John the Baptist proclaimed that the Messiah would come and baptize "with
the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11). Some believe they need
to receive this baptism of fire. To understand what John was saying,
let's take a closer look at this passage. In verse 8 John demanded evidence
from the Pharisees and Sadducees of their repentance from sin, making
use of two metaphors to drive home his point. First, he noted that,
when a tree does not bear good fruit, it is cut down at the roots and
burned up (verse 10). Jesus repeated this principle in Matthew 7:19.
John's second metaphor was of winnowing wheat. Winnowing means separating
the wheat from the husks, stalks and chaff. John this time was picturing
how Jesus will deal with people who bear no fruit. "His winnowing
fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor,
and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12).
Both examples show the major theme of the Bible, that God wants us
to become like Christ and produce fruit! For this, Jesus promises us
eternal life, which is the message of the gospel. Those refusing to
repent and change their way of thinking will be consumed by fire (Malachi 4:1).
