Study notes: Anointing and Gifts of the Spirit


Natural vs. New Spirit


When a person is born again the spirit of the natural humanity dies and is taken unto God. A completely new spirit born of the life and spirit of the risen Savior Jesus Christ replaces it. As the scripture says: "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me".

Col 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.


The Anointed One

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the Old Testament and the Savior of the New. He is the Anointed One (Messiah) and in the form of a man carried the anointing of God for His work on our behalf. Now, as the risen Lord of Glory, He IS the anointing! Wherever He is there is the anointing also. When we are born from above of His Spirit, we receive the new spirit which is alive with the Anointed One. We become an expression of the Messiah in the Earth.

1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

Because of false humility and a resistance to the things of God we have believed the deceptions and lies of the enemy and refused to realize the Truth that is in Christ Jesus. We return to the form of religion in the Old Covenant and refuse the clear and unmistakable Truth which is in Christ Jesus.

True humility is this: say whatever God says about you! Denying your true position in the body is nothing but a form of pride, it denies that what God has said is true. Don't call God a liar! If he says you are the righteousness of God in Christ then you are! If He says you are one spirit with Christ then you are! If He says 'by His stripes you were healed' then you were! Stand in faith to receive His provision instead of calling His Word a lie!


Soul vs. Spirit

The flesh is far more comfortable with ordinances and laws, "do not taste, do not touch' and relishes will worship which gives control to the soulish fleshly part of man.
Col 2:18, 23 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
As James says 'This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.'

When the spirit takes control away from the fleshly nature of man it is rejected and criticized as 'super spiritual' and 'no earthly good' by those who wish to have preeminence and 'fleece the sheep'.


Today is the Day

The time for judgment has begun in the church. It is time to turn away from the things of the flesh and return to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in love and true humility. The Old covenant was for the killing of the flesh and was a guardian UNTIL Messiah would come to set us free from the power of the flesh. Continually returning to the fleshly provision and guardianship of the Law clearly demonstrates the immaturity and lack of renewing of the one professing faith in Christ Jesus.

Gal 2:19,21 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.


The Way We Walk

Those who are alive in Christ are literally alive with the Anointed One. We should be yielding constantly to His life and mind in us and 'walking in the works the Father prepared beforehand that we should walk in them'. Our part is NOT to DO for God, our part is to simply and faithfully WALK in the works He has prepared for us day to day.

The way this is done is through the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ in our spirits leading us into ever closer and more intimate relationship with the Living God.
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
One astonishing revelation to the one truly seeking the Lord is the extent to which we continue to try satisfying the flesh even in our worship. We constantly lust after control of God by 'praying the Spirit down' or entering into 'high praise and worship' as though this somehow causes God to respond to us. We seek the 'feeling' of His Presence completely oblivious to the awesome reality that He is one spirit with us! We can no longer know Jesus after the flesh but now we walk with Him in spirit and in Truth!

2 Cor 5:16, 17 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. (After the flesh.) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.


The Work of the Holy Spirit

We are alive with the anointed One of the Lord therefore ALL provision and EVERY gifting relating to our function in the body of Christ is resident within us at all times. The Holy Spirit at His own discretion, brings forth these gifts as He wills. Our part is to yield to Him in faith trusting in His wisdom and perfect working in and through us according to the perfect will of the Father.

Every perfect gift is contained in our spirits but the soul and the body are not readily available except as the mind is renewed by washing it with the Word. It is for this reason we receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit to have His abiding help in bringing the flesh under subjection so the gifts can operate effectively. The 'spirit is willing but the flesh is weak'.

Having received the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, our participation in the 'renewing of the mind by washing with the water of the Word' becomes far more effectual. He provides revelation and understanding to make the connection between the 'words of God' in our minds and the 'Word of God' in our spirits. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we begin to truly comprehend the words of God written for us in the Bible.

Without the Holy Spirit we will revert constantly to using the sin adulterated 'reasoning' of the unrenewed human mind leading to wonderfully reasonable but treacherously false and deadly doctrines of men.


In the Flesh or In the Spirit?

The 'gifts of the spirit' as we seek their expression in the Church is for edification, exhortation and comfort. They are always and only to be in expression 'AS THE SPIRIT WILLS'. The temptation to seek 'wonderful experiences with God' is a dangerous sign that the soul, not the spirit of the person is in control.

Remember, the fruits of the spirit (Gal. 5:22) are resident within and are always available whenever the person will give them expression. We are alive with the Spirit of Christ, how is it we should not be constantly aware of Him? It is when we are busied with the 'cares of this life' and the demands of the soul that our attention is drawn away from our relationship with the Father in Christ.

There is no need to tell you 'how it works' because the believer's role is merely to submit in love to God and do or say whatever He indicates at any time. It is useful to know the various manifestations of the Spirit in the assembly of the Church so you will not be dismayed by what you see and hear.

If you truly know God and are alive with the Spirit of Christ the anointing abides within you and never goes away or diminishes. It is when the Holy Spirit activates the anointing from within you for a specific operation that it seems He 'comes upon you'. This is merely a matter of perception, not of fact. The truth is He never leaves you and the 'anointing' is always within and upon you if you would only take time to become aware of Him.

Try to stay in the spirit and avoid the teaching of those who constantly want you to go back into the law for examples of how to live in the spirit. The law and the types and shadows of the Old Covenant are wonderful. They teach the awesome lessons of God's plan of salvation for His people Israel and for His unique creation, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always keep in mind that the teaching of the Old Covenant is for the flesh, the soulish man without Christ. It points to that wonderful time when we can be one with Christ as He is one with the Father.

Rom 8:9, 10 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. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Rom 8:4-7 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Gal 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.



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