Doctrine #10: Sanctification-Baptism of Fire

December 20, 2023 Cathy

If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. [2 Timothy 2:21]

In the crazy world we currently live in the concept of sanctification (living a holy life) seems to have faded into the background of theological discussions, church messages, and in the lives of many believers. It’s almost nonexistent and sadly hardly ever talked about. Accountability for personal actions is a joke, excuses and justifications for non-godly behaviors are running rampant, and it appears that literally anything is accepted in the name of love.

You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! [2 Timothy 3:1-5]

This is where many people miss it. As 2 Timothy said people will act religiously but they will reject the power that could make them godly. They think saying the prayer of salvation is all they need to do and poof they will enter through the pearly gates of heaven! They don’t even think about the life they are leading or if what they are doing is alignment with the Word of God.

Thus, the reason that this doctrine is vital because every believer must live a transformed and holy lifestyle. Today we are going to dive into the often-overlooked topic of sanctification, exploring its significance, the act of separation from evil, and the daily commitment it requires.

Benefits of Sound Doctrine

Sound doctrine will give you the ability to trust in the Holy Spirit leading.
Sound doctrine will prevent you from straying from the Lord.
Sound doctrine gives us a deep sense of awe for God.
Sound doctrine gives us a reverential fear of the Lord.
Sound doctrine is imperative for all believers in these last days.
Sound doctrine will cause you to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Sound doctrine will produce a church that allows the Holy Spirit to lead.
Sound doctrine will provide power and supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit.
Sound doctrine provides a life of peace, prosperity, and purpose.
Sound doctrine gives you a solid foundation for everything in your life.
Sound doctrine prevents you from living in fear and anxiety.
Sound doctrine will give you boldness in the Holy Spirit.
Sound doctrine will give you the ability to be a living sacrifice.
Sound doctrine will help prevent you from receiving the antichrist spirit.
Sound doctrine gives you discernment about heaven and hell.
Sound doctrine will allow you to live a holy life.
Sound doctrine will keep you from falling away from the faith.
Sound doctrine will prevent you from being deceived.
Sound doctrine will help you from going insane in this crazy world.
Sound doctrine will help you to STAND FIRM.

BAPTISM OF FIRE – SANCTIFICATION

I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire. [Matthew 3:11-12]

This is the third baptism of the believer and should also be present in the church that you attend. This baptism is rarely talked about, especially in this day of age we are living in, because it involves the progressive process of sanctification. This is a painful process of being made holy resulting in a changed lifestyle for the believer. Baptism of fire is an act of separation from evil, the flesh, and self-absorption to holiness, holy spirit leading, and total dedication to God.

Baptism in fire is by the Holy Spirit, administered to our soul, mind, and body.
Baptism in fire is where true believers are separated from the world.
Baptism in fire is separating the wheat from the chaff.
Baptism in fire is where the human spirit is spotless and made into the image of God- the world cannot see this spirit.
Baptism in fire is the flesh being crucified daily, you choose to be a living sacrifice, and deny fleshy desires.
Baptism in fire is speaking the Word and the devil is being stomped on.
Baptism in fire is physically shown through sanctification to become more like God and choosing to live a holy life.

Sanctification is realized by the believer recognizing his identification in Christ in the death and resurrection, and by faith reckoning daily on the fact of that union and offering every faculty (mind, body, spirit) daily continually to the dominion of the holy spirit.

Sanctification is a process of being made holy, resulting in a changed lifestyle for the believer. It involves a deliberate act of separation from evil and a wholehearted dedication unto God.

FOUR WAYS THE BAPTISM OF FIRE IS APPLIED

FIRE IS APPLIED BY THE WORD: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. [2 Timothy 3:16]

FIRE IS APPLIED IN THE MIND: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. [Romans 12:2]

FIRE IS APPLIED BY SELF DENIAL: Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Mark 8:34]

FIRE IS APPLIED BY PRUNING: He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. [John 15:2-3]

This sanctification is not a mere outward conformity but a genuine setting a part of the entire being from the influences of evil. It’s tearing away from the flesh and living within the Spirit. It extends to various aspects of life, including drinking, sexual conduct, pride, etc. Let’s walk through some ways we can do this in our lives.

