He will Baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire

February 1

Water baptism was part of the conversion of an adult Gentile to the Jewish faith, along with circumcision, a commitment to following the Jewish Law, and offering a sacrifice.

John the Baptizer stood in the Jordan River, inviting his audience to be baptized. “People came from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him.” (Matthew 3:5) Based on where he was and where they were coming from, it’s important to note that John was inviting Jews to be baptized for repentance. He said that claiming to be a descendant of Abraham was insufficient. So, they came to him in repentance, confessing their sins and entering into a new relationship with God.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11, CSB)

As noted above, water baptism was to be expected for Gentiles converting to Judaism. But what about Holy Spirit baptism? When we get to Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, we’ll learn a bit more about the prophetic fulfillment of Joel chapter 2. But for now, we’ll consider the significance of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire.

A professor in seminary once told me that baptism with fire occurred when a believer became “fired up” about his/her faith. Now, this was the smartest man I have ever known; when he read New Testament passages, he read straight from the Greek text and could translate on the fly. He was brilliant, yet also wrong in his explanation of the baptism with fire.

John himself explains the baptism with fire in the very next verse as he says, “His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.” (Matthew 3:12, CSB) Baptism with fire is not when a believer gets “fired up”. It is an allusion to the final fiery judgment for those who do not repent. In other words, believers cannot and will not experience the baptism with fire.

Returning to Holy Spirit baptism, I remember when I advanced in Karate as a pre-teen. My mom took my white belt and dipped it in purple dye in our kitchen sink. My white belt had been baptized in purple dye; its identity had been forever and totally changed.

When something is baptized, it is forever changed and identified by what it is baptized with. Water baptism is the symbolic washing away of sins. Holy Spirit baptism, however, completely changes one’s identity, and that person becomes identified with the Holy Spirit—forever. Holy Spirit baptism begins ushering the holiness of God into the believer’s life.

When we get to Ephesians 5 on September 24, we’ll look at the prescription for the post-conversion experience with the Holy Spirit.

Application

The baptism with the Holy Spirit should not be controversial. Unfortunately, it is because some people confuse biblical terminology and definitions. We’re not splitting theological hairs here. Words and definitions are important. So, when we use non-biblical terms and definitions, confusion results. Biblically speaking, baptism with the Holy Spirit is the universal experience of every Christian at the moment of conversion. Paul tells us that we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12:13, CSB)

However, Holy Spirit baptism is not the only experience with the Holy Spirit for believers mentioned in Scripture. We’ll look at this on May 4 –5 with the first two chapters of Acts.

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman