for living, not doing. This inner anointing affects the spirit of a person. The emphasis of the abiding anointing is not meant for the soul or the body.
The empowering anointing. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The anointing that we see in Acts 1:8 is an outer anointing. This empowering anointing affects your ministry and the gifts of the Spirit in your life. This is the anointing for service. It provides the ability to share the gospel with others, whether or not there is a call to a ministry office upon your life.
The abiding anointing is for everyday living and is available to every believer. The empowering anointing is distinctly for service and therefore applies to those who have dedicated themselves to serving God in ministry to others. It affects the body and soul but not the spirit. It is for doing. It does not necessarily affect a person’s Christian life or spiritual walk. It is a gift. This outer anointing is given to those who prove themselves faithful to the Lord. Not every Christian chooses to serve, and so not every Christian receives the empowering anointing.
The dominion anointing. “It shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isa. 10:27).
The dominion anointing of Isaiah 10:27 is a very rare and powerful anointing. This world-changing anointing specifically affects nations; it has the power to build kingdoms or destroy them. Very few have this anointing, which I also call the Elijah anointing. That anointing rested on Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha and a few others in the Old Covenant. It rested on individuals God used as mouthpieces through prophecy to raise up kingdoms or destroy them.
I believe we are coming into what I call the Elijah realm of the anointing. The Elijah realm is a realm we have rarely seen on earth. Glimpses and seasons of the Elijah realm of the anointing have come and gone. They came, and they didn’t stay long. We’re coming into the Elijah days very soon. Only a pure anointing can keep you. The pure anointing is the only anointing that will destroy the spirit of Jezebel, which is the spirit of witchcraft. God will use the Elijah anointing to destroy the spirit of witchcraft that is now resting on the world.
The Mystery of the Abiding Anointing
“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).
Let’s break this verse down to understand what it is saying about this level of anointing, the one that allows you to abide in Jesus because He abides in you. It begins with, “But the anointing which ye have received of him.” The first thing I want you to notice is the word “of.” John says this anointing is of God, not from God.
This anointing of Him is separate from the one from Him. The one of Him is the inner anointing for living described here in 1 John. The one from Him is the outer anointing for ministry described in Acts 1:8. There is a reason these words are not the same. It seems simple, but it took me 40 years to discover this, and when you grasp this it will change your entire understanding. The anointing for living is of God; the anointing for ministry is from God.
The phrase of Him means that He is the source. This anointing is Him; it is not a gift from Him. Let me show you what I mean. If I say to someone, “Take this from me,” it means I have it. If I have it, someone gave it to me. If I have it, it had a beginning. If I have it, it will have an end.
But if I say to someone, “Take this of me,” they cannot do it because I am it. The abiding anointing is of Him because it is Him. It is the anointing that He is. In the Old Testament, the Lord said, “I am,” which means God doesn’t have life; God is life. God doesn’t have power; God is power. There is a power that He gives as a gift, of course.
Contrasting the Abiding and Empowering Anointings
When John says this abiding anointing “is truth, and is no lie,” he means there is no lie in it. It is for revelation and protection. It protects you from deception. It is possible to be deceived with the anointing on you but not with the anointing in you. Put another way, the outer (empowering) anointing allows deception; the inner (abiding) anointing protects you from deception.
So someone can minister and preach the gospel as the anointing comes on him, yet the devil can deceive him. It is possible to be used by the Lord and no longer know the Lord. Think about that. The Bible says many will come in that day saying, “‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?’ and He will say, ‘I never knew you'” (Matt. 7:22b–23). It is a staggering truth that a person can know and preach the Bible and be under an anointing for ministry, yet not know the Lord. In other words, that person has no fellowship with the Lord, no intimate knowledge of the Lord.
Three Signs of the Abiding Anointing
There are three signs of the abiding anointing: hunger, faith and love. These three things happen at salvation, the moment you become one with the Lord Jesus. Allow me to explain.
1) Hunger
When a baby is born, he is hungry for food. In the physical realm, hunger is the sign of life. It’s the same in the spiritual realm. The minute you were born again, you became one with Jesus and you had a spiritual hunger. From that moment, spiritual hunger is part of your life. You start seeking more and more of the presence of God.
2) Faith
The second thing that happens at salvation is an explosion of faith. You know that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for your sins and that He rose from the dead. How do you know it? You don’t need to read it in a book. You know it by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives you an inner knowing that you belong to Him, that He loves you, that heaven is your home, that there is power in the blood to set you free and that you are redeemed. That inner knowing is faith. You receive God-given faith and, therefore, you don’t have to convince yourself it’s real. It is as real to you as your own life—more real to you, in fact.
Before I move on, let me quickly explain that there are different types of faith. First is the measure, or seed, of faith. God puts a measure of faith in your life at salvation and immediately you know He’s God. This is the faith I’ve been talking about where you know the Lord Jesus is the Savior of your soul.
Next is the fruit of faith. After God has sown the seed of faith in your life, it takes hold of your heart. It grows and bears fruit in your life called the fruit of the Spirit.
Last is the gift of faith. This type of faith is different because it is not for your relationship with God. Instead, the gift of faith is for ministry to others. Every gift for ministry comes under the empowering anointing of Acts 1:8.
3) Love
The third thing that comes alive at salvation is a desire to know the Lord, a desire to walk with Him, a desire to serve Him. That is love. The minute that oneness with the Lord Jesus takes place, there is a great desire to know Him. The Bible says that even though we haven’t seen the Lord Jesus, we love Him (1 Pet. 1:8).
The anointing of the Holy Spirit is desperately needed and necessary today. Its power can be imitated but never duplicated. We must have the anointing’s irreplaceable presence, which no other religious effort or spiritual quest can match. This vital equipping of the believer’s life is often misunderstood and historically undertaught.
The anointing has been hidden and covered, and a shallow and powerless generation of believers has replaced those filled with Holy Ghost power. God is going to rescue this generation and restore His church in great power.
The anointing of God is what is required to release the huddled masses of a bound and oppressed generation. Get ready for God to ignite you with fire. The anointing of God fuels the fire of the Holy Spirit. Open your heart to a deeper level of God’s mighty anointing, and get ready to burn with fresh passion for God and His purpose for your life.
Pastor Benny Hinn is a noted evangelist, teacher and the author of bestselling books, including Good Morning, Holy Spirit; Prayer That Gets Results; Blood in the Sand and Lamb of God. His television program, This Is Your Day, is among the world’s most‐watched Christian programs, seen daily in 200 countries. His popular website and ministry app reach millions every day in areas of the world that may not otherwise hear about the gospel. Through his ongoing multimedia outreach, Pastor Benny continues to take the message of God’s life‐saving and miracle‐working power around the globe.
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