A LIVING SACRIFICE TO GOD

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. [Romans 12:1-3]

This is one of my favorite verses because it states that we are to be a living sacrifice to God. This means my desires, my flesh, my dreams, my goals, my, my, my stuff has to die daily. We are to let go of ALL of our fleshly and carnal desires and allow the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom, guidance, and understanding. This is what sets the foundation for the changed lifestyle, by recognizing our identification in Christ through His death and resurrection is what makes us holy.

Give your bodies to God (they are not our bodies)
Let our bodies be a living and holy sacrifice. (give God EVERYTHING)
Let us be people whom God will find acceptable.
Being a living sacrifice is the true way to worship him.
Do not be like this world in their behavior or customs.
Let God TRANSFORM you into a new person by the way you think.
You will then learn to know God’s will-which will be good, pleasing, and perfect.
Don’t think you are better than others.
Be honest, check yourself, and look at your behaviors regularly.

STAY AWAY FROM EVIL

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful [1 Thessalonians 5:16-24]

Sanctification or being baptized in the Holy Spirit is a daily commitment. It’s not just a one-and-done thing. This process is a continual offering of everything we have and everything we do, which includes our mind, body, and spirit to the dominion of the Holy Spirit.

The scripture is pretty clear on how we are to live a sanctified and holy life, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is absolutely impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Always be joyful.
Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances.
Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.
Do not scoff at prophecies.
Test everything that is said.
Hold on to what is good.
Stay away from every kind of evil.
May God make you holy in every way.
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless.

JESUS MADE US HOLY

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them. We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. [Hebrews 13:8-14]

Living a holy life, being sanctified, or being baptized in fire should not be taken lightly. Jesus paid a hefty price for us to live a holy life, therefor we should strive to:

Keep ourselves pure.
Become a special utensil for honorable use.
Be sure our life is clean.
Ensure that we are ready for the Master to use us!
Not be attracted to strange doctrines. (doctrines that don’t line up with the Word).

Because of the New Covenant, we have the privilege of being sanctified.

Our strength comes from God’s grace.
This world is NOT our permanent home.
We should look forward to our future home.

HAVE SELF CONTROL

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. [1 Peter 1:13-15]

Living this transformed lifestyle can ONLY be done through the baptism of the Fire through the Holy Spirit. In all seriousness, a comprehensive list of responsibilities could be compiled, but for time’s sake, we are only mentioning a few ways of sanctification!

If anyone dismisses faith in God or living a holy life as a mere crutch, remind them that it’s a journey for those resilient enough to put on “big girl panties “! 😊

We must always have our minds set on the Word of God, to be prepared for satanic attacks and whatever else the world may throw at us.
We must always have hope in our promised salvation.
We should exercise self-control in all our behaviors.
We must live as God’s obedient children.
We should conduct ourselves as children of God.
We must obey all commands from God.
We should submit to His will.
We must always have unwavering confidence in God.
We don’t want to slip back into our old ways of living.
We must be holy in everything we do.

FAN THE FLAMES

This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. [2 Timothy 1:6-10]

This is just so amazing, that from the beginning of time when sin entered the world, God had a plan to bring us back to Him. Look at this – He BROKE the power of death and immortality, meaning we will never die as a child of the King. I just love this; He has illuminated the way to life for YOU and me!!! This means God has given us a way to be spiritually enlightened to the knowledge of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is only when we understand salvation by grace through faith that we can truly experience life as God intended us to have it. Thank you, Lord!!!

Jesus (the Good News) is a gift given to us by grace, we did not deserve the ability to have a relationship with God now or even forever – but we do.

We need to use the gifts that God has given us.
We have been given a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
We should not hesitate to stand firm.
We need to be prepared to suffer for the sake of Jesus.
We should be certain because of the Word of God.
There should not be any tentativeness to speak about the Good News.
We are called to live a holy life….

AVOID SEXUAL SIN

This is very personal for me and a burden that I carry for many of my girlfriends and other women who are making choices that are contrary to the Word. This will be an entirely separate teaching, but for today I encourage you to read and meditate on what the Lord is saying in these scriptures. This is serious business and something of great importance that is NOT being taught in the churches today. Many believers choose to satisfy their flesh and carnal desires rather than submit to the baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit. This girlfriend is very dangerous and to be perfectly honest – there is no man worth going to hell for. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you discernment, wisdom, and a changed heart if applicable.

Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. You say, I am allowed to do anything—but not everything is good for you. And even though I am allowed to do anything, I must not become a slave to anything. You say, Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food. (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead. Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, The two are united into one. But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. [1 Corinthians 6:9-20]

In conclusion, the stumbling block for many believers lies in the failure to embrace the sanctification process daily. It’s crucial to recognize that sanctification is not a sporadic event but a consistent commitment – a conscious choice that we make each day. As believers, we are called to be perfect (holy) in the Lord, to willingly place ourselves on the altar of dedication. To be that living sacrifice. This path of holiness is a path we choose to walk, a journey marked by daily surrender and devotion to God.

Engaging in warfare against both spirit and flesh is an integral part of this transformative journey. This is not a passive stance but an active and deliberate decision to resist the influences that hinder our sanctification. This battle is not fought alone; rather, it is empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit within us. The Spirit’s transformative influence empowers us to live in alignment with God’s standards.

Contrary to the common teaching that suggests we sin every day, the scriptural truth reveals the exact opposite. By understanding and embracing the sanctification process, we can shift our perspective from habitual sin to a life marked by the pursuit of holiness.

Let us, therefore, walk confidently in the knowledge that, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can live in victory over sin and experience the joy of daily sanctification. 😊

ONLY through the baptism of Fire, are these things possible:

Allow God to make you holy in every way.
Allow the Holy Spirit to change the way you think.
Allow the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom, guidance, and understanding.
Allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you.
Allow the Holy Spirit to work in your soul, mind, and body.
Allow your human spirit to become spotless.
Always be joyful.
Avoid all forms of sexual sin, or you WILL NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.
Be aware that no other sin clearly affects the body sexual immorality.
Be baptized in FIRE.
Be honest in your evaluation of yourself.
Be honest, check yourself, and look at your behaviors regularly.
Be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.
Be ready to suffer for the sake of the Good News.
Be sure you are the wheat and NOT the chaff.
Be thankful in all circumstances.
Become a living sacrifice to God.
Become more like God.
Become that living sacrifice that is the true way to worship God.
Choose to be joined to the Lord in one spirit with him.
Choose to live a holy life.
Crucify your flesh daily.
Do NOT be attracted to strange doctrines.
Do not conform to worldly behavior and customs.
Do not scoff at prophecies.
Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.
Don’t fool yourselves.
Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your flesh desires.
Don’t think you are better than you really are.
Embrace the process of sanctification through the Holy Spirit.
Ensure that your whole spirit, soul, and body are kept blameless.
Exercise self-control.
Fan the flames.
Give God EVERYTHING.
Give your mind, body, and spirit to the Lord.
God bought you at a high price, therefore you must honor God with your body.
God cares about your body.
Have a deliberate act of separation from evil.
Have a spirit of love.
Have a spirit of power.
Have a spirit of self-discipline.
Have a wholehearted dedication to God.
Have an ever-changing lifestyle, that is under the dominion of the Holy Spirit.
Have no fear.
Have no timidity.
Hold on to what is good.
Keep yourself pure.
Know that God’s will for you is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Know that sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
Let God transform you into a new person.
Live a holy life.
Live as God’s obedient children.
Make sure your life is clean.
Measure yourself by the faith God has given you.
Never be ashamed to tell others about Jesus.
Never stop praying.
Prepare your mind for action.
Put all hope in your salvation.
Recognize your identification in Christ.
Run from sexual sin!
Stay away from every kind of evil.
Test everything that is said.
You are called to live a holy life.
You become one with a person you have sex with.
You can’t say that your body was made for sexual immorality.
You do not belong to yourself.
You must be holy in everything you do.
You must not become a slave to anything.
You were cleansed.
You were made holy.
You were made right with God.
Your body is part of Christ.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God.
Your body was made for the Lord.
Your desires, flesh, dreams, goals, all of your stuff has to die.

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Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. [1 Corinthians 16:13]