Baptism of Fire

 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." 

Matt. 3:11

John the Baptist prophesied that the Messiah would come with a baptism of the Holy Spirit and with "fire".  Jesus said in Mark 9: 49:

" For every one will be salted with fire. "

Jesus is also quoted in Luke 12:49:

  "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; ⁵² for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³ they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

When one asks most believers about the baptism of fire, it has been my experience that most of the time you get that "deer caught in the headlights" look.  We understand that water baptism is the start of the new birth process and that when one is baptized we are promised the "gift of the Holy Spirit" ( Acts 2:38).  But what is Jesus talking about in the above verses?  

To begin to understand the divine a believer must empty oneself to seek a purity of heart.  The best way to begin that process is with silence. In our society today this is anathema.  Look around and you will see that humanity must fill the airwaves at all times with conversation, music, and discussion.  We are connected at all of our waking hours when we drive our cars or when we go for a walk with our headsets.  To completely unplug from the world one has to take extraordinary steps in our modern society of i phones and instant communication.  Hebrews 12: 29 declares that our "God is a consuming fire."  It was no accident that Yahweh appeared to Moses in a burning bush.  Deity and fire are connected in the revelation of God's entry into our time and space.  And, the same is true with Jesus.  To be "salted" with fire is for every saint to come into contact with God.  How does this happen? It occurs in a myriad of ways when faith is actualized in one's life.  It can occur in worship.  It occurs at baptism and when a believer partakes of the Lord's supper.  And, it can occur in the ordinary day of each believer's life in something as simple as giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus to someone who is thirsty.  But, it does not happen by accident. It is preceded by faith.  Jesus would often withdraw to a place of solitude to pray.  If the Son of God needed this time while on earth how can we expect to do God's will without following his example?  Prayer changes the one who prays.  It is the most fundamental way that one can partake of the divine nature.  As one matures in faith a believer begins to pray without ceasing.  It becomes a "point of view" that is instantly recognized in the cosmic battle of good and evil.  No wonder the our Lord told his disciples, "Let he who has ears hear."  If one wants to gain one's spiritual ears we need to draw near to the Lord and listen for His Word.


In my experience I believe that the fire is often preceded by what some would call the dark night of the soul.  Sometimes when we feel the most abandoned and desolate, this is when we come closer to the divine.  Death, disease, loss of relationships, a material loss of great magnitude, or separation can trigger a bleakness that creates a void in one's soul.  Any of these events can trigger a journey of walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  The irony is that it is exactly at those times when one can begin to experience the comfort of being led by the Great Shepherd.  Do not doubt that these experiences will cause division.  But, the fire is one's firsthand experience of knowing the love of God within one's heart.  

Paul tells the church in Corinth that their work will be tested by fire:

 Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- ¹³ each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴ If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 

It is only with this understanding that one can make sense out of Jame's admonition in the first chapter of his book to "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials.."  Without this understanding one would simply be a masochist.  Jesus understood in the Garden of Gethsemane what it took to accept the Will of the divine by going to the cross.  Each believer will have to pick up one's own cross to follow Him.  But, without the fire from above, this is impossible.  

The prophet Isaiah frames the question in Chapter 33:

 "Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?" 

The answer is then given:

 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil, ¹⁶ he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him, his water will be sure.