Question:
What is the anointing in 1 John 2:20, 27, and 2 Corinthians 1:21,22?

Answer:
The Holy Spirit, who is the third Person of the Godhead, comes to indwell believers from the moment they trust Christ as their personal Saviour (Ephesians 1:13). The Spirit of God “seals” or keeps us to the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30), is the “earnest” or down payment of our heavenly inheritance (Ephesians 1:14), and is the “anointing” whereby we are enabled to know the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10, 11).

In the Old Testament, the anointing of oil marked individuals for special powers and privileges, as Aaron and his sons being anointed with oil made them priests. So the anointing of the Spirit gives us the privilege to know His mind and serve Him as priests. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). “We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh” (Philippians 3:3, J. N. Darby translation).