By Isaac Goodwin
Hello friends, today we will be taking a look at Matthew 3:11 and learning the context of this passage to understand what it actually means. Matthew 3:11 (ESV) 11 “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 fire.” The other day, I stumbled across a video breaking down the “fire of the Holy Spirit.” It is a topic that I’ve been interested in studying within a biblical context for a while now so I was excited… but the video took a quick turn into something I highly disagreed with. In the clip, the guy stated that the “fire” mentioned in Matthew 3:11 was not a “Holy Spirit baptism of fire” as I’ve always believed and as most teach today. So I did what I normally do when I read or hear a new interpretation of scripture—I researched it… and what I found was that my preconceived understanding was wrong once again. As many of you, probably, I’ve only ever heard this verse shared in the context that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a fire baptism, and is related to the “tongues of fire” mentioned in Acts 2. But when you read the surrounding verses we see John explaining that those who bear bad fruit are thrown into the “fire” (v. 10). Then he explains that the wheat/believers are gathered to Christ, while the chaff/unbelievers are thrown into “unquenchable fire” (v. 12). To understand the true context of (3:11) we need to read the surrounding verses and then the entire passage. Here is Matt. 3:10-12 (ESV): “10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “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 fire. 12 His winnowing fork 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 unquenchable fire.” As you see, the “fire” mentioned in (3:10, 12) is talking about judgment for the unrepentant—in v. 11, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for the believing and repentant, while the baptism of fire in v. 11 is for the unbelieving and unrepentant. Dr. Craig Keener states in the IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition, “the prophets had predicted the outpouring of God’s Spirit on the righteous at the time when God established his kingdom for Israel (Is 44:3; Ezek 39:29; Joel 2:28). They also decreed fire upon the wicked (Is 26:11; 65:15; 66:24; Jer 4:4; 15:14; etc.). In Matthew 3:11, the wicked are baptized, or immersed, in fire (3:10, 12), [while] the righteous in the Holy Spirit.” To provide more context for this passage, let’s see where else the baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned. In Acts 11:17, we see the baptism of the Holy Spirit given to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 1:4-5 and Acts 11:15-17, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned but both passages say nothing about “fire.” This is because Matt. 3:11 is speaking directly about judgment fire for those who won’t bear fruit with repentance as mentioned in the previous verses. For reference, there’s no mention of fire related to the baptism of the Holy Spirit—these verses in Acts are related to Matt. 3:11 because they mention John’s baptism. Acts 1:4-5 (ESV) “4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 11:15-16 (ESV) “15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ This “fire” in Matt. 3 is often mistaken for the “tongues as of fire” mentioned in Acts 2 during Pentecost, but these tongues that rested upon those believers aren’t a fire baptism—they are a Holy Spirit baptism. Many interpret Acts 2:3 as the baptism of fire because it says, “3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. Notice that the verse does not just say “fire”; instead, it says “tongues as of fire appeared”. Too often, people jump to the conclusion that this is the baptism of fire—this is what is taught in most evangelical circles. While the baptism of the Holy Spirit does feel like a burning sensation, it is not the baptism of fire. Let’s look at the surrounding passages that clearly describe this event as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and not of fire. When we go back to Acts 1, Jesus mentions the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will come upon them. He says, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Notice that fire isn’t mentioned anywhere regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When we read Acts 11 again, we see that fire isn’t anywhere in this passage either—just the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It says, “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” After looking at the surrounding context of Matthew 3 and cross-referencing this passage with Acts 1 and 11 mentioning John’s baptism, we clearly see that the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire are not the same. We can conclude that the baptism of fire is about the coming judgment for the unbelieving and unrepentant, while the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for the believers and repentant. Thanks for reading! I hope this teaching blesses you. Have a great day!
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WRITTEN BY
ISAAC GOODWIN Archives
April 2023
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