Did you know that God is a divine and mystical “Painter”, and that He Himself has been processed and consummated to become the anointing with which He paints His believers to add His elements into them and make them His corporate expression? This is wonderful!
In Exo. 30 we see the type of the compound ointment and in 1 John 2 we see the reality of the anointing, which is the compound Spirit slowly painting us day by day with all the elements of Christ’s incarnation, humanity, divinity, death, resurrection, and ascension.
This wonderful all-inclusive, life-giving compound Spirit is now with our spirit, and whenever we call on the name of the Lord, pray-read His word, fellowship with Him, open to the Lord, sing to Him, and meet with the saints, we get “painted with God” by being anointed with this compound Spirit little by little.
Just as you can clearly tell that a shirt is green because this is the color of the shirt, so people will look at us and say, He’s a God-man! – simply because we have been saturated, soaked, painted, and anointed with the compound Spirit to the point that we look like Jesus, live like Jesus, and do everything as Jesus did.
This is the positive application of the compound Spirit, which is related to the inward teaching of the anointing so that we may know God subjectively.
There is also a negative application related to the anointing, something that we should be aware of and be kept away from. On the positive side, the anointing adds God’s element to our being; on the negative side, if we deny the anointing or replace the anointing with anything else, we live in the principle of the antichrist.
Yes, there will be such a person called, The Antichrist, who will come soon to lead all nations in rebellion against God, but before this one comes, there’s such a thing as “the principle of antichrist”. To be in the principle of antichrist is to be against Christ, to replace Christ, and to deny Christ; that is, to be anti-anointing is to be against the anointing, to replace the anointing, and to deny the anointing.
We need to be warned and stay in our spirit, always heeding the teaching of the anointing so that all the wonderful elements in the compound Spirit would be painted and soaked into our being, and we need to be kept from having a living that is in the principle of antichrist.
Being Kept from having a Living that is in the Principle of Antichrist: Denying or Replacing the Anointing
If we read carefully 1 John 2:19-27 we will realize that the anointing is spoken of in the context of John’s dealing with heresies, a revelation of the Triune God, and the principle of the antichrist.
What is the principle of antichrist? Before the Antichrist will come at the end of this age to do all kinds of things, there’s such a thing as “the principle of antichrist”, the principle of being against Christ and replacing Christ, denying Christ or any aspect of the all-inclusive Christ.
We need to be kept from having a living that is in the principle of antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22). The principle of antichrist is the principle of being anti-anointing, which is to be anti (against) the moving, working, and saturating of the Triune God. This is the negative application of the anointing.
The Greek prefix anti has two main meanings. First, it means against; second, it means in place of, or instead of. This indicates that an antichrist is against Christ and also replaces Christ with something else. To be an antichrist is, on the one hand, to be against Christ; on the other hand, it is also to have something instead of Christ, something that replaces Christ. By this we see that the principle of antichrist involves denying what Christ is. This is to be anti-Christ, against Christ. Of course, whenever someone denies what Christ is, automatically that person will replace Christ with something else. Hence, an antichrist is both against Christ and is one who replaces Christ. We must be careful never to deny anything of what Christ is. We should never deny any part, any aspect, or any item of Christ’s Person. To deny any aspect of Christ’s Person is to practice the principle of antichrist. (Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 John, pp. 272-273)
The prefix “anti” means against or in place of, instead of. This indicates that an antichrist is one who is against Christ or replaces Christ with something else. We may not be against Christ; rather, we may boldly declare that Jesus is the Christ, and the Son is one with the Father; however, we may replace Christ with something else, or we may allow Satan to replace Christ with good things, morality, ethics, traditions, or other things.
And this practically means that any time we do anything that would be against the anointing or to replace the anointing, we are basically against Christ, and if we are against Christ, we are in the principle of antichrist.
We may be genuine believers in Christ, but we may live in the principle of antichrist because we don’t heed the anointing, we are against the anointing, and we may replace the anointing with other things. If in our practical experience we deny the anointing, we are antichrist.
Many times we may not deny the anointing, but we may simply replace it; we may try to do something good, moral, religious, and “spiritual”, while ignoring the leading of the anointing within. This is not to deny Jesus as the Christ but to replace Him.
Lord Jesus, save us from having a living that is in the principle of antichrist, in the principle of denying Christ or replacing Christ with other things. Oh Lord, we want to heed the anointing, be under the anointing, and listen to the anointing so that we may be painted, anointed, and soaked with all the elements of the Triune God. Save us from being against the anointing, denying the anointing, or replacing the anointing with anything else. Lord Jesus, we want to be one with Christ by enjoying the anointing constantly!
