Water, Spirit and Fire

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Mt 3:11)

Baptism with water is for cleansing. When we repent we are baptized with water and symbolically the guilt of our sins is washed away. Jews in biblical times practiced this ritual cleansing regularly. John the Baptist connected it with repentance and made it a foreshadowing of the Messiah’s saving work. But John also said that the one who comes after him would baptize with the Spirit and with fire. The removal of guilt of sin doesn't change who we are. I will just sin again tomorrow. But the baptism with the Holy Spirit represents our empowerment by the Spirit, and the baptism of fire is sanctification. God’s plan for us is far more than just the removal of guilt. He wants to transform and empower us for his glory and the work of his kingdom. If we stop with water baptism we will never fulfill God’s purpose in saving us. We must go on to sanctification and a life lived in his service by the power of his Holy Spirit.