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by Wayne Blank
When It Comes To Religion, You Don't Want A "Baptism Of Fire"!
"Baptism of fire" is a military term referring to the first experience of actual combat. In matters of religion, it refers to something very different, something that no one should ever want or ask for. As the Scripture quote of John The Baptist above warns, the Holy Spirit may be given to those who repent and produce "good fruit," the "wheat" of the analogy (baptism in water is a personal pledge of repentance, and a profound symbol of death and resurrection - see Baptism and The Origin of Baptism). The Holy Spirit will ultimately be the means for those who have it to survive the "baptism of fire," that is, the baptism in fire, that awaits the rest, the "chaff."
More references to the immersion in fire (the literal meaning of the original Greek word for baptize means to immerse):
"He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man [i.e. Jesus Christ]; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the Tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.""As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [see The End Of The World?]. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 13:37-43 KJV)
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (John 15:5-6 KJV)
When the earth is purified with fire, only those who have been transformed by the Holy Spirit into actual spirit beings (see "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit") will survive:
"I am come to send fire on the earth" (Luke 12:49 KJV)"But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke 17:29-30 KJV)
"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is ... If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." (1 Corinthians 3:13,15 KJV)
"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." (Hebrews 10:26-27 KJV) [see also Was Judas Necessary?]
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men ... But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements [see Hydrogen] shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3:7,10 KJV)
Fact Finder: The Bible says that the earth will never again experience another great flood of water. But does the Bible say that the earth is going to experience another great flood, of fire?
See Planet On Fire!
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