What Does It Mean to Be “BAPTIZED WITH FIRE”?
What did John the Baptist mean when he said regarding Christ: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”? Let’s read the statement in its fuller context as that will reveal its meaning:
7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:7-12
The corrupt religious leaders of Israel went out to observe John’s ministry of baptizing repentant people in the Jordan River. When the fiery prophet saw them he frankly called them “vipers” and encouraged them to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” ( Verses 7-8). He followed this up with: “every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (verse 10), which is an obvious reference to human damnation (Matthew 13:40).
John then explained that, while he baptized people with water for repentance, the Messiah “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (verse 11) followed by: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (verse 12).
This shows that the Lord will do one of two things with people when they ultimately stand before him to be evaluated or judged:
- Gather them into his “barn” like a valuable crop of wheat, which is a reference to eternal life in the New Heavens and New Earth (Revelation 21:1-4).
- Burn them up like chaff in fire, which is a reference to being cast into the lake of fire and suffering the “second death” (Revelation 20:11-15, Matthew 10:28 & Hebrews 10:26-27,31).
The Greek word for ‘baptize’ means “to immerse.” Thus those judged to be worthless chaff will be immersed in fire when they’re cast into the lake of fire wherein they’ll suffer “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). The fact that the LORD will do one of two things with people based on their wise or foolish choices is crystal clear in James’ simple proclamation:
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy.
This reveals the good news for the humbly penitent and the bad news for the incorrigibly corrupt (John 3:16 & Romans 6:23). Make sure you’re amongst the former and not the latter. And be encouraged: No matter how far a person is from God, it’s only one step to reconciliation and eternal life through the awesome gospel of Christ.
By the way, did you notice that John plainly said the chaff would be burned up in the fire? The Greek word used is katakaió (kat-ah-KAH-ee-oh), a compound word meaning “burn up, consume entirely,” which corresponds to this crystal clear passage:
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
For details on human damnation go here.
‘What About Believers Being Baptized With the Fire of the Holy Spirit?’
A minister could certainly make the case that believers can be imbued with the fire of God via fanning into flame the gift of the Spirit (à la 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Acts 2:3 & Hebrews 12:29); however, the context of Matthew 3:11 proves that John the Baptist on this occasion was talking about Christ baptizing (1) the “wheat” with the Holy Spirit and (2) the worthless “chaff” with the fires of Gehenna (Matthew 3:12). The former refers to believers and the latter to impenitent unbelievers. Bear in mind that the Greek word for ‘fire’ in verse 11 is the same word in verse 12, pur.
This conclusion corresponds to the common sense rules of Bible interpretation, specifically Context is King.
So Christians can preach on being anointed with the fire of the Holy Spirit all they want, but they can’t use Matthew 3:11-12 — or the parallel Luke 3:16-17 — as support texts because that’s not what they’re talking about.
Related Topics:
Hell (Human Damnation) — Questions and Answers
Eternal Life (“Heaven”): Questions & Answers
Understanding Christ’s LORDSHIP in the Believer’s Life
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