Introduction
The Holy Spirit reminds us in Hebrews 12:28-29, “Therefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
God the Father is pure, beyond what the human mind can understand; only through the fire can all things be clean and pure to be acceptable to God. As believers, when we come to worship the Lord God Almighty, we must worship Him with fire from our hearts. However, the fire from our hearts can come only through the help of the Holy Spirit. When we believe with all our hearts in the Trinity of God, we will go and be baptized in water in the name of God the Father, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. Additionally, we should seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will be waiting to have communion with us. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and He finds pleasure in the believers when they spend time in the Word of God, as He Himself is the Word of God (John 1:1). In Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16, John the Baptist foretells that the Lord Jesus is the One who baptizes people with the Holy Spirit and fire, while he himself only baptizes people with water for repentance of their sins.
Another fire that all humans should be aware of is the fire of hell. Therefore, the question all humans should ask is: How can we purify our souls and escape the unquenchable fire of hell? In this blog article, we will explore the meaning of baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire for the cleansing of our souls so we can surely escape the unquenchable fire of hell.
Baptism With the Holy Spirit and Fire
Through the baptism in the water, we repent of our sins, and the water cleanses our bodies, but through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the fire of the Holy Spirit cleanses our souls. In the Gospel of John chapter 1, John, the messenger of the Lord, tells all humans that He is not the Christ, instead he is the voice calling out in the desert, and when the Lord Jesus comes to him, he calls the Lord Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and that He, the Lord Jesus, is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. In this section, we reflect on the importance of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the meaning of fire for our souls. We will comment on Matthew 3:11-12, Luke 3:16-17, and John 1:29-33 where John the Baptist introduces the Lord Jesus to his audience.
Comments Matthew 3:11-12
Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you in water to repentance, but mightier than I comes after me, He of whom I am not fit to carry the sandals, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,
The sin cannot be where the Holy Spirit is. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the sin in us will be burned by the holy fire (pure fire) of the Lord, which cleanses our souls.
See comments on the Holy Spirit baptism in Comments John 1:33.
12 whose winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor; and He will gather His grain into the storehouse, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.
The winnowing shovel (or fan) here represents the scale that weighs man’s deeds, the good and bad. His threshing floor, or simply floor, represents the entire world. Grain (or wheat) represents the saved people. The storehouse (or barn) here represents the house of the Lord, heaven. The chaff represents the unsaved people.
Comments Luke 3:16-17
Luke 3:16 John answered, saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water; but there comes He that is mightier than I, the lace of His sandals I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,
See also Comments Mark 1:7-8.
John himself never lifted himself up in any way. In this place, we clearly see how humble John is and how he glorifies the beloved Son of God. He tells all that the Holy One of God is coming, and He deserves all the praise, and that the Holy Son of God is the one who gives them the Holy Spirit.
17 whose winnowing fork is in His hand, thoroughly to cleanse His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.
This verse tells all that the beloved Son of God is the one who has the authority to bring those who are worthy into His kingdom, but at the same time, the beloved Son of God has the authority to throw all those blasphemous souls into the lake of fire that cannot be stopped. In that lake of fire, the flames are stronger than the sun itself, and there, everything will burn until it is all gone, even the ashes.
Comments John 1:29-33
John 1:29 On the next day, he looks at Jesus coming to him and says, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
All readers can see from the verse clearly that John has announced who the Lamb of God is, who is able to take away all the sins of the world. John has announced to the whole world about the righteous One who can wash away every sin.
“The Lamb of God.” In the Old Testament law, when they sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins, they used the lamb, and in this place, the beloved Son of God Himself is the Lamb of God, the perfect lamb to wash away all the sins of the whole world, not only for His people alone but for the Gentiles as well.
30 This it is on behalf of whom I spoke: After I, comes a Man who precedence over me has because He exists before me.
In this verse, John tells all humans that the beloved Son of God exists before all humans have been born. Because at that time itself, John was not a young man anymore, and if the adult man can say that someone exists before him, then he has already told all humans that the beloved Son of God has precedence over all humans because the beloved Son of God Himself exists before all humans.
31 But I knew Him not; except that, He might be revealed to Israel, for this came I baptizing with water.
“But I knew Him not.” In this place, John does not talk about not knowing Him as a cousin but not knowing Him as a Savior until the Father will reveal it to him; that is why, at this time, he just baptizes people in the water. But John himself will announce who the beloved Son of God is later on.
“He might be revealed to Israel.” John has not announced this yet to all the people, but only to those who came to him. But next, as he goes to any place, his duty will be to announce the coming of the beloved Son of God; his job will be starting now.
32 And John bore witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.
Now John has told all the people what he has seen. John has become a witness of the Holy Spirit as He came and remained on the beloved Son of God, as the verse has told, John is the witness.
“As a dove out of heaven.” The human eyes cannot see the Holy Spirit, but in this place, the Father has blessed humans, starting with John, the messenger. He had a chance to see the Holy Spirit shape, but He comes as a dove flying, which is not His true full expression.
“And He remained upon Him.” John, with human eyes, has seen the shape of the Holy Spirit beside the beloved Son of God: as the beloved Son walks, the Holy Spirit walks as well; but the verse has told “He remained upon Him,” which it does not mean stayed above Him but side by side with Him. The Three remain here as well as One, which is why we have them walk beside each other.