Not being Anti-Anointing or Anti-Christ but Enjoying the Triune God as the Anointing
According to 1 John 2:22, the antichrist is someone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, someone who is anti-Christ and who replaces Christ with other things or persons. To be anti-Christ is to be anti-anointing, that is, to be against the anointing or to replace the anointing with other things.
Satan’s subtlety is to give us the content feeling that we are OK, we are not “antichrist”, but what he does is that he subtly replaces Christ or some aspect of Christ in our life, making Him no longer all-inclusive to us.
Another subtlety of the enemy is to deny that the Triune God is subjective to us for our experience and enjoyment; many believers think that the Triune God is merely the object of our faith, and there’s a complicated doctrine about how He is three yet one – yet the subjective, experiential aspect of the Triune God is completely missed.
However, the entire Bible clearly reveals that the Triune God is not merely the object of our faith, neither is He a doctrine – He is subjective, experiential, dwelling in our being to be our life and life supply as the love of God expressed in the grace of Christ and imparted to us through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14). May the Lord save us from being anti-anointing or anti-Christ!
The Greek word of Christ is “Christos”, while the word for anointing is “chrisma”; these both have the same root, and when we are anti-Christ we are anti-anointing. Christ, the anointed One, after passing through death and resurrection has become the anointing One and even the anointing itself – Christ as the Spirit is the anointing, and Christ is the One who anoints us with Himself as the compound Spirit.
To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny that Jesus is the anointed One, and to deny the anointed One is to deny the anointing. To replace Christ with other things, matters, activities, or persons is to replace the anointing.
To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny that He is the anointed One; this is equal to denying the anointing, for after the anointed One enters into us, He becomes the anointing (2 Cor. 1:21). Oh Lord Jesus!
How many times we have neglected or ignored the anointing, or we have replaced it with our good spiritual concepts, our zeal, our passivity, others’ advice, or tradition! May the Lord save us from being anti-anointing, anti-Christ, and may we return to the enjoyment of the Triune God as our everything in our daily life!
It is only by enjoying the Triune God as our life and life supply, and by allow Him to add Himself to our being little by little, day by day, that we are saved from having a living in the principle of antichrist!
Lord Jesus, keep us enjoying You as the wonderful life-giving compound Spirit in us! Save us from being anti-anointing or anti-Christ and keep us in the enjoyment of the Triune God as the anointing within! Lord, thank You for being the anointed One coming into us to be the anointing within us, the compound Spirit dwelling in our spirit. Keep us turning to You, contacting You, and opening to You so that we may enjoy the addition of the Triune God’s elements to our being. Lord, we treasure the anointing!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Andrew Yu’s sharing in the message for this week, and Life-study of 1 John, msgs. 31-32 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 11 (week 35), The Anointing of the Compound Spirit.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Further hymns on this topic:
# Thy oil anoints me here in every way, / Anointing Thee within unceasingly; / I more decrease, Thou more increase each day, / Thus full expression Thou shalt have through me. (Hymns #764)
# Life of God, divine and holy, / Christ is life divine to us; / Incarnated, now as Spirit, / He makes home inside of us. / Moving, working, shining, training, / The anointing He applies; / Filling, watering, sustaining, / From within He sanctifies. (Song on the Anointing)
# Praise the Lord, who firmly joined us / Unto the Anointed One. / Thus we all have been anointed / With th’ anointing of the Son. / Now in Christ, in the anointing, / We are the anointed ones. / Oh, how blessed is this ointment / Poured upon the many sons! (Hymns #1121)
About aGodMan
To deny that Jesus is the Christ is related to denying the anointing. However, due to the problem of language, we may not realize that Christ is related to the anointing. The Greek word for Christ is Christos, which means the anointed one, and the Greek word for anointing is chrisma. Both words are derived from the same root. Now we must go on to see that Christ as the anointed One becomes the anointing. Because He is the anointed One, He has an abundance of ointment with which to anoint us. Eventually, the anointed One becomes the anointing One. In fact, He even becomes the anointing. To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny that Jesus is the anointed One. Moreover, to deny the anointed One means to deny the anointing. Therefore, to deny the Christos is to deny the chrisma. Whenever someone denies that Jesus is the Christos, that one denies that Jesus is the anointed One. This is equal to denying the anointing, for after the anointed One enters into us, He becomes the anointing. (Life-study of 1 John, p. 205)