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105. Which pictures are used to illustrate the reception and blessings of the Holy Spirit?

They talk about baptism, sealing, and anointing of the Holy Spirit.

  1. The baptism of the Holy Spirit (“Baptism of the Spirit”):
    • I indeed baptised you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:8)
    • And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5)
    • For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
    • By being baptised with the Holy Spirit, we become members of the church of Jesus Christ. Every believer is baptised with the Holy Spirit.
  2. The seal of the Holy Spirit:
    • In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. (Ephesians 1:13)
    • And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
    • Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
    • The Holy Spirit in believers is the divine official seal, by which we are declared as God’s property and preserved for the day of glory, when our redemption will be completed.
    • The sealing reassures us that we are the children of God. It is God Himself who seals us. Whoever believes in the Son of God is sealed.
  3. The anointing of the Holy Spirit:
    • The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
      To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
      To set at liberty those who are oppressed. (Luke 4:18)
    • You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. (1 John 2:20)
    • The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. (1 John 2:27)
    • See also 1 Corinthians 1:21 under “Sealing”.

In the Old Testament, priests, kings and prophets were anointed with oil, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and thereby consecrated for the service of God and equipped with wisdom and authority for this service.

In the New Testament there is an anointing with the Holy Spirit. The anointing is the equipping for the service of the Lord. He gives us the strength, wisdom and knowledge that we need regarding the task entrusted to us. As Jesus Himself and His apostles needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit, so it is essential for all believers. This gift of anointing with the Holy Spirit is also given to the believer.

According to the New Testament, baptism, sealing and anointing with the Holy Spirit occur simultaneously in the believer’s life.