Baptism of Fire; Should We Seek It or Run From It?

John the Baptist is quoted as saying “16 John answered their questions by saying, "I baptize with water those who turn from their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is far greater than I am-- so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11, also found in Luke 3:16).  For the last few months I have ponder the meaning of this verse, especially the baptism with fire. 

I have talked with other respected teachers and pastors about this and have researched various Bible commentators regarding fire baptism.  Some have said the fire is something we don’t want.  It is God’s anger and it is the opposite of Holy Spirit baptism.  That did not sit well in my spirit.  I understood what they are trying to say.  If you look all through the Bible, you will see God pouring out His wrath and anger on a person in the form of fire (“Then the LORD rained down fire and burning sulfur from the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah” Gen. 19:24, “They [Aaron’s sons] disobeyed the LORD by burning before him a different kind of fire than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD” Leviticus 10:1, 2; are just two of many examples).  But there are also many examples of what I call good fire.  (“The cloud of the LORD rested on the Tabernacle during the day, and at night there was fire in the cloud so all the people of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys” Exodus 40:38; “I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like whitest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, and a river of fire flowed from his presence” Daniel 7:9, 10; "For everyone will be purified with fire” Mark 9:49.  These are just a few of the good fire examples. 

The Bible also talks over and over again about God being a consuming fire.  I have been asking God what this all means.  Here are a few thoughts.  In the Matthew and Luke passages above, the connecting word is “and”, not or.  In the Greek the connector is the word kai meaning both and.  If the baptism of fire was meant to be a judgment or a bad thing from God, the connector would be “or”.  So it seems plain that the baptism of fire is meant as a good thing.  Fire purifies, fire has power, fire devours and consumes, and the bigger the fire, the harder it is to extinguish.   

With the characteristics of fire just mentioned, If God baptizes us with fire, it means he is purifying us (making us holy), giving us power to do His work, if fire represents God the Father then that fire devours and consumes us, makes desire Him more than our fleshly and worldly things, and we are not wishy-washy, or unstable in our faith, not easily persuaded to fall away. 

Another thought I had recently was that we ask Jesus into our hearts to reign there, we ask the Holy Spirit to baptize us to empower us to do His works.  But that is only 2/3 of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  If we want the Whole person of God dwelling in us, then why would we not want the baptism of Fire?  Saying this, with Jesus living in us and with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire, we have the whole person of God dwelling in our spirit. That to me is exciting.  I know I for one will encourage the baptism of fire so that I might have fullness of life and power that comes from God.  For you readers, I encourage you to ask and seek the baptism of fire.  You may be surprised at what happens in your heart, mind, and spirit when that baptism takes place.