QUOTE (watchman @ Apr 18 2009, 07:44 PM)
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Nope that is not what it means.I have another question...When John says he baptizes with water, we know he meant actual water. When John says Jesus Baptizes with the Holy Ghost, we know he is speaking of the Holy Ghost. So when John says and fire why is it that we do not realize that he is speaking of actual fire?
Mal. 3:2-4 says,2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he [is] like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:3 And he shall sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.When we become Christians, we come before the bar of God's justice as repentant sinners. We claim the death of Jesus as payment for all our sins-past, present, and future. From that moment on, we form a new and different relationship with the law. In time past we were afraid of its judgment; now we voluntarily submit ourselves to its judgment and teaching, that we may learn what sin is and how to refrain from sinning. As Isaiah said, we begin to learn righteousness. Isa. 26:9 says,9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments [are] in the earth, the inhabitants of the world
will learn righteousness. Paul said that "by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Rom. 3:20) How could we be expected to know what sin is and do something about it, if we have no knowledge of what sin is? And how could we know what sin is except by the law?So this new relationship with the law is known to us as learning obedience, or sanctification. It comes AFTER and BECAUSE OF justification. We submit ourselves to the fiery law, and Jesus leads us through the fire of circumstances, a baptism of fire, and God begins to refine us as gold. As we draw near to Him, He speaks to us out of the midst of the fire even as He spoke to Israel of old.Logabe