Baptism seems like it’s a lovely little ceremony when a baby is sprinkled with some water and a middle aged man says a few kind words over the child followed by a nice family party. But behind the aging priest, cute baby, and kind words there is a death, burial, resurrection, and consecration of that child for greatness.
If you’ve ever been to a baptism in the Anglican tradition you are forgiven for thinking this is just a ceremony or rite of passage—we are very polite people if nothing else. But there is so much more than just a rite of passage.
The baptismal candidate, or their parents if a small child is being baptized, promise to renounce Satan and the spiritual forces of evil that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. Then, they embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and king in their life. Next comes their death and burial with Jesus and being raised to new eternal life with him.
Then the priest dipping their thumb in fragrant oil, called Chrism, makes the sign of the cross on their forehead.
It’s a small moment, quiet and easily overlooked.
But it’s fire.
This is chrismation—the anointing with holy oil—and it’s one of the most powerful moments in a Christian’s life. In that act, the newly baptized is not just welcomed but claimed, not just washed but sealed, not just made clean but consecrated—set apart for God's purposes in the world.
It’s not an afterthought. It’s the part we ought to be trembling over.
When you become a Christian, and baptism is how you become one, you are set apart to be an ambassador in the Kingdom of God. We are going to dive a little deeper into this moment and what God is doing.
Not Just a Blessing—A Marking
The Book of Common Prayer (1979) says it like this:
“You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”¹
That’s not poetry. That’s identity and metaphysics
In the Anglican tradition, this is a sacramental act, echoing the deep biblical tradition of anointing with oil to set people apart for sacred purpose.
Oil in Scripture: When Heaven Touches Earth
In the biblical world, oil is never just oil. It is the fragrant sign that Heaven is breaking into the world.
Anointing designates people and objects as bridges between Heaven and Earth… Beginning with Eden, the Spirit and the ‘water of life’ are the first anointing. Jacob anoints a stone where he met God. The Tabernacle is anointed as a place of divine meeting. Priests and kings are anointed to mediate divine wisdom, until one day the ultimate Anointed One comes—Jesus.
Let’s follow that trail.
In Genesis 28, Jacob anoints a stone at Bethel after seeing heaven open:
“This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
He anoints it with oil. It becomes sacred ground.
In Exodus 30, God commands that the Tabernacle and all its furnishings be anointed with a holy blend of oil and spices, making them “most holy”—fit to host His glory.²
In 1 Samuel 10 and 16, Saul and David are anointed with oil—and with that, the Spirit of God rushes upon them.
Anointing is not a decorative gesture. It is a moment of consecration, of being set apart for God’s use.
Christ: The Ultimate Anointed One
The word Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name. It’s a title. It means Anointed One—from the Greek Christos, equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me…” (Luke 4:18, quoting Isaiah 61)
At his baptism, Jesus is anointed not with oil, but with water and Spirit—heaven touches earth again (Matthew 3:16). He becomes the meeting point of God and man.
And then? He gives that Spirit to us.
Christians: Little Christs, Little Anointed Ones
In Acts 2, the Spirit is poured out on the Church. And in 2 Corinthians 1:21–22, Paul makes this wild claim:
“It is God who establishes us… and has anointed us, who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts…”
Anointed. Sealed. Marked.
That’s you, if you’ve been baptized.
This is where chrismation comes in—not as a new invention, but as the visible continuation of this ancient, Spirit-drenched line of divine consecration.
The Oxford Movement: Reclaiming the Power of Baptism
The Oxford Movement in the 19th century—was a renewal movement that reminded Anglicans they had deep catholic roots in the middle of our protestant understanding of the faith. The Oxford movement taught that baptism isn’t just a metaphor. It’s the ordinary means by which God brings people into His Kingdom.
John Keble, Edward Pusey, and their circle wanted the Church to recover its sacramental backbone. They insisted that through water and Spirit—and yes, through chrismation—a person is spiritually reborn, sealed, and sent.
Edward Pusey once preached:
“Baptism is the laver of regeneration, not the mere washing of the flesh, but the cleansing of the soul by the Spirit, and the stamping of Christ’s character upon us.”³
They weren’t interested in prettiness. They wanted power—spiritual power rooted in the Apostolic tradition. And they found it in the sacrament of baptism and its anointing and in the Holy Eucharist.⁴
Marion Hatchett and the Restoration of Chrismation
In the 1979 American Prayer Book, Marion Hatchett—the great Anglican liturgist—helped restore chrismation as a regular part of the baptismal rite.
In his Commentary on the American Prayer Book, Hatchett explains:
“The use of chrism... is a visible expression of the Church’s understanding that baptism incorporates the person into the Body of Christ and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit.”²
He connects this to early church practice, where newly baptized Christians were anointed immediately after immersion, symbolizing their new role as members of a royal priesthood.
You’re not just saved. You’re set apart. And oil makes it visible.
Baptism Is a Battle Line
One of the most beautiful—and dangerous—lines in the BCP comes after the anointing:
“Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere…”¹
You are being sent into conflict. Baptism is not a soft landing—it’s a commissioning. Chrismation is the warlike fragrance of someone who belongs to Jesus, someone marked for holy resistance against the powers of death and hell.
Like David after his anointing, you may return to your field. But you're not the same. You're marked.
Sealed and Sent
So next time you remember your baptism, remember this too:
You are anointed.
You are a meeting place of Heaven and Earth.
You are a living tabernacle for the Holy Spirit.
You are set apart.
You are empowered by the same Spirit who rushed upon David, who descended on Jesus, and who lives in you now.
You may feel small, overlooked, or ordinary. But chrismation says something different.
It says you’ve been chosen, consecrated, and claimed.
You’ve been marked as Christ’s own forever.
Footnotes:
The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church(New York: Church Publishing, 1979), 308.
Marion J. Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book (New York: Seabury Press, 1981), 311.
Edward B. Pusey, The Holy Eucharist: A Comfort to the Penitent (Oxford: J.H. Parker, 1843), 58.
Peter B. Nockles, The Oxford Movement in Context: Anglican High Churchmanship, 1760–1857 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).