What Is the Use of Anointing Oil in the New Testament Church?
1) Direct answer
Anointing oil in the New Testament Church is used as a simple, God-given ordinance for the sick. It is a sign of consecration, pointing to the Holy Spirit, while the healing itself comes through faith in the Name of the Lord Jesus and the prayer of faith.
2) Scriptural explanation
- The Bible says, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (James 5:14–15).
- When the disciples were sent out, “they anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them” (Mark 6:13).
- The real anointing is the Spirit: “You have an unction from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20) and “the anointing…abides in you” (1 John 2:27). Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me” (Luke 4:18).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- Now notice, the oil itself has no healing virtue. The Scripture puts the emphasis here: “the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.” The oil is a token of obedience and a sign that this person is set apart to God for His intervention.
- You see, God uses simple tokens—water in baptism, bread and cup in communion, oil in prayer for the sick—to point to the unseen reality, which is the Holy Spirit working through the Word.
- James directs the sick to call for the elders. They anoint in the Name of the Lord, pray the prayer of faith, and the Lord performs what He promised. That keeps the glory with God, not with the ritual.
- This does not make oil a charm. Without faith and the Name of the Lord, oil is just oil. Nor should we throw it away as “just a custom,” because the command is given to the Church in the Epistle.
- For ordaining workers, the New Testament shows laying on of hands (Acts 13:3; 1 Timothy 4:14). For healing the sick, it shows anointing with oil and prayer. We keep each ordinance in its place.
4) Short reinforcing statement
Use it the Bible way: the sick call, the elders come, anoint with oil in the Name of the Lord Jesus, confess faults, pray the prayer of faith, and expect the Lord to raise them up. The oil is the sign; the Holy Spirit is the Anointer; the Word is the ground of our confidence.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The impersonation of Christianity
57-0120M §77
Now, what happened? These who are standing in line now to be prayed for, has come solemnly upon their own faith believing. They have come to say that wine has come into new bottles; that they are willing to say amen to THUS SAITH THE LORD. The Bible has said, which is THUS SAITH THE LORD: if there be any among you sick, call for the elders. Let them anoint them with oil, and pray over them; the prayer of faith shall save the sick. And again, it is written in the Scripture, "These signs shall follow them that believ...
God's gifts always find their places
63-1222 §46
We realize over here, in St. John 12, we find out that this woman ... if we had time to read it, but I don't want to keep you too long, see, 'cause I know tomorrow's Monday, and some of you has to work. Look, they brought... This woman brought this myrrh, that anointed costly something, to take the smell of death away. And she broke this alabaster box and poured it upon the head of Jesus. And Judas said, "Why, this ought to have been given to the poor." (Said, "Not that he had respect for the poor, but he was a thi...
Hebrews, Chapter 1
57-0821 §11
Now, the woman represented the church, and the child that she brought forth was Christ. The moon under her feet was the law, the sun at her head was grace. Twelve stars in her crown was the twelve apostles. And there's where... The twelve apostles was the glory or the crowning of the New Testament, see. "For no other foundation can be laid than that which is already laid," see. The foundation, the New Testament, the apostles, the doctrine of the apostles and so forth, is the founding crown of the New Testament. And...
Christ is the mystery of God revealed
63-0728 §180
And in there, there'd be a time come forth when He can express Himself in fullness of His Godhead (deity) through His church---have the preeminence in this church. Oh, my! What? The anointed man, now the anointed people (Oh, my!) to bring back the anointed bride and the bridegroom. Anointed by why?---accepting what Eve turned down (and Adam), coming back with the anointing of the Word, because He said, "My Word is Spirit," see. Anointed with the Word. What Eve turned down, He comes back and we accept. See how that...
Daniel 9: The sixfold purpose of Gabriel's visitation
61-0730E §74
Now, when Zerubbabel dedicated his temple after it was rebuilt, it was not anointed again, because it was ... already been anointed, and been tore down. It was just instructed again. The destruction had come to it. It had been instructed again and put up, so there was no anointing of it anymore. When it was one time anointed, that carried on through, and it goes on till this very time. But when God sets up the Millennium tabernacle, He will anoint the most Holy; not "thy holy," but "the most Holy." But when the Kin...