The Chairman of the Church of Pentecost Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah says anointing oil has no value to healing in Christianity.
According to him, oil was used in the Old Testament to represent the Holy Spirit because He was yet to be introduced into the Trinity equation.
Most Ghanaian pastors resort to the use of oil and other items to deliver their followers from what they believe to be spiritual bondages placed on them by the devil.
Speaking at the Heads’ Meeting of the Church at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central region, Prof. Onyinah said the church of Pentecost does not encourage Christians to resort to oil for miracles or spiritual intentions.
“The Church of Pentecost believes that the use of oil in the Old Testament symbolises the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in as much as the Holy Spirit has been poured upon all believers, the use of oil either for divine healing or ordination is of no special value. Consequently, as a result of the many cases of the abuse of the use of oil, including the sale of it, The Church of Pentecost discourages the use of oil,” he said.
He further explained: “First, it must be understood that James was speaking to Jewish Christians. He addressed his audience, ‘James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings (James 1:1).
“It is said that the custom of anointing the sick prevails in the East; it is believed to have some medicinal and healing purposes. For this reason, many people carry oil along in their travels. This is pictured in the story of the Good Samaritan, where he poured oil and wine on the victim’s wounds (Luke 10:34).
“However, in the healing ministry of Jesus, He never anointed the sick with oil. The apostles used oil once when Jesus sent them to go and preach (Mark 6:13). Since Jesus was not practising that, it could be that the apostles did this, from their Jewish background. After the death and resurrection of Christ, we did not see the apostles who were with our Lord Jesus anointing the sick with oil for healing purposes.
“Against this backdrop, we can only guess why James advised his fellow Jewish elders to anoint the sick with oil. The brother of Jesus, who had become his apostle, certainly knew that the use of oil was a symbolic act of the Holy Spirit”.
Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com