33 But I knew Him not; but the One having sent me to baptize with water, He said to me, Upon whom you will perceive the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
As the verse tells all readers, John himself has not known the Lord before until he has seen the Holy Spirit descending upon Him. After that, he will realize who He is that the Father has told him that will make an impact on every heart, with the Holy Spirit baptism, to the one that has faith and trust in the beloved Son of God, which is the gift of life to give to all that have belief in Him.
Here, one might wonder: Why does the Holy Spirit descend on the beloved Son of God at this time this way? Wasn’t the Holy Spirit already upon the Lord? We can understand that the Holy Spirit was already on the Lord Jesus, but at this time, there was the need to show to all humans who is the One in whom the Father will be within as well.
Comments on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Many believers struggle to understand the concept of baptism with the Holy Spirit and its significance. According to John 1:33, the Lord Jesus “is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” In this context, we would like to share our understanding and beliefs regarding this important doctrine.
The Holy Spirit will be given to the one who has faith and trust in the beloved Son of God and confesses with the mouth and heart regarding the beloved Son of God; the Holy Spirit will also come and dwell in that person. The Holy Spirit will give the feeling to the person of being close but not within the Holy Spirit, not as to be one with, but as the shell covering, as the Holy Spirit using to cover. The Holy Spirit dwells in the person, not the person dwells in the Holy Spirit; the feeling between these two will be different. The Holy Spirit dwelling in a person and baptism in the Holy Spirit are different: the Holy Spirit dwelling is only a deep feeling of the heart, while baptism in the Holy Spirit involves speaking in tongues as well.
Not everyone who is baptized in the Holy Spirit will be speaking in tongues; even if the person has the word of a tongue, but is afraid to say it out loud because of a lack of understanding and uncertainty of what the words mean. Also, in that time, the apostles performed miracles accompanied by baptism in the Holy Spirit. However, nowadays, baptism in the Holy Spirit does not come with such miracles; instead, it is just the miracle gift of speaking in tongues and understanding of the Word of God.
At first, the Holy Spirit will touch you, but when the Holy Spirit baptism takes place, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of your heart. So, first, at the water baptism, the Holy Spirit touches your heart. If your heart is open and willing to follow the Holy Baptism, then the Holy Spirit will dwell inside your heart but not work; He will dwell because of being invited. Then, when the right time comes, the Holy Spirit will work; when the Holy Spirit is working, the person will have more understanding and will speak more in tongues.
As we all have seen, there are many ways of faith, but you cannot have faith alone in the beloved Son of God; you must believe in the Trinity of God as well. When you have faith in the Trinity of God, that person also has faith in the Holy Spirit, and when you invite the Holy Spirit into your heart, then the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart will happen, and we call this the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but the baptism at this stage is incomplete. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the time when this person may have only one word in a tongue, but not every person may say it out because of the lack of understanding. When the person has the feeling of the hearing of the word inside of their heart, even without understanding, but still should say it out loud, this is the sign of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
At the Holy Spirit baptism, the person has the word of a tongue but does not speak it out, so it is not that there is no speaking in a tongue, but the person did not speak it. Therefore, the baptism in the Holy Spirit must always be accompanied with the speaking in a tongue, even just one word; the person who receives it must speak out, and that is considered to claim the ability to speak in a tongue. If the person did not speak the word out loud, then the speaking in tongues for that person would not generate further knowledge; that person will have only that word until the person accepts the gift deep in the soul, not in mind, but in the heart; the gift here is the knowledge of that word which the Lord has given even one single word. The person is considered baptized in the Holy Spirit when they speak at least one tongue word out loud.
Conclusions
In conclusion, to be complete followers of the Lord Jesus, one must have both the baptism in water and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The water baptism must be done in the name of the Trinity of God (God the Father, God the Son, the Lord Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit), and at the water baptism, the Holy Spirit touches the believer’s heart and covers it like a shell. All believers should earnestly seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit. When the baptism in the Holy Spirit takes place, the Holy Spirit dwells deep inside the heart of the believer. The Holy Spirit baptism must be performed biblically, through prayer and the laying on of hands. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a miracle, and the miraculous sign for a believer that one has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit is speaking out loud at least a word in an angelic tongue.
Some people believe that the manifestation of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, demonstrated by speaking in tongues, could create a hierarchy among Christians, with some considered more spiritual than others. They argue that this should not be the case. However, speaking in tongues for all Christians is a sign of personal spiritual blessing, and not everyone has the same blessing, but each individual is blessed as they are searching and asking the Lord. The blessing is upon the purpose of the deep inner heart of a person and upon what really the purpose is that they want that gift for. Think about the passage in the Bible where it says that each part of the body has its own duty. What will the rest of the body be if you take one part out? (See 1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
To gain a better understanding of our beliefs regarding water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism, as well as the proper methods for each, we encourage readers to refer to our articles: “Water Baptism for a Christian” and “Holy Spirit Baptism for a Christian.”
Meditation Tasks
- We encourage all readers to reflect on their salvation status and to explore our two fundamental articles on water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism: “Water Baptism for a Christian” and “Holy Spirit Baptism for a Christian.”