1 John 2:27 – Anointing Abiding in You

1 John 2:27 (NASB)
²⁷ As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Usually when we read this, we think of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. If you read this closely, the “from Him” is referring to Jesus. Verse 25 says, “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life” (1 John 2:25 NASB). Jesus is the “Christ”—the anointed one. Verse 20 says we received this anointing from the “Holy One.” In Mark 1:24 a demon calls Jesus “the Holy One of God.”

We have received of the anointing that was on Jesus. The anointing in the Old Testament was oil that they poured over the high priest to prepare him for his office. In the New Covenant, the oil of anointing stands for the Holy Spirit. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13).

This anointing is our safeguard against false teaching. This anointing abides in us through the Holy Spirit. This anointing teaches us the truth. This passage isn’t saying we should not have teachers, but that when a person teaches us, we know the truth from the lie. Anointed teachers can help us understand the Word. They help us grow in faith and knowledge. However, it is the Holy Spirit who bears witness in our spirit of the truth and we receive it into our hearts.

The Holy Spirit shows us Jesus the Holy One. The truth always points to Jesus—The Truth. Part of the error that false teachers were teaching was that Jesus didn’t really come in the flesh. The anointing of the Spirit would disagree and would say, “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father” (1 John 2:23)

We have an anointing who teaches us the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The anointing is in Him.