Revelation is given “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little… ” ( 2 Nephi 28:30). The scriptures contain revelations, which are the key to understanding the mind and will of the Lord. Apparently, the Lord intends for His followers to search the scriptures to gain understanding.

The scriptures are not like an encyclopedia or a dictionary containing precise, easy-to-understand definitions of terms. Before doing so, it’s important to understand what the Lord provided us with when He gave us the scriptures. To understand what baptism of fire is, we can turn to the scriptures. However, others, myself included, feel they mean something related but have important differences. Baptism of the Holy Ghost, baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, baptism of fire, and baptism of the Spirit are used to mean the same thing by some writers. 50).Įlder Packer apparently feels we can do a better job teaching about the baptism of the Spirit.īefore going on, I would like to make sure that the terms being used are understood by the reader. Then we will not have the first half done, as is often the case at present, and the other half left undone” (Elder Boyd K. In many cases the other half, the teaching about the baptism of fire, never really gets done… Get that idea in your mind with those two fixed together so tightly that, as one, it becomes part of you. “Missionaries sometimes think they are only to do half the work they are to teach and then baptize by water, and that concludes their work. Speaking to missionaries on this subject, Elder Boyd K.

He also stated, “The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost attending it, is of no use they are necessarily and inseparably connected” ( History of the Church, 6:316). Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half-that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost” ( History of the Church, 5:499). The prophet Joseph Smith emphasized the importance of being baptized by both water and the Spirit saying, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. (Please reread these three sentences several times.) Baptism has two parts: baptism by water and baptism by the Spirit. The objective of all who are baptized by water should be to receive the baptism of the Spirit.

Clean hands and a pure heart ensign