The Difference Between Predestination and Anointing

The Difference Between Predestination and Anointing. Predestine means to decide or determine beforehand; to mark out beforehand. The word is used in Rom. 8:29, 30; Eph. 1:5,11.

It is the work of God in eternity past to determine or decide whom He will save. The word applies only to believers. Unbelievers who become believers do so because they are predestined. According to Eph. 1:13, predestined unbelievers trusted in Christ “after (they) heard the word of truth, the gospel of (their) salvation; in whom also, having believed, (they) were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Unbelievers who are not predestined are given over to go their own (sinful/wicked) way (Romans 1:24, 26, 28-32). The word for that is “preterition,” meaning “to pass over.” Only God knows who is predestined and who is not. What’s more important is that unbelievers hear the gospel from us believers.

“Anointed” is translated from various Greek words. It can mean to pour oil or ointment on a person or a thing (Gen. 31:13). The most used Hebrew word is “Mashiach,” from which the name “Messiah” comes. For New Testament believers, “anointed” refers to the Holy Spirit indwelling them (1 John 2:20, 27). The KJV uses the word “unction,” a late 14th-century word which means the same thing.

Accordingly, it seems reasonable to conclude that believers in Christ have been predestined and, upon believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit. Any person without the Holy Spirit does not have the anointing nor belongs to Christ (Rom. 8:9).

Blessings!