"Unction"
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Alan D. Strange
Puritan Board Senior
The self-same Spirit that inspired the Word is pleased to accompany it when read, in faith, and particularly in community, with divine illumination. With respect to preaching, the Spirit anoints the preacher so as to faithfully and powerfully open up the Word and apply it with power to the hearts and lives of the hearers. When the preacher preaches in the power of the Spirit (with unction) and the hearer receives it in faith, then God's grace is truly communicated to His own.
I believe that preaching that is accompanied with unction effectively exegetes both the text as well as the hearers (including the preacher, who is a hearer of his own preaching). It is not merely a history lesson, a redemptive-historical tour-de-force, an extended lesson in multi-applications, or the like, but something that is beseeching, entreating, and appealing (as well as convicting), pointing us and leading us to Christ, from whom we draw all of our life.
I think in a measure, if one is in the exercise of faith, you know preaching accompanied with unction when you hear it, and you know that which lacks such, however otherwise impressive it may be.
Peace,
Alan
I believe that preaching that is accompanied with unction effectively exegetes both the text as well as the hearers (including the preacher, who is a hearer of his own preaching). It is not merely a history lesson, a redemptive-historical tour-de-force, an extended lesson in multi-applications, or the like, but something that is beseeching, entreating, and appealing (as well as convicting), pointing us and leading us to Christ, from whom we draw all of our life.
I think in a measure, if one is in the exercise of faith, you know preaching accompanied with unction when you hear it, and you know that which lacks such, however otherwise impressive it may be.
Peace,
Alan
Tyrese
Puritan Board Sophomore
"I think in a measure, if one is in the exercise of faith, you know preaching accompanied with unction when you hear it, and you know that which lacks such, however otherwise impressive it may be."
This is why I asked this question because it seems to boil down to "you know preaching accompanied with unction when you hear it". One person says "Oh that sermon was helpful", while another person says "that sermon lacked unction". This is a tough one especially when we constantly see preachers being compared with other preachers who we're told have "unction" from the Spirit.
This is why I asked this question because it seems to boil down to "you know preaching accompanied with unction when you hear it". One person says "Oh that sermon was helpful", while another person says "that sermon lacked unction". This is a tough one especially when we constantly see preachers being compared with other preachers who we're told have "unction" from the Spirit.
I know that the idea of unction is a held by many. But the only category I see in the NT that sets one teacher/preacher apart from another is the category of whether one is rightly dividing the word of truth, and that when the Word is being rightly divided the Spirit is always at work. I am interested to know the Scriptural basis of the idea of unction.
Jerusalem Blade
Puritan Board Professor
I think Pastor Alan is right in his view. The "unction" or "anointing" is shown in this passage:
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Cor 2:4,5).
When a pastor or teacher (or even a lay person) walks closely with Christ, and His Spirit dwells richly in his heart, then when he (or she -- for a woman may also be filled with the Spirit) speaks they are as a vessel of the grace and truth of the living God.
It is more than just correct teaching, although it is not less. A heart that communes deeply with the LORD has it.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Cor 2:4,5).
When a pastor or teacher (or even a lay person) walks closely with Christ, and His Spirit dwells richly in his heart, then when he (or she -- for a woman may also be filled with the Spirit) speaks they are as a vessel of the grace and truth of the living God.
It is more than just correct teaching, although it is not less. A heart that communes deeply with the LORD has it.
Alan D. Strange
Puritan Board Senior
Well put, Steve.
That passage would be one of my "go to" passages for unction in preaching, even as I would also look to II Corinthians 1:21 more broadly, and to I John 2: 20, 27 for unction for the hearer.
Peace,
Alan
That passage would be one of my "go to" passages for unction in preaching, even as I would also look to II Corinthians 1:21 more broadly, and to I John 2: 20, 27 for unction for the hearer.
Peace,
Alan
Tyrese
Puritan Board Sophomore
Thanks for the scriptures brothers. Now my question for you guys would be how do you determine if a preacher is or is not preaching in "the power of God"? Who determines that? Of course we're not talking about someone who's unfit to preach or teach, we're talking about judging true preachers. How do we know we're not just comparing one preacher with another?
Alan D. Strange
Puritan Board Senior
Tyrese:
"Unction," of course, means the anointing of the Spirit. Every true Christian is filled with the Spirit, enjoying the baptism of the Spirit at regeneration. And every true Christian preacher enjoys such as well.
Thus any preacher walking with the Lord in the Spirit should enjoy such, which manifests itself in his preaching in the ways mentioned heretofore. It is not a matter of personality, temperament, style or the like. It is simply a matter of the preacher manifesting the power of the Spirit when he preaches.
Only those who have the Spirit themselves can properly recognize such. Carnal persons may claim that someone has it because he is "dynamic" or the like in his speaking. But that is not quite the point. Those with the Spirit recognize those who preach in the Spirit. One with unction faithfully exposits the Word of God in a way that shows its relevance and speaks to the heart of God's people.
This cannot be schematized: the work of the Spirit retains about it an awful mystery (John 3:3 ff.).
Peace,
Alan
"Unction," of course, means the anointing of the Spirit. Every true Christian is filled with the Spirit, enjoying the baptism of the Spirit at regeneration. And every true Christian preacher enjoys such as well.
Thus any preacher walking with the Lord in the Spirit should enjoy such, which manifests itself in his preaching in the ways mentioned heretofore. It is not a matter of personality, temperament, style or the like. It is simply a matter of the preacher manifesting the power of the Spirit when he preaches.
Only those who have the Spirit themselves can properly recognize such. Carnal persons may claim that someone has it because he is "dynamic" or the like in his speaking. But that is not quite the point. Those with the Spirit recognize those who preach in the Spirit. One with unction faithfully exposits the Word of God in a way that shows its relevance and speaks to the heart of God's people.
This cannot be schematized: the work of the Spirit retains about it an awful mystery (John 3:3 ff.).
Peace,
Alan
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