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The Catechism of the New Apostolic Church
- Contents
- 8.3.1 Concerning the term "sealing"
- 8.3.2 The promise of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
- 8.3.3 Jesus' anointing with the Holy Spirit
- 8.3.4 The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost
- 8.3.5 Further attestations of Holy Sealing in the New Testament
- 8.3.6 The proper dispensation of Holy Sealing
- 8.3.7 Prerequisites for receiving Holy Sealing
- 8.3.8 Holy Sealing as an act of God
- 8.3.9 The effects of Holy Sealing
8.3.3 Jesus' anointing with the Holy Spirit
Like the two other sacraments, Holy Sealing also has its foundation in the life and activity of Jesus Christ. Concerning Him–the Son of Man–John 6: 27 states that "God the Father has set His seal on Him."
After Jesus had been baptised in the Jordan, John the Baptist also testified: "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him." This was the identifying sign that God had promised John the Baptist, by which he was to know Him "who baptises with the Holy Spirit ... this is the Son of God" (John 1: 29-34).
This event is also described in Matthew 3: 16: "When He had been baptised, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him." The descending of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus occurred after His baptism with water was complete. Two distinct acts can therefore be identified. The Holy Spirit and the voice of God proclaim the divine Sonship of Jesus. The anointing of Jesus with the Holy Spirit is a legitimation of His Messiahship, and is at the same time a reference to the later sacrament.
The understanding of the link between Holy Baptism with water and Holy Sealing is based–among other things–on these two events, namely baptism with water and anointing with the Holy Spirit. They belong together and are interrelated–and yet they are two distinct sacraments.
That Holy Sealing has its example in the anointing of Jesus is also underlined in Acts 10: 37-38: "The word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."