Consecrated Oil — The Doctrine Behind the Practice
Anointing with oil has deep Levitical roots, NT confirmation, and active LDS practice today
The Practice — What LDS Do
When a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sick, they may request a priesthood blessing. The standard practice follows a two-part sequence. First, a Melchizedek Priesthood holder anoints the person's head with consecrated olive oil, pronouncing a brief anointing. Second, one or more priesthood holders lay their hands on the person's head and the one acting as voice seals the anointing and, under the direction of the Spirit, speaks to the person's specific condition and needs.
The oil used is olive oil that has been separately consecrated — typically by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder who blesses and sets it apart for the healing of the sick. This practice is not invented by the Church. It is commanded in the New Testament, practiced by the early apostles, and rooted in ancient Israel's sacred anointing tradition.
The Levitical Roots
Oil has a specific sacred function throughout the Mosaic law. The formula for the holy anointing oil is one of the most precisely specified recipes in Exodus:
Exodus 30:22–25
“Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much… and of oil olive an hin: and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment… it shall be an holy anointing oil.”
This oil was used to consecrate the tabernacle and all its furnishings — the ark, the altar, the laver, the lampstand. It was used to ordain Aaron and his sons to the priesthood. The anointing did not merely symbolize consecration — it effected it. Objects and people anointed with this oil were set apart, sanctified, made holy for divine service.
Anointing Kings and Prophets
The anointing of kings and prophets extends the practice beyond the priestly office. Samuel anointed Saul as Israel's first king — and the text says the Spirit of God came upon Saul after the anointing. Samuel then anointed David, and “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.”
This connection between anointing and the Spirit is not incidental. The Hebrew word for anointed one is mashiach — Messiah. The Greek translation is Christos — Christ. When we say “Jesus Christ,” we are saying “Jesus the Anointed One.” The entire framework of royal anointing in Israel is a preparation for and a type of the One who would be anointed not with oil alone but with the Spirit without measure.
When members of the Church anoint the sick with oil, they participate in an ancient tradition that stretches from the tabernacle through Saul and David to Christ himself — and by extension, to every authorized ordinance performed in His name.
Mark 6 — Jesus Sent the Apostles With Oil
When Jesus sent the Twelve out on their first mission, the record in Mark is specific about their method of healing:
Mark 6:13
“And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.”
The apostles did not heal by touch alone or by prayer alone — they anointed with oil. This is a deliberate connection to the Levitical tradition. Jesus gave His apostles a commission that included the priesthood practice of anointing. The healing ministry of the Twelve was not a spontaneous improvisation. It was authorized, ritual, and consistent with the ancient pattern God had established in Israel's high priesthood.
James 5 — The Clearest NT Command
The clearest New Testament instruction on anointing the sick is in James — a text most Protestants own and few denominations practice literally:
James 5:14–15
“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; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
This is a command — not a suggestion, not an apostolic ideal that ended with the apostolic age. It is a direct instruction: if any is sick, call the elders, anoint with oil, pray in faith. Latter-day Saints practice this literally because they take the text literally.
The question for other Christian denominations is not whether James taught this — he clearly did — but why they do not practice it. The usual answer involves the cessation of spiritual gifts after the apostolic age — a doctrine not found in scripture and explicitly contradicted by Moroni 10:19 and 1 Corinthians 12–14. If the gifts ceased, they ceased because of apostasy — and the Restoration brought them back.
Why Oil?
Olive oil was the most precious and widely used substance in the ancient Near East. It was food, fuel for lamps, medicine, and preservative. It was associated with abundance, healing, and divine favor — the olive tree being one of the symbols of Israel's covenant with God.
The oil itself does not heal. The power is not in the oil. The oil is the vehicle of an authorized ordinance, performed by faith, through which God's power can work on behalf of the afflicted. The oil is the outward and visible sign; the faith and priesthood authority are the operative elements.
What Consecration Means
Consecration — setting apart something for divine use — runs throughout the Law of Moses and through the restored gospel. The tabernacle furnishings were consecrated. The priests were consecrated. The offerings were consecrated. In each case, something ordinary was made sacred through an authorized ritual act that designated it for God's purposes.
Consecrating oil follows the same pattern. A Melchizedek Priesthood holder takes common olive oil and, through prayer in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of the priesthood, dedicates it for the healing of the sick. It then becomes a consecrated element — not chemically different, but covenantally different. It has been set apart for a sacred purpose.
The Priesthood Authority Required
James specifies the elders of the church — not any believer, not any member, but elders. In the New Testament structure and in the restored Church, elders hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. The authority to perform this ordinance is not a matter of sincerity or spiritual feeling — it is a matter of priesthood authorization.
This is consistent with everything else in the Mosaic system: the anointing of the tabernacle was performed by Moses, not by any Israelite who felt moved to do it. The anointing of kings was performed by prophets who held authority. Authorization is not a bureaucratic convenience — it is a doctrinal requirement. The ordinance is only effective when performed by one who has been authorized to perform it.
What the Blessing Is and Is Not
A priesthood blessing for the sick is not a guarantee of physical healing. D&C 42:44 is honest about this: “he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed.” The qualifier is important. All healing is provisional. Physical death comes to everyone eventually. The blessing is not a mechanism to avoid that — it is an expression of divine love and an authorized conduit of divine power for those whose time has not yet come.
The blessing is also not a magic formula. The words pronounced do not compel God. They express faith, invite divine involvement, and sometimes — under the specific direction of the Spirit — pronounce specific promised blessings. The power is not in the words. It is in the authority behind them and the faith that surrounds them.
Key Scriptures on Consecrated Oil
- Exodus 30:22–33 — The formula for holy anointing oil and its sacred uses
- Leviticus 8:12 — Aaron anointed with oil at his priestly consecration
- Mark 6:13 — The Twelve anoint the sick with oil during their mission
- James 5:14–15 — The NT command: call the elders, anoint with oil, pray in faith
- D&C 42:43–44 — The revealed law of health and healing in the restored church
What the blessing always is: a covenant act of faith, connecting an individual to an ancient tradition of divine healing, performed by authorized servants of God, offered in the name of Jesus Christ. That is what James commanded. That is what the apostles practiced. That is what the Church does today — because the command was never rescinded and the priesthood has been restored.