266. The Anointing, the Body, and the Shadow

“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.” 1 John 2:20.

The anointing is the high priestly gift, poured out over the believing soul who belongs to the priesthood of Christ. It comes from “the Holy One,” Christ, the Anointed. The anointing is composed of many elements: love, grace, truth, longsuffering, tolerance, endurance, power, and knowledge; in other words: wisdom. All of these elements have been poured out over us by “the Holy One,” in order that we might not be deceived. Read verses 26-27 in this context. Every doctrine that leads away from the anointing, and from what we heard from the beginning, is not of God.

The anointing teaches us all things, and we do not need anyone to teach us. That means we do not need to learn anything from outside of the anointing (from those who would lead us astray). But within the anointing, Christ the Anointed has given us some to be prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Eph. 4:11-16. So abide in Him, just as the anointing has taught you.

In this day and age there are many teachings that aim to silence the conscience and enslave people under party doctrines. These draw people away from the anointing and the simplicity that is in Christ and bind them to rules and regulations which have nothing to do with Christ. Thus people are drawn away from the anointing and what they heard from the beginning into human religious understandings and theories that have nothing to do with Christ and His anointing. That is why all this is so unspeakably dry. The Scriptures however say: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.” 2 John 9.

God’s Way has been spoken evil of down through the ages; yet when it comes to ways of deceit, people generally keep quiet. This is further evidence that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one, and that the harlot wreaks havoc among Christians who are unable to discern “The Way” from “ways of deceit.”

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” Col. 2:16-17.

“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him.”

All of these rules concerning eating and drinking, about new moons and sabbaths are of no use to us. We have been placed into the body of Christ, which contains within it all the festivals and sabbaths. The shadow comes from this body. Once we have been baptized by one Spirit into one body with Him, and have received understanding about “the body” itself, how foolish it would be to then turn back to the shadow cast by the body.

When a woman betroths herself to a man, she doesn’t betroth herself to his shadow. And after she is married and becomes one flesh with him, she certainly will not be content to just be united with his shadow.

However, people do allow themselves to be satisfied with these things when the preaching is about food and drink, new moons, festivals, and sabbaths. If, for example, a wife would only devote herself to her husband’s shadow and not have anything to do with the man himself, he would have legitimate grounds for divorce. It is the same in the spiritual. If someone keeps himself to the law (the shadow), he is separated from Christ, for the intention is that His bride should become one flesh with Him, not just one shadow.

God created a body for Christ, and the new and living way was made through the flesh of that body. The way was not made through the shadow. So those who hold themselves to the shadow rather than to the body are not walking on the new and living way. That is why we cannot get fellowship with them, since Christ is the Savior of His body and not its shadow. He is the Mediator of a new covenant, and this covenant is contained within the body and not in the shadow of the body. We who believe do enter that rest. We find rest within the body and not outside of it. All knowledge and wisdom are within the body, but all sin is outside of the body. 1 Cor. 6:18.

The blood of the covenant is within the body, but there is not one drop of the blood of Christ in the shadow. That is why they needed the blood of bulls and goats.

We have been baptized by one Spirit to be one body with Him. In this body we find the laws of the new covenant, and if we follow them carefully in our lives—so that we resist sin until bloodshed—the life of Christ will be revealed in our mortal flesh. The way goes through the flesh, so it will feel narrow; and while we are walking on it, the sufferings of Christ will come over us abundantly. This is Christ manifested in the flesh and the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.

Those who keep to the shadow get off cheaply; but then they also avoid suffering with Him and therefore being glorified together with Him.