I recently saw a carwash that advertised, “The Inferno Bath.” It is a red and yellow foam that actually looks like fire as it sprays on the vehicle. It is supposed to promote a deeper clean. Interestingly, it was Jesus who spoke of a real “inferno bath” that will forever rid the righteous of all the filthy influences of the world. John the baptizer called it a baptism of fire (Mat. 3:11). There is a baptism that cleanses from sin and there is a baptism that condemns those in sin. John was baptizing believers in water (for the remission of sins) before the death of Christ. Those who submitted to his inspired words, were forgiven provisionally looking forward to the death of Jesus for the sin of the world (Mark 1:4; Acts 19:4; 1 John 2:2; John 1:29). Today, we are baptized for the remission of sins looking backward in faith to the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection (Acts 2:38; 1 Cor. 15:1-4). John compared those buried in baptism to wheat gathered safely into the barn (i.e., Heaven; Mat. 3:12). Everyone else (including those who become unfaithful) will be baptized in “unquenchable fire.” Baptism is literally an immersion or being submerged. Thus, all those who are not sincere (Mat. 3:8), those who do not bring forth a change in their lives (Mat. 3:10), and those who are not obedient to the Gospel, will be overwhelmed in everlasting fire. (Rev 20:15) And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
