Articles
The Holy Spirit and Fire
The Holy Spirit and Fire
In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptizer said about Jesus “…He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” A man I spoke with at Crane’s Roost a while back referred to this verse and said, “I feel the fire of the Holy Spirit inside me!” But that’s not what John meant, and Malachi helps us see that.
400 years before Christ, Malachi prophesied about the coming of two messengers. One to prepare the way (John the Baptizer) and the other to bring in the new covenant (Jesus). When Jesus, the “messenger of the covenant” comes, it would be a time of fiery judgment! “Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” (Malachi 3:2). When Jesus came to pronounce judgment against sin, it would actually refine people. “He will sit as a smelter and a purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver…” (3:3). When Jesus rebuked the world for their sin (cf. Matthew 11:24; John 2:15; 7:7), exposed sin’s consequences, and died on a cross in judgment against sin (John 12:31), some would be changed by it for the better! However, Malachi speaks of another kind of fire for those who don’t repent: the fire of eternal destruction! “‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.’” (Malachi 4:1). Malachi shows Jesus bringing two fires: a refining fire for the repentant and a destroying fire for the rebellious.
With that background in mind, let’s look at the verses before and after Matthew 3:11. In Matthew 3:10, John warns the rebellious Pharisees, “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire.” In 3:12, John says, “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (3:12). John’s saying when Jesus comes, He’ll bring the refining fire and the fire of destruction. For those who respond to the refining fire of Jesus’ rebuke against sin with repentance, they’ll be “gathered into the barn” and baptized by the Holy Spirit. For those who ignore Jesus’ fiery rebuke, they’ll be cut down and baptized in the unquenchable fire of eternal judgment! The truth is, Jesus baptizes everyone with fire (cf. Mark 9:49); the question is, which will we choose? The refining fire or the destroying fire?
